The Winnipeg Jets absolutely, positively had to win a hockey game on Saturday night.
It was a struggle for a while, but by the midway point of the first period, it was obvious the Jets understood the magnitude of the moment.
Mark Scheifele and Neal Pionk scored the goals and Connor Hellebuyck recorded the 28-shot shutout as Winnipeg beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 in front of an appreciative crowd at Canada Life Centre.
Although a loss in this game would not have meant the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs, it would have made the process extremely difficult. It was a playoff atmosphere inside the downtown rink and for flood reason.
The Jets entered the contest with a record of 43-32-3 while Nashville was 40-30-8. Winnipeg had 89 points, the Predators had 88 and both teams had four games remaining in the season. For both clubs this was absolutely a must-win game.
When the ice chips cleared about 2 1/2-hours later the Jets had 91 points, the Predators still had 88 and Winnipeg found itself keeping pace with the Calgary Flames (89 points) -- with a game in hand.
However, despite that enthusiastic crowd cheering every move the Jets made, the home side came out as flat as the proverbial pancake and at one point had been outshot 7-2 by the Predators.
But as the first period wore down, the Jets got better, controlled the attacking zone and actually had two or three good scoring chances.
Still, the opening 20 minutes ended with the teams in a scoreless deadlock as Nashville outshot Winnipeg 8-7. The Predators also blocked nine shots.
In the second period, the Jets completely took over the game. Winnipeg had the puck for almost the entire period and outshot Nashville 20-5. Still, it took until the 15:06 mark of the period for Mark Scheifele to squeeze one past Reds net minder Juuse Saros. The Jets had hit the post twice in the game (and they hit it again a few minutes after after the goal) before Scheifele finally coaxed the puck past Saros. It was Scheifele's 40th of the year as Vladislav Namestnikov and Josh Morrissey drew the assists. It was Morrissey's 57th assist of the year.
"Good for him, 40 goals," Rick Bowness said of Scheifele. "That's a hell of a season and he's got three more games to add on to that -- and he could have had the empty netter. He hit the post. I think that's a good example of our perseverance tonight."
The Jets scored again before the period ended as Pierre-Luc Dubois jammed the puck under Saros, but referee Wes McCauley was so enamoured with waving his arms around like a third-base umpire giving the safe call that he didn't notice the puck was still loose in the crease. The officials reviewed it but there was little chance it would be overturned. McCauley screwed up and he couldn't very well admit it.
The Jets seemed to be in complete control at this point having outshot Nashville 27-13 and despite no puck luck whatsoever, were still up by a goal.
The Jets made it 2-0 at the 1:36 mark off the second period when Nikolaj Ehlers hit a streaking Neal Pink with a perfect pass in the circle and Pionk drilled a wrister under the bar. It was a goal-scorer's goal by a defenceman and it was beauty. Blake Wheeler also picked up an assist as the Jets had enough to cruise to the win.
“We played it simple," Ehlers said. "You chip pucks against a team like this with speed on the outside and you’ll get that puck back. They’re a very good team. Obviously, they have a lot of new guys, young guys, but they have some grit. They have the skill. They have the speed. They’re a very, very good team.”
Blake Wheeler had the best stats line of the night. He had an assist and was plus-one with a shot on goal, two hits, a blocked shot and three takeaways in 14 minutes and one second of ice time. Josh Morrissey had an assist and was plus-one with two shots, two hits and two takeaways in 27 minutes and seven seconds of ice time.
The final home game of the season takes place Monday night at Canada Life Centre as the San Jose Sharks come to town. The puck is slated to drop at 6:10 p.m.
NOTES: This was the first time in the history of the NHL that all 32 teams played on the same night ... The Jets finished the season with a 3-1-0 record against Nashville.
Although a loss in this game would not have meant the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs, it would have made the process extremely difficult. It was a playoff atmosphere inside the downtown rink and for flood reason.
The Jets entered the contest with a record of 43-32-3 while Nashville was 40-30-8. Winnipeg had 89 points, the Predators had 88 and both teams had four games remaining in the season. For both clubs this was absolutely a must-win game.
