WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets opened the 2015 portion of the season with a bang against the Toronto Maple Leafs on national TV in Canada , Saturday night Hockey Night In Canada with a dominating 5-1 victory to halt a two-game losing streak.
The Jets dominated from start to finish as they outshot the Leafs 40-21 , and had the visitors on their heels the whole game as the Jets had them hemmed in and chasing the puck most of the game.
Michael Hutchinson got the start and stopped 20 of 21 shots and was solid as he has been all season. He improves to 10-3-2 on the year.
Toronto countered with Manitoba native James Reimer who saw a lot of rubber as the jets fired 40 shots his way and although he allowed five goals, he kept his team closer than they should have been.
Toronto opened the scoring when former Jet Mike Santorelli scored his 9th of the season; this was the only bright spot for the visitors as it was all downhill after this.
“[Moving Byfuglien to defense] has worked out well because we had gotten a foundation down,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “He clearly wants to play defense, so when he got his opportunity; he knew that there was a structure there that he had to adhere to. Not just to stay [as a defenseman], but for our team to be successful. Now you’re seeing a guy that is a dominant defenseman.
“You cannot find [dominant defensemen]. You can find top-nine forwards, but you cannot find players like Dustin Byfuglien on the blue line as he is now, not as he was last [season].”
The Jets got goals from TJ Galiardi who scored his 1st of the season , Matt Halischuk his 2nd, Dustin Byfuglien his 9th, Bryan Little his 15th a power play marker, Ben Chiarot potted his 1st career NHL goal .
“It’s something that we have been working on all [season],” Galiardi said of the quick response. “When you give up a goal, you want to come back right away and have a good shift afterward.”
Byfuglien who was named the game’s first star was an absolute beast the whole game as he controlled the play every time he was on the ice.
“He was the best player on the ice, just a dominant force in all aspects of the game,” Maurice said.
He had numerous huge hits including an open ice hit on Richard Panik that send the MTS crowd through the roof!
“There is more to Dustin’s game than just going out and putting up numbers,” Maurice said. “We need him to play against the other team’s best, to play big minutes, and he certainly has embraced that.”
He had a goal and a helper and finished +4 on the night playing just under 24 minutes, his partner Chiarot who seems to have found a home playing with Big Buff had a whale of a game as well scoring his 1st NHL goal a rocket off the bar and in. He also finished +4 on the night. He was the games second star.
“It’s just confidence,” Byfuglien said of his offensive-zone play. “It’s knowing that I can protect the puck and find time and room for someone else to get open, and hopefully they can make it happen afterwards.”
The Jets got an important two points to leap frog into 5th place in the tight Western Playoff race. They improve to 20-12-7 on the season and will welcome the San Jose Sharks to the MTS Centre on Monday night for a huge game as both teams are neck and neck in the chase for the post season.
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