Author Archives: Shaun Bill

Panthers maul Jets, 6-1

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In Sunrise, the Florida Panthers won their ninth straight, 6-1, over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.

Jonathan Huberdeau hit for a double and added an assist in the win.

“We have a special team,” Huberdeau said. “We’re excited for what’s coming up.”

Florida improved to 53-15-6.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves in the Panthers win.

“To be honest, I didn’t know about that,” Bobrovsky said. “I just found out after the game. They gave me a puck and said that I got the record. But it’s a team record. It’s not me, it’s all about the team. By myself I’m nothing, but as a team we’re strong.”

Nikolaj Ehlers was the lone goal scorer in the Jets loss.

Winnipeg lost a chance to pick up points in the Western Conference wild card chase.

The Jets dropped to 35-29-11.

“We look at the result here tonight and it’s extremely disappointing,” Jets coach Dave Lowry said. “It’s all about what you take from a game. The way we played isn’t winning hockey.”

Gustav Forsling also hit for a pair of goals for Florida.

Ehlers scored early in the third period to shave the Panthers lead to 4-1.

“We didn’t come out ready to play,” Ehlers said. “Our line gets scored on the first two shifts. Straight up, that’s not good enough. They’re a great team and we’re not good enough.”

Mason Marchment pushed the advantage to 5-1.

“I don’t really look (at the standings),” Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. “I know we’re in a good position. I just expect everybody’s going to win. And we’ve got to keep winning and more importantly we were a little unhappy with our group there a little bit for some of those games, even though we came back, but I thought we tightened some things up here the last week or so. And I think that’s a sign where we can try to keep building and get our complete both sides of the puck game to as high as we possibly can before the playoffs.”

The Panthers’ Maxim Mamin  hit for a goal at 7:00 for the 6-1 final.

Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves in the Jets loss.

Jets get closer to second with win in Montreal

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In Montreal, the Winnipeg Jets got a solid performance from across the bench and handed the Canadiens a 4-2 loss on Monday night.

Winnipeg’s Evgeny Svechnikov scored with 11 minutes left in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie.

Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves in the Jets win.

Winnipeg improved to 35-28-11.

“We’re in desperation mode right now, and it would be no different if we were in a playoff series and we were going back to back,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “That was the conversation that we had and understanding that we have to win every game here and just take care of business each and every night.”

The victory pulled the Jets to within five points of the idle Dallas Stars for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Montreal’s Joel Armia  broke the ice with 29 seconds gone in the middle frame for a 1-0 lead.

The lead last less than 90 seconds when Winnipeg tied it off a goal from Morgan Barron.

“We need to win a lot of games down the stretch if we want to get into the [Stanley Cup Playoffs],” Barron said. “I think everyone’s mindset is still getting in and going on a run here. So we’re taking it one game at a time, but just to come out with two points in a game like that, it’s huge for us.”

The Jets pulled ahead off a strike from Paul Stastny  for the 2-1 advantage.

Montreal has lost six of their eight matches, they dropped to 20-42-11.

The Habs’ Josh Anderson tied it at 6″19 of the third.

Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry  hit an empty-net goal with 91 seconds left in the game for the 4-2 final.

Sam Montembeault made 31 saves in the Canadiens loss.

“[Montembeault] made two or three saves where the shooters were probably expecting the puck to be in the back of the net,” the Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher said. “He’s battling, he’s competing, he’s worked hard all year and it hasn’t been the easiest for him. But he’s been giving us a chance every night, so he’s been playing some really good hockey.”

Jets stay alive

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In Ottawa, the Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers  hit for a goal and three points on Sunday in a 4-3 win over the Senators .

The win helped the Jets keep pace in their hunt for a wild card spot in the Western Conference.

“[Ehlers] is a key player for us, offensively,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “He’s one of the drivers, and when you don’t have him in your lineup, you miss him. And when you have him in your lineup, [Ehlers] is dialed in and he’s playing his game. You notice him. Tonight, he was able to get himself into a game. He created some offense, he used his feet to beat guys and allowed his skill to take over.”

Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in the Jets win.

Brady Tkachuk hit for a double for the Sens, and Josh Norris added a single marker in the loss.

