FIRST-PLACE Jets Improve to 28-12-2
Sure, it was just a 5-2 home win over the third worst team in the NHL, but it just might have been the Winnipeg Jets best performance of the season.
Leaning on Connor Hellebuyck’s brilliance, his 300th career victory and a sensational penalty-killing operation, the Jets overcame eight minor penalties, a two-man disadvantage and two four-minute minors to score a goal on their only power-play and whip the Nashville Predators 5-2.
The Jets came into the game in a mini-slump, having gone 0-2-1 since a big win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Dec. 23. The team hadn’t yet won in 2025 and were 0-1-1 in the first two games of a season-long eight-game homestand. However, they laid it all on the line in front of small Tuesday night crowd, took a quick 3-0 first period lead and then battled through penalty after penalty to run the Predators out of the rink.
The Jets took control of this one early – and quickly. Winnipeg opened the scoring at 6:30 when Rasmus Kupari elected not to shoot when he had a chance, but instead took the puck behind the Nashville net and tried to come back and jam it under Juuse Saros’ pads. The puck lay in the crease for a second as Kupari and Morgan Barron jammed at it until, finally, Preds’ defenceman Nick Blankenburg swatted it into his own net.
Just 16 seconds later Josh Morrissey skated in from the point and drilled a slap shot under the bar to make it 2-0. It was Morrissey’s fifth goal of the season while Dylan DeMelo and Adam Lowry drew the assists.
Nashville had a couple of decent chances to score with the Jets’ Dylan Coghlan in the penalty box, but Hellebuyck was rock solid. At 18:36, Kyle Connor did what he does best – take a pass from Mark Scheifele and drill a 30-foot wrister to Saros’ stick side and off the twine at the back of the net. It was Connor’s 23rd goal of the year and Scheifele’s 24th assist. Ville Heinola also tallied an assist as the Jets went to the first intermission leading 3-0.
In the second period, referee Cody Beach either went blind or had a brain hematoma. He called a holding penalty on the Jets Neal Pionk after Pionk lost his stick and pushed Colton Sissons. Pionk pushed Sissons. Didn’t hold him, pushed him. Still, Beach called a holding penalty because … of course he did.
The Jets fought it off, but it was just so typical of the state of NHL officiating – make up rules as you go along or call things you don’t see.
The Predators finally got on the board with their third power play of the night (the Jets still had none) when Filip Forsberg scored at 16:25 with Pionk in the box for delay of game. These two guys with the orange bands were desperate to keep Nashville in the game.
After a second period that was pretty much a gift for Nashville – Morrissey was also injured and played only a couple of shifts -- the Jets outshot the visitors 10-6 (21-16 overall) and only gave up a single power-play goal.
Things got crazier in the third period as Beach became as ridiculous as he is incompetent. At 2:43 Kupari was tripped by Vinnie Hinostroza and went falling to the ice. Completely out of control due to the trip, Kupari’s stick came up and clipped Sissons. Beach called two minutes for tripping against Hinostroza and four minutes to Kupari for high sticking. It was, without question, too ridiculous to believe, but it was also sadly indicative of how bad NHL officiating has become.
The Jets finally got their first power play of the night (called by the other official Chris Lee) at 7:42 when Morgan’s brother Justin Barron was sent off for holding David Gustafsson. The Jets responded almost immediately. At 7:51, just nine seconds later, Scheifele got the puck to Nikolaj Ehlers skating in from the point who shot it across the crease where Gabriel Vilardi tipped it past Saros. It was 4-1 Jets and Winnipeg had regained some control of the argument.
At 9:25, Roman Josi scored for the Preds on a shot from the point that was going wide until it hit Logan Stanley’s skate and slid past Hellebuyck. That made it 4-2 and gave Nashville some life.
Nashville had big life after Stanley was assessed a four-minute high-sticking minor at 10:31 for something that happened to Jonathan Marchessault. That made it seven minors to Winnipeg – all but one called by Cody Beach -- and two to Nashville. There was something really fishy going on and it wasn’t about to get any less stinky.
Not long after the Jets fought off the first minor penalty to Stanley, Beach did it again. During some back-and-forth along the boards in the neutral zone, Beach called a hooking penalty on Kyle Connor. Suddenly after the Jets had fought off the first penalty of a four-minute minor, they found themselves two-men down with 1:36 to go in the second minor penalty to Stanley.
To their everlasting credit, the Jets fought off the Preds two-man advantage and then, after Nashville pulled its goaltender late in the game, Nino Niederreiter flipped a shot from his own blueline into the empty net to give the Jets their final, a 5-2 advantage.
Winnipeg outshot Nashville 30-28 despite the fact the Predators had eight power plays to Winnipeg’s one. The Jets won 52.9 per cent of the faceoffs and blocked 24 shots.
The three stars were (3) Morgan Barron, (2) Mark Scheifele and of course (3) Connor Hellebuyck. Interestingly, Adam Lowry had the best line of the night. He had an assist, was plus-two, had a shot, two hits, two blocked shots and won 67 per cent of his faceoffs in 18 minutes and 37 seconds of ice time. He also led the power play which was brilliant and held Nashville to one power play goal in eight chances.
The Jets entire penalty-killing unit should have been the game’s first star.
Winnipeg will go at it again on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Canada Life Centre when the Los Angeles Kings come to town.
The full photo gallery of Tuesday's game is courtesy of Scott Stroh:
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