When the ice chips cleared about 2 1/2-hours later the Jets had 91 points, the Predators still had 88 and Winnipeg found itself keeping pace with the Calgary Flames (89 points) -- with a game in hand.
However, despite that enthusiastic crowd cheering every move the Jets made, the home side came out as flat as the proverbial pancake and at one point had been outshot 7-2 by the Predators.
But as the first period wore down, the Jets got better, controlled the attacking zone and actually had two or three good scoring chances.
Still, the opening 20 minutes ended with the teams in a scoreless deadlock as Nashville outshot Winnipeg 8-7. The Predators also blocked nine shots.
In the second period, the Jets completely took over the game. Winnipeg had the puck for almost the entire period and outshot Nashville 20-5. Still, it took until the 15:06 mark of the period for Mark Scheifele to squeeze one past Reds net minder Juuse Saros. The Jets had hit the post twice in the game (and they hit it again a few minutes after after the goal) before Scheifele finally coaxed the puck past Saros. It was Scheifele's 40th of the year as Vladislav Namestnikov and Josh Morrissey drew the assists. It was Morrissey's 57th assist of the year.
"Good for him, 40 goals," Rick Bowness said of Scheifele. "That's a hell of a season and he's got three more games to add on to that -- and he could have had the empty netter. He hit the post. I think that's a good example of our perseverance tonight."
The Jets scored again before the period ended as Pierre-Luc Dubois jammed the puck under Saros, but referee Wes McCauley was so enamoured with waving his arms around like a third-base umpire giving the safe call that he didn't notice the puck was still loose in the crease. The officials reviewed it but there was little chance it would be overturned. McCauley screwed up and he couldn't very well admit it.
The Jets seemed to be in complete control at this point having outshot Nashville 27-13 and despite no puck luck whatsoever, were still up by a goal.
The Jets made it 2-0 at the 1:36 mark off the second period when Nikolaj Ehlers hit a streaking Neal Pink with a perfect pass in the circle and Pionk drilled a wrister under the bar. It was a goal-scorer's goal by a defenceman and it was beauty. Blake Wheeler also picked up an assist as the Jets had enough to cruise to the win.
"Neal's goal, that's a timely goal," head coach Rick Bowness said. "They're coming into the third period, they're down 1-0, they say, 'Hey we've got a great chance here,' so that's a huge timely goal for our team. That kind of took the wind out of their sails early and it gave us momentum going into the third period."
Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots -- nine with the goalie on the bench in the final two minutes -- to record his fourth shutout of the year. Nikolaj Ehlers, who was all over the ice, was the game's first star. Hellebuyck was No. 2 and Saros was No. 3.
The Jets outshot Nashville 38-28 (Nashville outshot Winnipeg 15-11 in the third period) and won 60 per cent of the face-offs. Nashville was zero-for-one on the power play while the Jets were zero-for-three as that terrible Winnipeg PP continued to struggle. Nashville outhit Winnipeg 32-31, but the big stat was the fact Nashville players blocked 25 shots. Considering Winnipeg shot nine wide and hit four posts, the Jets took 76 shots towards the Predators net and scored twice.
“We played it simple," Ehlers said. "You chip pucks against a team like this with speed on the outside and you’ll get that puck back. They’re a very good team. Obviously, they have a lot of new guys, young guys, but they have some grit. They have the skill. They have the speed. They’re a very, very good team.”
Blake Wheeler had the best stats line of the night. He had an assist and was plus-one with a shot on goal, two hits, a blocked shot and three takeaways in 14 minutes and one second of ice time. Josh Morrissey had an assist and was plus-one with two shots, two hits and two takeaways in 27 minutes and seven seconds of ice time.
The final home game of the season takes place Monday night at Canada Life Centre as the San Jose Sharks come to town. The puck is slated to drop at 6:10 p.m.
NOTES: This was the first time in the history of the NHL that all 32 teams played on the same night ... The Jets finished the season with a 3-1-0 record against Nashville.
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