“We really wanted those two points tonight,” Tkachuk said. “As you could tell, we were fighting to the very last second. This one’s going to be a frustrating one, but we have to move past it.”

The victory ended a four-game skid.

“Our goalies, not just [Hellebuyck], [Eric Comrie] as well, they’ve been fantastic all year,” Ehlers said. “They give us a chance to be in every single game. It’s up to us to give something back. And tonight, [Hellebuyck] showed that again, made a huge save at the end on the rebound to keep it a 4-3 game.”

Norris gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead in the first period.

“I didn’t like our first period,” Lowry said. “I didn’t like our puck management, I didn’t like the pace that we were playing at, I didn’t like the [lack of] urgency in our game. To [our] credit, we had an answer in the second period and we did things in the second that we wanted to do at the start of the game.”

Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor, and Paul Stastny all scored for Winnipeg.

“It’s easy to play with him,” Stastny said of Ehlers. “Sometimes we play great together, and sometimes there’s injuries and the lineup changes a little bit. But ever since we’ve been back together, I think we’ve both enjoyed having each other. We both play for each other, we kind of feed off each other and know where each guy’s going to be, whether it’s through the neutral zone, offensive or defensive zone.”

Mads Sogaard made 21 saves in the Senators loss.

“That’s where I feel I’m at my best, around the net causing chaos,” Tkachuk said. “Just being hungry and trying to put [pucks] in the back of the net. But all of those plays don’t happen without teammates getting it there and making good plays around the net, shots, tips. And we have a lot of guys who sacrifice in front of the net.”

Jets rally, gain point in OT loss

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In Winnipeg, the Jets needed two goals in the third period to gt even with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele scored their second goals of the game in the third to force extra time at 4-4.

“The desperation level, and battling every night, no matter what the situation is for us, I thought we did that for a lot of this game,” the Jets’ Josh Morrissey said. “You’re fighting to try to tie it up and stay alive in the game. You obviously need everybody battling who’s out there, and fortunately we had some good plays and won some key battles.”

The Avalanche’s Cale Makar  scored at 2:42 of the extra session to give Colorado a 5-4 win.

The loser’s point gave the Jets a small gain in their chase for the wild card.

“That’s exactly how we want to play,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “That’s exactly how we’re going to have to play with this team moving forward. We did a lot of really good things. We defended hard. We kept a very good team, for the most part, on the outside.”

The Jets dropped to 33-28-11.

Pavel Francouz made 39 saves in the Avs win.

“I thought [Francouz] played well,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I mean, he hasn’t played a lot of hockey for us here so it can be difficult getting a start every week to 10 days, but I think he’s been sharp, and he looked good again tonight. We gave up some dangerous chances, especially early in the game, some breakdowns that I didn’t love, and he came up big for us and gave us a chance to win the hockey game.”

Nathan MacKinnon and Andre Burakovsky each picked up a goal and two points in the win.

“We did some really good things tonight,” Bednar said. “First period [we were] careless with the puck, had a couple turnovers and a few decisions where we gave them some easy scoring chances and a couple easy goals, really. One on a turnover and one on a read on the forecheck where we gave up an odd-man rush. But for the most part got better as the game went on, our defending was better in the third period and we started to spend more time in the offensive zone as the game went on as well.”

Colorado took a 1-0 lead in the game off a goal from Nicolas Aube-Kubel  in the first period.

“They pushed hard,” Burakovsky said. “They made it hard for us. They had a couple long shifts in our zone against us. They were shooting the puck and they were working hard. They were crashing the net. It was hard for us to defend against that. Really good job by us to find a way to win the game.”

The Avs improved to 51-14-6.

“Penalties hurt us at the end,” Bednar said. “We had one opportunity with the empty net in order to probably put that game on ice and we didn’t capitalize on it, and then we end up getting called for a penalty. I like the fact that our team stuck with it in overtime. You certainly don’t like to give up a lead, but the Jets are a dangerous team. They have some shooters over there.”

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in the loss.

Jets stumble to third straight loss

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In Winnipeg, the Jets had a great opportunity to keep pace in the Western Conference wild card race on Wednesday night.“Obviously we can’t afford to lose games right now, and that’s a game we shouldn’t lose,” the Jets’ Josh Morrissey said. “Just with their schedule and our desperation, they’re playing on a back-to-back. It’s frustrating. I think every guy knows that in the room. So that’s the emotion.”

