VANCOUVER – Coming off a big win in Edmonton and riding a five-game winning streak the Jets faced a tough test stepping into Vancouver for another playoff-type atmosphere.
Eddie Lack got the come-from0-behind win over Jets – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Coach Paul Maurice decided to give Michael Hutchinson the start rather than go with Ondrej Pavelec in back-to-back games even though Pavelec was riding a five-game win streak as well.
“We gave what we had,” said coach Paul Maurice. “We were better than I thought we were going to be able to be through the first 30 minutes of that hockey game and didn’t win. We were as good as we were physically able to be.”
Hutchinson played well stopping 25 of 28 shots but in the end it was 5-2 loss to Vancouver.
“I got a good read on it but it hit our defenseman’s stick and changed direction on me,” Hutchinson said. “That’s a little frustrating when those bounces happen, especially in a 2-0 game to give them a little momentum.”
The Jets held a 2-0 lead halfway through the second period before giving up three straight goals with some suspect coverage in the defensive zone.
After coming out of the gate flying the Jets seemed a bit drained and had not very much energy. Special teams were again a factor as the Jets were 0-2 on the power play and the Canucks were 1-1.
Eddie Lack was superb in the pipes for the Canucks as he made 26 saves off 28 Jet shots including a couple of huge stops off Mark Sheifele who had 5 shots on him and they all seemed like quality chances. Lack was named the game’s third star.
The Jets got goals from Jiri Tlusty who got his 14th of the season and first as a Jet, and Blake Wheeler got his 23rd goal of the year.
Vancouver got goals from Chris Higgins his 10th, Yanick Weber his 8th, Radim Vrbata his 28th, 29th, Henrik Sedin his 17th.
“He’s just kind of an assassin,” Higgins said of Vrbata, who also had an assist. “It’s incredible watching him around the net, so much poise and patience. He’s very aware of how much time he has around the net. It’s impressive to watch.”
There was also more bad news with the loss as LA won and are now two points back with a game in hand on the Jets making for a huge 4 game home stand where they will need to pretty much win all of them the way things are going in the West.
“Everybody knows how important this game was,” Vrbata said. “Even though we were down 2-0, we didn’t give up and were able to turn it around in the second and play well defensively in the third.”
Winnipeg will need a full sixty minute effort during their next game if they hope to get back to their winning ways.
They will welcome the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night to MTS Centre.
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