In Game 54 of the season, the Winnipeg Jets made it to their very first shootout.
And as luck would have it, they managed to walk away with two points.
A long and hard fought battle with the Seattle Kraken ended in victory for Winnipeg, as two of the Western Conference's top-five teams each earned a points on the night, with the Jets taking two of the three points awarded in the 3-2 victory.
"I don't remember the last time I was in a shootout," shootout scorer Pierre-Luc Dubois laughed post-game. "But a win's a win. We’re all happy in here and getting ready for a big road trip.”
With the Dallas Stars entering the night atop the conference, the two runners up took care of some necessary business from the ice of Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg amid a Valentine's Day snowstorm.
Led by Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Jets picked up victory No. 34 on the season, and improved to 69 total points (34-19-1) bringing the team to within just one point of first-place Dallas (30-14-10). Blake Wheeler and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Winnipeg in a game that the home team seemed to have control over, save for a five-minute stretch in the second period.
“Tonight is a hard-fought road game for us," Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said. "That's a good team, a lot of respect for the ability and the way they play. Disappointed not to get two (points), but that's a real important road point for us.”
"I don't remember the last time I was in a shootout," shootout scorer Pierre-Luc Dubois laughed post-game. "But a win's a win. We’re all happy in here and getting ready for a big road trip.”
With the Dallas Stars entering the night atop the conference, the two runners up took care of some necessary business from the ice of Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg amid a Valentine's Day snowstorm.
Led by Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Jets picked up victory No. 34 on the season, and improved to 69 total points (34-19-1) bringing the team to within just one point of first-place Dallas (30-14-10). Blake Wheeler and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Winnipeg in a game that the home team seemed to have control over, save for a five-minute stretch in the second period.
“Tonight is a hard-fought road game for us," Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said. "That's a good team, a lot of respect for the ability and the way they play. Disappointed not to get two (points), but that's a real important road point for us.”
With Connor Hellebuyck waking up under the weather on Tuesday, David Rittich took the starter’s net in morning skate, with the expectation that Hellebuyck would play if he was able to go later in the day. The Jets then called up Arvid Holm from the Moose, painting a clearer picture of the expected starter against the visiting Kraken.
Rittich led the team out for pre-game warmups, with Holm as his backup, meaning it was a showdown between he and Philipp Grubauer in a Tuesday night Western Conference battle. And Rittich took the cake.
"Ritter, when he’s been called upon, he’s been great," Jets forward Adam Lowry said of his goaltender. "It’s a tough role, generally he goes in on back-to-backs, not a lot of rest for the guys, not a lot of energy. To be able to play well in front of him tonight, and he was real calm and composed and made some huge saves for us to keep us in the game, and then just shut it down, lock it down in the shootout, that;’s huge for us, too.”
Grubauer was the busier of the two netminders in the early going, as Winnipeg put up 12 shots in the first half of the frame, but failed to put another puck on net as the period wore on. Rittich on the other hand ended up with lots of traffic near the end of the opening frame, as he and his teammates helped kill off three-straight penalties.
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A scoreless first period set the tone for what many would expect to be a penalty-filled affair. But it seemed as though the only calls would come against the home team.
But, as game management would have it, Seattle took the next penalty - a hooking call on Jaden Schwartz, sending Winnipeg to the power play just 2:31 into the middle stanza. Nothing would materialize on the ensuing man advantage, despite a flurry of Jets chances. Winnipeg actually recorded the first 10 shots of the period, pulling ahead 21-11 before the first commercial break of the frame.
Then on their 22nd shot of the evening, the Jets finally got on the board.
Off a lost offensive zone face-off, Blake Wheeler scored his third goal in two games, as he picked up a loose puck off a Nikolaj Ehlers forecheck and drove towards the net before slamming on the brakes and easily putting it past Grubauer. The goal was Wheeler's 15th of the season, which puts him just two short of his total from all of last season.
