WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets were struggling to find answers for the six-game losing streak they were on and were hoping that getting back home would be just the remedy they needed. They were facing off against another struggling team, the Vancouver Canucks who had lost four in a row coming in. Coach Paul Maurice, who made some changes and put some new line combinations together, got the result he was looking for as the Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 to snap there six game losing streak .
“It put us back in a positive frame of mind coming home,” Maurice said.
Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec got the start and looked like he did at the start of the season as he stopped 29 of 30 Canuck shots to get the win. He was square to the puck all game after looking a bit sluggish the past few games.
“It’s frustrating,” Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. “But I think we got better as a team as the trip went on. It’s going to be tough going home [Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks]; it’s not going to be easier. We’re going to have to regroup, and we’re going to have to be ready to battle.”
The trio of Mark Sheifele, Drew Stafford and Mathieu Perreault found instant chemistry and produced 9 points as each member had a three-point night. Sheifele had a pair of goals his sixth and seventh of the season, Stafford also had a pair his sixth and seventh. Stafford had a career high eight shots on goal. Stafford snapped an 11 game goalless drought.
“It’s definitely a relief,” said Stafford, who has seven goals. “There are ebbs and flows in this game. There are times when things aren’t going to go your way. It’s just the nature of the business. Stick with it and sooner or later things will turn around.”
Winnipeg whose power play has been struggling as well since the start of the season and was on a 1 for 29 drought clicked on its first attempt as Sheifele ripped a wrister home. Although they ended 1-for-4 they had their puck movement back and were very dangerous with the man advantage.
Ryan Miller who has been slumping for Vancouver took another loss and now finds himself on a six-game losing skid. He did make numerous big stops including a couple big glove saves off Chris Thorburn and Nik Ehlers. In the end, he stopped 29 shots.
“We keep saying we’re close,” said Miller, who made 30 saves. “We’ve got to make the turn here. It’s not ideal mentally for this group to be really close [in] games. We’ve got to park it. We’ve got to find a way to keep coming with energy and believe it’s going to turn. The only thing you can do in this situation is work hard and believe that hard work will translate.”
Canucks got their lone goal from Daniel Sedin on the power play his seventh of the season.
“After we scored our tying goal, we had a lot of chances to get [ahead] in the game, but [Pavelec] made some great saves,” Daniel Sedin said. “Then we turned the puck over, and they scored. That’s the turning point right there.”
The Jets brought their physical presence back as they were dishing out big thunderous hits to open up the game but it was the Canucks Lucas Sbisa who lowered the boom on Jets prized rookie Nik Ehlers with a big check that sent the rookie to the room for a bit. Although Ehlers came back and was fine Jets tough guy Anthony Peluso zoned in on Sbisa and the two dropped the gloves for an easy decision for Peluso. Sbisa left the game after the first with an undisclosed injury.
The Jets will look to build on this win Saturday as they welcome the Arizona Coyotes to MTS Centre.
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