NHL - Jets - Round Up - March 19-24, 2017

Wild @ Jets 4-5 - Sunday, March 19, 2017

Josh Morrissey scored with 7:17 left to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-4 win against the Minnesota Wild at MTS Centre.  The Wild (43-22-6) battled back from being down 4-0 early in the second period, when they outshot the Jets 21-5 and scored four goals in 10:24 to tie the game. But they lost their fifth straight and fell seven points back of the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Central Division. The Blackhawks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 on Sunday. Chris Stewart scored two goals and Charlie Coyle and Mikael Granlund also scored for the Wild. Devan Dubnyk allowed five goals on 21 shots. Winnipeg (32-33-7) moved within 10 points of the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with 10 games remaining. Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, Ben Chiarot and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck was pulled after allowing four goals on 35 shots. Michael Hutchinson made 13 saves, including a pad save against Matt Dumba in the final seconds to secure the win. Copp scored at 3:47 of the first period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. Lowry made it 2-0 on the power play at 5:36. Chiarot extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:47. Dustin Byfuglien's backhand shot made it 4-0 at 4:48 of the second period. Blake Wheeler got his 500th NHL point with an assist. But the Wild started to rally when Coyle made it 4-1 with at 9:23. Mikko Koivu made a quick cross-ice pass to Granlund on the power play at 15:08 to make it 4-2. Stewart scored 38 seconds later at 15:47 and again at 19:47 to tie the game 4-4. The Jets killed off a two-minute minor against Byfuglien for closing his hand on the puck with 2:07 remaining.

* Scheifele won a battle down low and got the puck to Brian Strait, who moved it cross-ice to Morrissey for the one-timer, his third game-winner in his first NHL season.

* Hutchinson sprawled out to get his right pad on Dumba's point-blank shot in the slot with the Jets on the penalty kill and the Wild net empty late in the third period to preserve the 5-4 lead.

* Bryan Little won a faceoff back to Chiarot, who took the puck wide to the left side, edging past Erik Haula before driving the net, with his backhand shot going off a defender and into the net.

* Jets forward Mathieu Perreault had two assists, two shots, two hits and a takeaway in 17:51 of ice time. 

* Wild forward Jason Pominville was a healthy scratch. … Hellebuyck has been pulled eight times in 52 games this season, including three times in a stretch of 16 consecutive starts.

Wild Quotes

"You give up four goals, and then we tie it up, and then we let it slip away. You'd like to think we'd at least get a point out of that one. It does sting, but I think it's too late in the year for moral victories." Chris Stewart
"It's special for sure [1,000th NHL game]. Tough under the circumstances the way we're playing here the last little bit, but in the overall grand scheme it's a special moment for sure. It's been an honor to play this game. To start, it's fun to be out there every day." Eric Staal

Jets Quotes 

"You feel blessed to have the opportunities I've been given [scoring his 500th point]. I've been lucky to play with a lot of great hockey players, so it's just been a real good start to the career. Being able to play with so many great guys, play a lot of minutes, I feel very fortunate for the opportunities I've been given."
"You just can't take your foot off the gas against teams like that. You give them an inch, and all the sudden it's a 4-4 ball game." Blake Wheeler said.
"I haven't played with the lead for a while, that adds a little more pressure coming into those situations. It was nice to back into a situation where the game was competitive." Hutchinson said.

Philadelphia Flyers @ Jets 2-3 - Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and two assists to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at MTS Centre. Mathieu Perreault had a goal and an assist for the Jets (33-33-7), who moved within 10 points of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Michael Hutchinson made 24 saves in his first start since Jan. 16. He made 13 saves in relief for his first win since Dec. 22, a 5-4 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Jordan Weal and Matt Read scored for the Flyers (33-31-8), who remained seven points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second wild card in the East. Steve Mason made 30 saves, losing for the first time in regulation against Winnipeg in his career (6-1-1). The Flyers had won their past six games against the Jets. Weal made it 1-0 at 4:28 of the second period. Wayne Simmonds' initial shot was saved by Hutchinson, but Simmonds collected his own rebound behind the net and sent it out front to Weal for his fourth goal of the season. Perreault tied the game 1-1 at 7:02 when he tipped Wheeler's point shot for a power-play goal. Wheeler scored his 22nd at 7:02 of the third period to make it 2-1. Scheifele made it 3-1 with his 29th on a wrist shot from the slot at 13:51. Read scored shorthanded with two seconds left to make it 3-2.

