Recap: Winnipeg Jets @ Detroit Red Wings

The Winnipeg Jets took their two game winning streak to Michigan to take on the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The Wings saw their 5 game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday against Seattle, so the home team will be looking to get back in the win column.

The Jets began the game with intensity and their high tempo ended up leading to a pair of early powerplay opportunities. Winnipeg tested the Wings’ Reimer on a handful of shots with the man-advantage, but couldn’t find a way to use the open ice to take an early lead. After killing off a couple penalties, Detroit found their skating legs and started to spend more time in the Jets’ zone. The Wings had their chances, with Hellebuyck denying the shots he faced and Iafallo/Scheifele making good defensive plays to break up rushes. The Jets responded with good shift by the 3rd lines creating a look for Appleton. The 2nd line followed up with more offensive zone time that saw Samberg work the puck to Perfetti. The young winger skated behind the net before finding Ehlers skating out front. Winnipeg’s Danish forward moved a bit further away from the net before spinning and firing a shot that found space between Reimer’s arm and body. The sniper cleanly beat Reimer to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead, but the Jets weren’t done there. Shortly after, Morrissey stopped a defensive clearing attempt along the boards, then skated the puck up the left boards before finding Connor in the slot for a 1-timer. Winnipeg was leading 2-0 with two goals in a minute and 2 seconds, but had a late period PP to attempt to add to the total. Unfortunately, the Jets couldn’t really get any dangerous shots on net, though Perfetti almost his Namestnikov with a great pass for what would have been a tap in.

First Period Stats: Score: 2 – 0 Jets, shots 10 to 9 for the Jets, 52% Deserve To Win for the Wings, Expected Goals – all situations (0.65 -0.49 DET), & 5 on 5 (0.36-0.28 WPG)

Winnipeg’s 4th line had a strong shift in the early part of the 2nd period, with Kupari setting up Gustafsson for a blast that sailed just wide of the net. Detroit responded with some pressure of their own and had a couple chances. They continued the pressure and sent a point shot through traffic that Hellebuyck kicked out a pad to save. However, Morrissey and DeMelo had lost a Wing out front, allowing Raymond to make it 2 to 1 just over 3 minutes into the period. Things opened up a bit with both teams trading chances before Winnipeg started to tighten their defensive gaps. Detroit had goal scoring opportunities stoned by the continuing strong play of Hellebuyck and Winnipeg’s 1st line ended the period with some pressure in the Wing’s zone.

After Two Periods Stats Score: 2 to 1 for the Jets , shots 21 to 17 for the Jets, 53.6% Deserve to Win for the Wings, Expected Goals – all situations (1.2-1.15 DET) & 5 on 5 (1.02-0.83 WPG)

The Detroit Red Wings came out with determination in the third, putting all kinds of pressure on the Jets’ defense. Once again, Hellebuyck was up to the test as the Wings outshot the visitors 9 to 2 in the opening 5 minutes. Winnipeg countered with offensive zone shifts by the 2nd and 3rd lines, before a Morrissey penalty sent Detroit back to the powerplay. The Jets may be testing fate by giving this year’s most deadly powerplay, but Hellebuyck, Barron, Appleton, & Kupari all made plays to kill off the man-advantage. After trading some chances by Scheifele and Larkin, Winnipeg added to their lead when Lowry found Appleton with a lovely float pass to make it 3 to 1 with under 10 minutes to play. Detroit had a bit of a push back, requiring Hellebuyck to deny Larkin yet again and Lowry to break up a chance with a strong backcheck. After that small push, the Jets settled down into better defensive play and the Wings didn’t get a quality look until they pulled their goalie with 2 minutes to remaining. Hellebuyck had to stone Raymond on a high danger shot, but other than that not much happened. Appleton made a good play to intercept a pass in the defensive zone and banked the puck off the boards to free Niederreiter for an empty net goal.

FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 4 DETROIT RED WINGS 1
SHOTS: DETROIT RED WINGS 36 WINNIPEG JETS 28

Game Observations:

• The Winnipeg Jets seemed to take a “bend but not break” scheme into the game. They still gave up some quality looks, but the high danger chances were reduced from previous outings.
• Despite the team having better defensive coverages throughout the game, Nate Schmidt and Josh Morrissey didn’t have very good games in their own end.
• Cole Perfetti and Nik Ehlers were two of Winnipeg’s better forwards tonight, each with Corsi’s higher than 70% (Jets get that percentage of shots when they are on the ice).
• The 3rd and 4th lines continued to provide strong play from the bottom six, as the trios had positive expected goal numbers. Good performances by Mason Appleton, Adam Lowry, and David Gustafsson.
• Definitely can’t forget Connor Hellebuyck. The newly re-signed goalie seems to have re-found his form, turning aside 35 of 36 shots and coming off back-to-back quality starts.
• Winnipeg’s second defensive pairing had a positive game, with Brendan Dillon and Neal Pionk putting up a 61.6% in expected goals. Pionk also led the team with 3 blocked shots in the game.
• Have nothing specific noted about Alex Iafallo’s game, but felt he was involved enough to warrant a tip of the cap. It is nice for Winnipeg’s coaching staff to have a player that can jump up and down the line up.
• Random stats: Nino Niederreiter and Appleton led the team with a goal and an assist each. Ehlers and Kyle Connor led Winnipeg in shots, with 6 & 5 respectively. Perfetti went 2 for 3 at the face-off dot against Detroit, while Vladislav Namestnikov struggled (0 for 5).
• MoneyPucks Stats: Detroit Red Wings 66% Deserve to Win, Detroit Red Wings 2.64-1.63 in expected goals overall, and the Wings also won the expected goals at 5 on 5 by a slight margin (1.7-1.5).

A pretty enjoyable road game to watch from the Winnipeg Jets and it springs hope that maybe this squad can put things together to become a playoff team. The team always seems to have trouble with their next opponent, so I won’t get my hopes up yet.

NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets (4-3) @ Montreal Canadiens (4-2-1) – Saturday, October 28th @ 6:00 pm Central

Somewhat off topic, I noticed that the Boston Bruins had all three stars of the game in their home game against the Anaheim Ducks. Problem is that they lost the game 4 to 3 in OT and the 3rd star (Ullmark) had a .875 save percentage. Oh, and a rookie for the Ducks (Carlsson) scored a goal & assist…guess that’s not better than a sub-standard goalie performance to the people who decide such things. Serious homerism there. Enjoy the day and let me hear your thoughts on our Winnipeg Jets.