WINNIPEG – Fans at the MTS Centre were treated to a possible first round playoff matchup between the Jets and Blues and what better series would there be? These two teams play the same style and are bigger faster teams that skate really well. The Jets got two big monkey’s off their back as they beat the Blues for the first time this year and they won a game after trailing after two periods. The Jets gutted out a 2-1 shoot out win and got a much needed two points.
Andrew Ladd – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“You need to eventually have that belief that you can be down against a good team and come back and win,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said.
Ondrej Pavelec was making his 3rd consecutive start and was nothing short of spectacular as he made 32 stops off 33 Blues shots and even made 2 more saves in the shoot out. He made a couple of big time stops in overtime to preserve this victory. He even had the crowd chanting PAVY PAVY ! the Jets faithful were showing him the love.
“We spent everything we had, and we needed the fans to be as great as they were in this building tonight because that had a lot to do with us being able to play that hard for that long,” Maurice said.
Brian Elliot was no slouch in the pipes for St. Louis as he stopped 33 of 34 shots and also had some help from the post and cross bar but otherwise was solid as he normally is.
The Jets looked calm and cool all game showing the Blues they were not going to crumble or back down as they controlled a lot of the play.
“It’s too bad for [goalie Brian Elliott],” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He played a [heck] of a hockey game. [Each] goalie was good.
“We were a step behind. Until the game got tied up, we were probably a half-step behind. They were a little bit more desperate. I thought we were a little bit behind and not in sync. We played slowly compared to what we can play.”
Winnipeg was the more physical team as well out hitting the Blues 38-21. This game was almost dead even when going down the game stats. It was a goalie dual and Pavelec came out on top tonight. This had playoffs written all over it as the teams would mix it up after every whistle. Up and down tight checking physical battles all around.
The Jets got their lone goal off the stick of Drew Stafford who scored his 15th of the season. He now has 6 goals and 5 assists in 15 games with the Jets and has been one of the team’s top forwards since arriving. He also scored in the shoot out.
“It’s huge,” Stafford said. “We rallied, and we rallied behind the fans, feeding off their buzz and energy. We’re just going to try to keep rolling.”
Captain Clutch Andrew Ladd scored the shoot out winner with a dirty top corner laser beam past Elliot.
“[Stafford] really has had a huge impact since he has been here,” Maurice said. “To come in here and just be a piece of it, a huge piece of it, it has got to be a good feeling for him.
“All three of them are finding each other, they’re talking on the ice, they’re playing off each other. The stuff that [makes up] chemistry, I guess, that you can’t invent.”
The Blues lone goal scorer was Captain David Backes who scored his 25th of the season and has a four game point streak going.
“From our standpoint, the way we prepared, the energy we [had], how physical we were and on the puck, I think we’re going to need to play that type of hockey down the stretch to get in,” Ladd said. “That’s playoff-style hockey.”
Tyler Myers was the top Jets player as he logged almost 30 minutes of ice and was a force in both ends of the ice and had a helper on the goal by Stafford. He was named the games third star.
The Jets will host the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
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