BOSTON – The Winnipeg Jets faced a tough task opening up on the road in Boston at the TD Garden, a place they haven’t won in since the 07/08 season when they were still the Thrashers. They had some jitters early on but weathered the storm in a huge way with a 6-2 win to open the 2015/16 season.
The Jets scored six goals in the final two periods to cap off this huge road victory not to mention that six different Jets found the back of the net for some balance for their attack.
The Jets also had some new faces in the lineup compared to the lineup they had during the playoffs as they welcomed back former first round pick Alex Burmistrov from the KHL, Andrew Copp played the final game of last season so this was his 2nd official NHL game, Nik Ehlers, Nic Petan both playing their first NHL games; a special night indeed for the three rookies.
Jets got goals from Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Drew Stafford, Chris Thorburn, Petan, and Burmistrov.
Petan’s marker was his 1st NHL goal and the former WHL scoring star had his parents in the crowd to witness it.
Ondrej Pavelec was stellar in the pipes stopping 29 of 31 shots and looked like he was picking up where he left off last season.
Boston netminder Tuukka Rask stopped 26 shots in the loss.
This was a fast-paced, hard hitting game that the Jets seemed to take control of after a shaky opening twenty minutes where the jitters and anticipation must have gotten the best of them they settled down and just used their size and speed as well as they showed they have some good balance down the line up.
Burmistrov may draw the ire of the league for a head shot he delivered to Patrice Bergeron in the first period as he was penalized for an illegal check to head. This made him the center of attention for the rest of the game but he didn’t back down and finished the game with a goal and an assist for the Jets.
The Jets will continue this four-game road trip tomorrow night in New Jersey taking on the Devils in their home opener.
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