The visiting Detroit Red Wings spoiled the Jets’ dreams with two goals in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and send them to a 3-1 win.

Thomas Greiss made 32 saves in the Detroit win.

“We’ve gotten really good goaltending,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought Thomas allowed us to kind of get our legs tonight. We weren’t skating during the first. I didn’t think we were quick enough at all and I thought he allowed us to get our legs, and that’s a huge thing.”

Sam Gagner hit for a double for Detroit, including a late empty-net goal to ice the win.

“Sam’s been really good, but Sam’s been really good in a lot of ways,” Blashill said. “Sam’s really turned himself into an accountable, 200-foot player. He’s got good poise. He’s really, really, really smart. He’s very, very thoughtful as a person and he’s also provided really good leadership.”

The Red Wings moved to 28-34-9.

“These are the games we haven’t been good enough in,” Blashill said. “When we’ve been good as a team it’s when we’ve got our legs and everything kind of sets up and we’re on top of people and we have great energy. It’s these types of games that we’ve got to be better at.”

Mark Scheifele had the Jets only goal, in the middle frame.

Winnipeg fell to 33-28-10, and have lost three straight.

“I think we passed up some opportunities,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “We had some good looks where we passed up shots looking to make that next play, looking to make a pass. We had opportunities we created. The first period we deserved a better fate and they get a bounce and they end up scoring. And we did a lot of really good things, and what that did was gave them some life, gave them some momentum and gave them a reason to stick around.”

Michael Rasmussen scored the game-winner in the third period when he gave Detroit a 2-1 lead.

“I think everyone was kind of frustrated how things were going, obviously, and I think just as a group we decided to collectively get our heads down and work harder and try to come up with some results,” Rasmussen said. “I think the past two games have been good for us and I think we’ve done just that. Top to bottom, everyone has had great efforts and we’ve come out with two wins.”

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in the Jets loss.

“I think they get a couple of lucky breaks coming the other way,” the Jets’ Kyle Connor said. “No matter what it is — we had good zone time, a lot chances — it’s still frustrating. We need to come out with a win. That’s the bottom line. We need two points at this time of the year. It’s tough.”

Kings edge Jets, 3-2

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In Winnipeg, it was a game of two teams now going to in opposite directions.

The visiting Los Angeles Kings downed the Jets on Saturday, 3-2.

For LA, it was two points in their climb up the ladder in the Pacific Division, for the Jets, it was a lost opportunity with the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights vying for the wold card.

“We played the game we wanted early,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “Halfway through the night we started taking penalties and gave them every opportunity to get back in. … Most of that penalty kill came in the second half of the game, so I really thought it was two different games.”

Gabriel Vilardi, Anze Kopitar, and Adrian Kempe  were the Los Angeles strikers.

Cal Petersen made 25 saves in the LA win.

“Cal stepped up and played a great game,” Los Angeles’ Sean Durzi said. “I thought a couple times we hung him out to dry and, obviously, he made the big stops for us, which was huge.”

Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets.

“I thought the second half of the game, we had a lot of chances,” Lowry said. “They are a team that they don’t give up much anywhere on the ice, they don’t give up much around the net. We got our chances. Their goalie played well. … They did a good job of defending, goalie made key saves. I think we did a good job getting around the net and getting chances around their net.”

The Kings improved to 38-23-10.

The Kings have played 13 of their 19 games on the road.

“This was a tough run,” McLellan said. “Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg is not an easy place to play for a lot of reasons. Each one of the teams is a little bit different. They all have superstars who are game-breakers. Outstanding goaltending for the most part. Tough buildings to play in. Not an easy travel schedule.”

The Jets dropped to 33-27-10.

“The faster you play, I think the more, from the stands and up top, it looks like we’re all over them,” the Jets’ Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “I think the faster we play, the less complicated and more simple we keep it. It’s hard to play against teams like that, they do it over and over and over again. Even when you do get the puck, you don’t have any room, you don’t have any time because they are all over you.”

Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves in the Winnipeg loss.

“There were a couple of goals (against) tonight that weren’t shot in, that went in off the feet,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “And those are unfortunate when they go against you.”