The Jets were gifted another mid-period power play, but were unable to capitalize once again, with the second unit starting things off.
The two failed opportunities came back to bite them, as the visitors knotted things up at ones with just under seven minutes to play.
It was Strathclair, Manitoba's Morgan Geekie who helped give the Kraken their first goal of the game, as he and linemate John Hayden combined for an easy doorstep tap-in. It came with 6:40 to go, as Geekie capitalized on some miscommunication amid a Jets defensive line change, and slipped Hayden the disc for his second of the season.
“I have quite a few people here and it was fun to see everybody come out," Geekie said of picking up a point in his home province. "It was awesome, it was good, really. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win for them, but it was lots of fun today.”
Then, with 1:14 to go, Pierre-Luc Dubois cost Winnipeg the tie, handing Seattle a power play on a selfish, retaliatory penalty on Vince Dunn that saw the home team fall behind after just 48 seconds of power play time. Jared McCann took a shot that first hit Dylan DeMelo, before rattling off Mason Appleton and sliding right into the Jets' net, putting the Kraken up 2-1 with just 26 seconds left.
“Listen, he’s a competitive guy," coach Rick Bowness said. "When you’re a competitive guy sometimes the emotions get a little bit out of control. But I’d rather calm a guy down than crank him up every day. So I’d rather deal with that issue than try to get the guy going every game. He’s a competitive guy who wants to win, so sometimes you get a little carried away. That’s hockey.”
Despite outshooting the visitors 25-17 through 40 minutes, it was Seattle that remained up top heading into the third period.
Midway through the period, Dubois atoned for his earlier sin, and did so in hilarious fashion. A face-off win in the Seattle zone saw Josh Morrissey control the puck at the blueline, before putting it on net. The rebound came to Dubois on the doorstep, who banked it off the body of Vince Dunn and into the net, knotting it at twos on Winnipeg's 33rd shot of the game.
The point by Morrissey was actually an important one for the young defenceman, as he set a new Jets franchise record for most assists in a single season, pulling ahead of Toby Enstrom, while also pulling even with Dustin Byfuglien for most points among Jets defenceman in a single season.
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Former Kraken forward Mason Appleton rattled a wrist shot off the goalpost on a late-period breakaway, before Saku Maenalanen drew a slashing penalty on the follow up chance with five minutes to go, setting the stage for a critical man advantage.
The first unit applied heavy pressure, but was ultimately unable to solve Grubauer, with its best chance coming on a Mark Scheifele shot that somehow found the blocker of the exhausted goaltender.
It was Winnipeg's best chance in the final frame as the seconds ticked off the clock. Overtime was required, but did not determine a winner. Blake Wheeler came closest to scoring in the extra frame, as he narrowly missed on a two-on-one rush chance up ice.
The game needed a shootout and the Jets won the mini game 2-0. Mark Scheifele opened the skills competition with a patient deke, before Pierre-Luc Dubois finished it off with a strong wrist shot.
David Rittich finished the night with 27 stops on 29 Kraken shots and improved his record to 9-4-0 on the season, while Philipp Grubauer turned aside 38 of Winnipeg's 40 shots.
Off a lost offensive zone face-off, Blake Wheeler scored his third goal in two games, as he picked up a loose puck off a Nikolaj Ehlers forecheck and drove towards the net before slamming on the brakes and easily putting it past Grubauer. The goal was Wheeler's 15th of the season, which puts him just two short of his total from all of last season.
The Jets were gifted another mid-period power play, but were unable to capitalize once again, with the second unit starting things off.
The two failed opportunities came back to bite them, as the visitors knotted things up at ones with just under seven minutes to play.
It was Strathclair, Manitoba's Morgan Geekie who helped give the Kraken their first goal of the game, as he and linemate John Hayden combined for an easy doorstep tap-in. It came with 6:40 to go, as Geekie capitalized on some miscommunication amid a Jets defensive line change, and slipped Hayden the disc for his second of the season.
