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Shots From the Point Put Down Hawks |
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The Set Up
So, Little’s out. It’s obviously awful what happened to him; and who knows if we see him play again? But, if the time to say nice things comes upon his career sooner than expected, there will be plenty of nice things to say. That aside, I hope Chevy can find something in the market before the deadline. A solid acquisition or two could be the difference for this team.
I guess Chibisov goes in then. After registering half a point per game in the A and making his presence known with 73 penalty minutes, he deserves his due. Interesting note, he had all of 14 minutes of penalties in 50 games in the KHL last year. The guy wants a shot in the bigs.
Remaining relevant in the playoff race requires a better than .500 win percentage, and that’s been all the Jets have mustered of late. Are the Jets better than Calgary, Arizona, or Nashville? Maybe.
Are they better than the Blackhawks? They weren’t to start this one…
1st Period
…When Helle had to make a monster save 30 seconds into the game off Jonathon Toews. Yeesh!
Roslovic had jump though, turning in tight and attempting a scary looking shot on Crawford. Maurice would notice the youngster’s efforts on the night and let him play a little center. He didn’t do that bad either. Then Bourque, all alone in front got stoned by Crawford who kept the angle keeping the game scoreless.
That was until, Ryan Carpenter going hard to the net, redirected Kane’s pass past Hellebuyck’s pads.
Andrew Copp got the next shot, when he broke in alone and opted to go to the backhand. Unfortunately, Crawford contained that as well.
The Jets tested Crawford a couple more times in the aftermath of that opportunity, but the chances were mostly marginal.
2nd Period
Jets came out pressing, but couldn’t seem to get anything going on the inside. That was until, the simplicity of the new-look third line had them creating some dangerous situations. Even If they weren’t showing up on the scoreboard just yet, you could feel it was coming for them.
And then it came, when Harkins got one to the point for a Beaulieu blast that Appleton tipped past Crawford.
Getting back on the horse, Caggiula spun and shot after a sneaky feed from Toews behind the net. Helle handled it and the pressure that followed, before the Jets were able to ice the puck.
Kyle Connor is quick, but wasn’t quite quick enough to convince the officials he had scored a good goal when he put it in off the arm. It was a subtle little shrug and deserves a bit of love for the effort.
The Blackhawks came back, but Helle’s sick save off Saad stopped his backhand in the slot. Connor almost caught Crawford off guard with a quick shot from the boards that went between the wickets but missed out the far side.
The Jets efforts would finally pay off when, Roslovic tipped Kulikovs shot from the point, after Appleton found him circling behind the Blackhawk goal.
In the last minute of the second, Captain Serious would race down ice and make a stupid-good pass to his counterpart Kane, to clap into the open cage.
That was just nice.
3rd Period
To begin the third, a pass from Connor to Laine would be stymied by Crawford. But then, Beaulieu would blast one from the point that would make its way past Crawford. Anyone sensing a theme with these goals here?
Anyone else surprised they didn’t challenge on that one?
We were then treated to an old school Kulikov hip check that absolutely annihilated Erik Gustafsson.
And one game after I said such mean things about him. Oh bother.
Helle would have to make a few more huge stops to guarantee his team two points, including one off Kubalik after another sweet Toews’ dish. I’m not sure if this game was a story of missed opportunity for the Blackhawks or the Jets finding their legs, but both teams skated miles.
The Wrap
It’s nice when three shots from the point go in for you, but I wouldn’t call that a recipe for success. Still, who wants to be a downer after a win? Or ever?
So Roslovic might be a center after all. Him and Apple seem to like playing with each other, and I like chucking Harkins on there with them and just seeing what the young lads can do. Did anyone notice Chibisov? He would finish with 8 minutes played, a hit, a shot, and a block. Cool beans.
The main thing is that the Jets are somewhat staying with the wildcard pack. Being within 1 point of the Flames and Coyotes and tied with the Preds, the Jets are hanging in there.
Next up, the Kings on Tuesday. It’s another home game, so 7:00 PM.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • 
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