* Scheifele's forecheck off a neutral zone faceoff helped create a turnover in the Flyers zone. Wheeler picked up a loose puck and passed to Scheifele and his quick wrist shot beat Mason on his glove side.

* Hutchinson stretched out to make a glove save on Simmonds after the Flyers forward skated into the slot and got a wrist shot off with the Flyers net empty and down two goals late in the third period.

* Mason got the shaft of his stick on Patrik Laine's one-timer in the slot, a shot that knocked the stick out of Mason's hand in the second period.

* Jets defenseman Nelson Nogier had a shot and three hits in 12:16 in his first NHL career game.
* The Flyers signed 2014 third-round pick defenseman Mark Friedman to an entry-level contract for the 2017-18 season. He will report to Leigh Valley of the American Hockey League. ... The line of Scheifele, Wheeler and Perreault combined for eight points (three goals, five assists). ... Wheeler has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his past 11 games. ... Scheifele has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his past 12 games.

"We knew it was going to be a grind, they play a tough game, they swarm the puck. But we stuck to our game and got rewarded." Scheifele said.

"It was just nice to be in the game and see some game action. When you have some time in between games, [momentum] doesn't really carry over. I felt good right from the get-go in this game." Hutchinson said.

"About 10 minutes into the game, once I got a few shifts under my belt. I was fortunate to get my legs under me pretty quick and got a few touches with the puck. From there, I just tried to settle down." Nelson Nogier

Jets @ Los Angeles Kings 2-5 - Thursday, March 23, 2017

Marian Gaborik scored the first of three straight goals for the Los Angeles Kings in the third period of a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Staples Center. Anze Kopitar, Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty each had a goal and an assist, Tanner Pearson scored a shorthanded goal, and Ben Bishop made 19 saves for his first win with Los Angeles (35-31-7), which is eight points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with nine games remaining. Nashville defeated the Calgary Flames 3-1. Tyler Toffoli had two assists for the Kings, whose win prevented the Minnesota Wild from clinching a playoff berth. Mathieu Perreault and Patrik Laine scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets (33-34-7), who had their three-game winning streak end. Winnipeg trails Nashville by 12 points with eight games remaining. Los Angeles was 3-for-4 on the power play. All three third-period goals came on special teams. Gaborik scored his 10th goal on the power play at 2:01 to give the Kings a 3-2 lead. Doughty made it 4-2 with his ninth goal on the power play at 3:57, and Pearson scored his 23rd goal at 9:22 to put Los Angeles up 5-2. Perreault tipped defenseman Brian Strait's shot from the left point past Bishop at 6:54 of the first period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. It was Perreault's 10th goal, second in as many games. After Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler was called for high sticking, Kopitar scored a power-play goal with 5:37 remaining in the first to tie it 1-1. Laine scored to give the Jets a 2-1 lead with 2:19 left in the period on a 5-on-3 power play after penalties on Bishop for slashing and Doughty for delay of game, the latter occurring with 3:02 left in the first. Laine's 34 goals lead NHL rookies, are tied with Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues for fourth in the League, and are seven behind NHL leader Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Muzzin scored with 3:54 left in the second period to tie the game 2-2. The Kings scored seven goals in their previous five games (1-3-1).

* With the Jets on the power play, Pearson beat Josh Morrissey to a loose puck near the Kings blue line, put a move on the Winnipeg defenseman near the boards at center ice, and shot past Hellebuyck's blocker from the right faceoff circle.

* Bishop got his left pad on Joel Armia's one-timer from the bottom of the left hash marks at 1:05 of the first period.

* Kings defenseman Dennis Forbort had three shots on goal and three hits in 20:56, including 2:53 on the penalty kill.

