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The Set Up
Take a bow Winnipeg. That was quite the performance. Against arguably the league’s hottest team, the Jets came out and took it to the Pacific Division leaders early and often.
I guess a little time off helps. We saw the bump the Jets received coming out of the All-Star break, and now with two days rest the Jets appeared full of piss and vinegar. With a couple more off before the next one, there’s hope we get to see this again.
It was good to see Perreault back in there. More on him below. Morbidly, it was also good to see Mark Stone not back in there. The man is a beast and our chances were bettered by his being battered. And, puck drop.
1st Period
32 seconds into the game, Ehlers sped into the Knights’ zone, around their net, and casually threw the puck in front. It wasn’t meant to be much, but a couple bounces off Reaves and Fleury and the Jets had the early lead.
We’ll take it.
Fleury made a stunning save off Perreault shortly after, when Apple found him cross-ice on the 2 on 1 looking for the back-door tap-in.
While on the powerplay, a Pionk point shot ricocheted right to Laine who wristed a quick one right past Fleury.
Harkins had a good chance hounding a puck on a bit of a broken play. His drive to the net was very Wheeler-esque and most definitely one of the power forward variety. Pretty to watch. He kept his pace up and almost scored again in a similar way. What a treat it is for the Jets to have another young forward for us to watch develop before our eyes. And, such a gritty one too.
With a minute and a half to go in the period, Vegas put a puck off the pipe, but Connor countered with a quick snap past Fleury on a perfect pass from Roslovic. Count it!
By the way, he’s now lit the lamp in five games straight. Could this kid become better than Scheifele?
It was a hell of a period for the Jets, dominating Vegas in almost every way. Who saw that coming?
2nd Period
How about that Laine back-check? He must have skated 150 feet with enough determination to catch up to the Knight and swiftly snatch the puck off his stick. It was sick.
And then as if on cue, Perreault scores on the powerplay just as Beyak comments about his returned presence to it. Marvelous. Who doesn’t love watching the fearless Frenchman getting in on the grease?
Perreault finished the night with a goal on 2 shots, and 6 hits in just 8 minutes of ice time. Welcome back Matty!
There are those that do not give Perreault his due, and it’s unfortunate. He is a true glue guy, and does everything that is asked of him. In the last three years he has averaged 13:16, 12:14, and 14:28 minutes per games. That’s down from 16:17, 16:33, and 16:15 the three years before. What kind of player cheerfully takes that kind of hit to his ice and isn’t upset about it?
The best part of it is that he’s remained productive in those minutes in two out of the last three years scoring 15 and 17 goals, before being limited to just 7 so far this year. His Corsi has always remained above 50% and he can play on both special teams. Is he not a perfect role model for the Jets’ youth that dwell in the bottom six of the forward group?
3rd Period
In the third we saw Pirri pound another pipe before Fleury flummoxed Scheifele on a 2 on 1 with Connor.
Helle had to do his share of the heavy lifting in the third, but it didn’t seem nearly as bad as many other games this year. Maybe I’m just desensitized.
The Wrap
With the shutty Hellebuyck now holds the top spot in that category while residing in ninth for save percentage. As has been explained ad nauseam, with the quantity and quality of shots that Helle has faced this year, the Vezina is very much within reach.
The Jets weren’t the only ones with success on the night as the Wild, Predators, Canucks, Blackhawks, and Flames all were winners as well. From the clump of competitors that makes up the Western Conference wild card race, only the Coyotes went down.
The Jets’ next game is against ‘dem ‘der Dogs. It’s a Monday game, at home, so 7:00 pm.
Let’s get on with the grind, shall we?
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • 
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