“I have quite a few people here and it was fun to see everybody come out," Geekie said of picking up a point in his home province. "It was awesome, it was good, really. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win for them, but it was lots of fun today.”
Then, with 1:14 to go, Pierre-Luc Dubois cost Winnipeg the tie, handing Seattle a power play on a selfish, retaliatory penalty on Vince Dunn that saw the home team fall behind after just 48 seconds of power play time. Jared McCann took a shot that first hit Dylan DeMelo, before rattling off Mason Appleton and sliding right into the Jets' net, putting the Kraken up 2-1 with just 26 seconds left.
“Listen, he’s a competitive guy," coach Rick Bowness said. "When you’re a competitive guy sometimes the emotions get a little bit out of control. But I’d rather calm a guy down than crank him up every day. So I’d rather deal with that issue than try to get the guy going every game. He’s a competitive guy who wants to win, so sometimes you get a little carried away. That’s hockey.”
Despite outshooting the visitors 25-17 through 40 minutes, it was Seattle that remained up top heading into the third period.
Midway through the period, Dubois atoned for his earlier sin, and did so in hilarious fashion. A face-off win in the Seattle zone saw Josh Morrissey control the puck at the blueline, before putting it on net. The rebound came to Dubois on the doorstep, who banked it off the body of Vince Dunn and into the net, knotting it at twos on Winnipeg's 33rd shot of the game.
The point by Morrissey was actually an important one for the young defenceman, as he set a new Jets franchise record for most assists in a single season, pulling ahead of Toby Enstrom, while also pulling even with Dustin Byfuglien for most points among Jets defenceman in a single season.
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Former Kraken forward Mason Appleton rattled a wrist shot off the goalpost on a late-period breakaway, before Saku Maenalanen drew a slashing penalty on the follow up chance with five minutes to go, setting the stage for a critical man advantage.
The first unit applied heavy pressure, but was ultimately unable to solve Grubauer, with its best chance coming on a Mark Scheifele shot that somehow found the blocker of the exhausted goaltender.
It was Winnipeg's best chance in the final frame as the seconds ticked off the clock. Overtime was required, but did not determine a winner. Blake Wheeler came closest to scoring in the extra frame, as he narrowly missed on a two-on-one rush chance up ice.
The game needed a shootout and the Jets won the mini game 2-0. Mark Scheifele opened the skills competition with a patient deke, before Pierre-Luc Dubois finished it off with a strong wrist shot.
David Rittich finished the night with 27 stops on 29 Kraken shots and improved his record to 9-4-0 on the season, while Philipp Grubauer turned aside 38 of Winnipeg's 40 shots.
“They’re a good team over there," Geekie said of the Jets. "They are heavy, fast and play well in both ends of the rink, and that’s something we do well too, so we are two pretty evenly-matched teams. Unfortunately we came out on the wrong side, but it’s good that we got a point out of that.”
Entering the night just two points ahead of Seattle, the Jets let the Kraken back into the picture in the three-point game, but maintained their lead, nonetheless.
"Their goalie played well," Dubois said. "We had a lot of shots. They played well, too. They had their moments. Ritter was great for us too, tonight. We played well for the better part of that game and felt we deserved those two points. Those wins, especially at this time of year, they fell good and they’re huge going towards the end of the season.”
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The game marked the return of Kraken assistant coach Dave Lowry to Winnipeg following his stint as interim head coach of the Jets last season, following Paul Maurice's sudden resignation. He earned a hearty applause from the crowd midway through the first period during a television timeout.
The Jets next hit the road for a four-game trek through the Eastern Conference. They get started with a test against the 32nd-place Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, before heading to New York for three games in a four-day span with the Devils, Rangers and Islanders on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, respectively. All four games will feature 6:00 PM central start times, while the first two will be found on TSN, and the third and fourth will be shown on Sportsnet.
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