* Laine scored with a one-timer from the left circle that ricocheted off Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, the boards and Bishop's skate. "It's one of those things where it obviously happens, you're pretty mad, but at the same time you can't do much about it. You just kind of forget about it and move on," Bishop said.
* Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien left the game late in the third period with an undisclosed injury following a collision with Carter. … Scheifele has seven points (one goal, six assists) during his five-game point streak. … Pearson's shorthanded goal was his first of the season. … Kopitar has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in the past 13 games. He has scored five goals in the past 10 games after he had six in his first 57.

"We didn't do a good enough job getting into shooting lanes. We were out of sync running around too much. They were composed and took the shots when they got them, and we weren't able to get in front of them." Blake Wheeler
"We have to find someone to get in front of the shooting lane. It was 2-2 going into the third. We have battled fairly hard on the road, then we got into the penalty box, and that was the end of it." Paul Maurice said.

Jets @ Anaheim Sucks 1-3 - Friday, March 24, 2017

The Anaheim Ducks are tied for first place in the Pacific Division after a 3-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Honda Center. The Ducks (40-23-11) were nine points behind the San Jose Sharks on March 15 and are 4-0-1 since then. The Sharks have lost five in a row in regulation, including 6-1 to the Dallas Stars on Friday. The Sharks hold the tiebreaker advantage with 40 regulation/overtime wins; the Ducks have 37. They each have eight games remaining but don't play each other. The Edmonton Oilers are two points back. Andrew Cogliano and Corey Perry each scored his 15th goal of the season for the Ducks, and Jakob Silfverberg scored into an empty net for his NHL career-high 21st. Jonathan Bernier made 17 saves and is 9-2-1 with a .940 save percentage since taking over for injured John Gibson. Cogliano made it 2-1 with his first goal in 11 games at 16:32 of the second period. Ryan Kesler took the puck behind the net and passed to Cogliano on the opposite side. He tried to pass the puck out front to Silfverberg, but it hit the stick of Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba, who was in front of the crease. The puck then hit Trouba's body and ricocheted into the net. Perry gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 17:17 of the first period. He skated up the left wall with his back to the Winnipeg net, cut into the middle inside the blue line, and maintained possession as he went above the circles. He took a wrist shot that hit the left corner of the net as Antoine Vermette jostled for position in front with Jets defenseman Adam Lowry. Winnipeg (33-35-7) tied it 1-1 at 6:08 of the second period when Josh Morrissey tipped in a point shot from Blake Wheeler on the power play.

* The second of three power plays for the Jets was winding down when Mathieu Perreault passed to Wheeler inside the blue line. He took the shot, and Morrissey scored with three seconds left on the man-advantage.

* The Ducks led 2-1 and were on the penalty kill midway through the third period when Morrissey received a pass in the left circle with time and space. Bernier slid over for the save at 9:43, the only shot on goal during the power play.

* Tied 1-1 and with the Jets making their biggest push of the game, Winnipeg forward Joel Armia had an open side of the net to aim for, but Bernier stuck out his left pad and turned away the shot at 11:28 of the second period.

* Ducks defensemen Korbinian Holzer and Brandon Montour played in the same game for the first time since Dec. 30. Montour had an assist and was plus-2, and Holzer helped limit the Jets to 18 shots on goal, their lowest total since taking 18 against the New York Rangers on Dec. 8.

* Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (lower body) was scratched after warmups and is day to day. Byfuglien, who leads Winnipeg defensemen with 12 goals and 36 assists, left in the third period of a 5-2 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. ... Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa missed his first game of the season after taking a high stick to his mouth in a 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. ... Trouba returned after missing five games with an upper-body injury. ... Silfverberg scored 20 goals last season. … The Ducks won their first game against a team that entered Friday outside a playoff spot since a 1-0 win against the Kings on Feb. 19. … The Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins are the only NHL teams with at least 40 wins in each of the past four seasons.

"We battled pretty hard ... would have liked to come out with the win." Josh Morrissey
"We did a good job of putting a bad bounce behind us and kept battling." Michael Hutchinson