DALLAS – With almost a twenty-point difference in the standings between these two teams, one might have thought the Dallas Stars would easily run over the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night at American Airlines Center.
Instead, the underachieving Jets decided to bring their “A” game and dominated the Stars but fell short in the shootout as they were edged 2-1 . The Jets were playing their final game of the five-game road trip and finished up 2-2-1 on the trip and got five of a possible ten points.
Patrick Sharp scored deciding goal in skills competition – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
They are now four points back of Nashville for the final wild card spot with the Preds having a game in hand on the Jets.
This was a physical war between the two division rivals. Both teams were grinding in the trenches all game long. The Jets used their speed and were able to contain Dallas on this night as the Jets used a strong forecheck and had puck possession for most of the game.
Connor Hellebuyck got the start for the Jets and he wasn’t nearly as busy as he was on Tuesday in Nashville as he only faced 24 shots allowing one goal.
“Skill competition against these guys, it’s going to be tough,” Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler said. “I liked the way we played the rest of the game.”
He was involved in his first shootout since he was recalled and he was thrown into the fire right off the hop facing Tyler Seguin , Patrick Sharp and Jamie Benn unfortunately he gave up two goals and his team only scored once.
His record falls to 9-4-1 on the season.
“It was a big game for a lot of reasons. We weren’t happy with the way we played last road trip, but it’s a Central Division opponent, we’re on home ice. For any number of reasons, you can circle this one,” Sharp said. “We can be happy we got the two points, but we can still play better than I think we did tonight.”
Dallas countered with Kari Lehtonen who stood on his head for most of the game stopping 32 out of 33 shots including a couple of big time stops on Andrew Ladd and Drew Stafford. Lehtonen got some help from his posts during the shootout as Bryan Little had him beat but rung it off the top of the post. He was named the game’s first star.
“I thought [Lehtonen] looked real solid,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “He bounced back, and, like a lot of guys, pitched a lot better of a performance. We stayed away from the breakaways, the 2-on-1s, that type of stuff, but he looked every comfortable and very confident, and it seemed like the night that I didn’t know if they were going to score on him.”
Mathieu Perreault scored his sixth of the season for the Jets converting a beauty dish from Nik Ehlers.
“We battled hard,” Perreault said. “That’s what it comes down to, battles on the wall. All little details we’re doing in the d-zone, that’s working for us. We just go to keep building on that and hopefully can rack a few wins up.”
Tyler Seguin scored his 24th for the Stars as he snapped a rocket past Hellebuyck.
The Jets got a strong game from Tyler Myers and also from Dustin Byfuglien who both played close to twenty eight minutes each.
“Our schedule has been a lot to handle, and being able to pick up some really key points and wins on this road trip has put us in a good spot,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice, whose team plays nine of its next 10 games at home. “We know, everybody in the Central [Division] knows, this is going to be an absolute slugfest right to the end. But we’re in striking range now.”
This game saw some big hits as both teams were ready for a war, a lot of ice packs are going around the dressing rooms post game.
The Jets will now head home to play 9 of their next 10 at MTS Centre.
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