SAMBERG, THE BIG LINE AND HELLEBUYCK HAVE A HUGE NIGHT
It was a test.
The trade deadline had come and gone and all “the experts” claimed that the Dallas Stars, already a good hockey team, were significantly better with their moves at the deadline. For the NHL’s first-place Winnipeg Jets, Friday night’s game would be a regular-season indication as to their fitness for the post-season.
The Jets 4-1 victory over the Stars was a clear indication that they not only passed the test, but were also ready to take on the toughest opponent come playoff time.
Kyle Connor scored a pair of goals and dished out an assist, Mark Scheifele had three assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves to improve to 39-9-3 on the season as the Jets improved to 46-17-4 and regained sole possession of first place in the NHL.
“Obviously they’re a good team and it felt like playoff atmosphere right from the get-go. Thanks to all the fans,” said Scheifele, the game’s first star. “We played pretty play but we try to do the right things every night.”
With the win, the Jets moved to 36-0-1 when leading after two periods. They’ve also held the opposition to only one goal per game in four of the last five games.
Right from the start, it was clear this was going to be an epic regular-season battle.
Although they were outshot 9-6, the Jets played brilliantly in the first period. Especially the big line of Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi and Kyle Connor and, of course, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
During the back-and-forth of the early going, Scheifele got loose in the Dallas zone, waited to make the right pass and hit defenceman Dylan Samberg with a little backhand flip pass. Samberg made no mistake drilling an 80-mile-per-hour wrist shot under the bar behind Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger. It was 1-0 Winnipeg on their third shot of the game. Scheifele and Connor drew the assists as Samberg, the Jets most improved player this season, scored his fifth of the season.
The play was pretty even from that point on, even though both teams missed some excellent chances. However, it was the Jets who struck a second time.
With Scheifele and Vilardi battling for the puck in the Dallas corner, Scheifele finally got the biscuit to Connor who wristed one over Oettinger’s pad, just inside the post, and suddenly the Jets were ahead 2-0. For some reason, Vilardi didn’t credit for an assist, but Scheifele did, as Connor scored his 34th of the season.
Despite being outshot, the Jets won 64.7 per cent of the faceoffs while outhitting Dallas 14-6. It was one of Winnipeg’s best periods of the season.
The Jets took a 3-0 lead at the 6:43 mark of the second period when Scheifele got the pick to Josh Morrissey who played tic-tac-toe with Connor. After two quick passes, Connor moved to the slot and ripped a one-timer into the corner of the cage. It was Connor’s 35th goal, Morrissey’s 42nd assist and Scheifele’s 40th assist of the season and third point of the night.
Still, this period belonged to Dallas. The Stars won nearly every faceoff and outshot the Jets 8-4, but Hellebuyck was rock solid once again and the Jets defence did a great job clearing the front of the net. Winnipeg outhit Dallas 13-5 (27-11 overall) and went to the second intermission leading by three.
In the third period, the Stars came out flying, controlled the play and peppered shots at the Jets net. It seemed for a while as if the Jets were just hanging on. But then, a tough forecheck turned into a gritty goal.
Alex Iafallo got the puck in the Dallas zone and chipped it back to Dylan DeMelo at the point. With two Jets causing havoc in front of Oettinger, DeMelo fired a wrister at the front of the net that both Brandon Tanev and Morgan Barron tipped past the Dallas goalie. Suddenly it was 4-0 (four goals on 13 shots) and the Jets were in control. It was Barron’s fifth of the year as Tanev and DeMelo picked up the assists. For Tanev, it was his first point as a member of the Winnipeg Jets since 2019.
The Stars’ Mason Marchment made it 4-1 at 16:11 of the third but by then, it was over.
The three stars were Scheifele, Connor and Vilardi in that order. It was a tremendous night at both ends of the rink for the big line.
Dallas outshot Winnipeg 25-22 and won 51.8 per cent of the faceoffs. The Jets outhit Dallas 35-17 as Luke Schenn led the way with seven hits. Dylan Samberg had the best line of the night: a goal, a point and plus one with three shots on goal, two hits and three blocked shots in 23 minutes and eight seconds of ice time.
The first-place Jets will head back out on the road this week as they open a three-game West Coast road swing in Seattle on Sunday at 8 p.m. CDT.
Comments