Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves in win over the Jets – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
WINNIPEG – It’s beginning to become a common theme the last few games for the Jets, third period breakdowns that end in losses. Tuesday night the Jets were about three minutes forty seconds away from at least a point until J.T Miller made a nifty stretch pass to Chris Kreider who blazed by Dustin Byfuglien and scored his 21st of the season and broke the hearts of Jets fans and the Jets players as the Rangers went on to win 3-2.
“We [had not] really been playing our brand of hockey,” Kreider said. “[Before playing Winnipeg], we were rushing. We weren’t patient, weren’t poised, and I think we got back to the way we want to play tonight. It was more of a Ranger game.”
It was the second home loss in a row for a team that has been dominant on home ice.
“Emotions are all high at this point,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “We just talked about how we’re going to proceed.”
Ondrej Pavelec was in the pipes again for Winnipeg and made 21 stops off 24 Ranger shots. It’s his 2nd consecutive loss as well something he hasn’t done in a while. His record falls to 19-16-7 overall.
The Rangers countered with Henrik Lundqvist who has been injured for the past seven weeks and was making his second appearance in the last 27 games. He was back in fine form as he made 32 saves off 34 Jets shots. He was named the games third star. The King, as he is known, improves to 26-12-3 on the season.
“I’m happy with how the guys played in front of [Lundqvist] and were able to get the late goal to get him the win tonight,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.
The Jets came flying out of the gate and had the Rangers hemmed in their end and were getting quality chances but just couldn’t open the flood gates on Lundqvist who was standing on his head. The Jets welcomed back top line center Bryan Little who had been out 11 games with an upper body injury he looked a bit rusty as he had a couple nice chances he couldn’t find the back of the net with.
“This was a great test for us,” Lundqvist said. “I thought that [Winnipeg] played a great game. They had speed. They played physically. They made it really tough for us, but I’m happy with the way we responded. After each [Winnipeg] goal, we settled in and started playing our game, our fast game.”
Overall this team now has the depth they were looking for and have four lines that can roll.
The Jets got goals from Jim Slater his 4th, Lee Stempniak his 12th.
New York got goals from Matt Zuccarello his 15th, Derek Brassard his 17th, Kreider his 21st.
The Jets seemed destined for at least a point before some serious speed burned them; they got beat by their own game. Byfuglien got caught going one way and Kreider blew by and dangled Pavelec. The Jets were the more physical team but the speed of the Rangers created a lot of their chances. Special teams hurt the Jets as they were 0-2 on the power play while the Rangers were 1-3.
“It’s just one of those games that we’re right on the edge all game,” said Little, who returned after missing 11 games because of an upper-body injury. “You can’t say we didn’t have chances, or it might have been a different game.
“They did control the play sometimes, and I thought we did a good job of kind of riding the storm out. It honestly felt like they didn’t get much, but the stuff we did give them, they took advantage of and scored on.”
The Jets will be in must win mode on Saturday as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks to town for a huge Western Conference showdown.
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