The Winnipeg Jets (6-3-3) took the ice in Winnipeg against the Central division rival, St. Louis Blues (8-2-2). With the Blues taking the shootout-win, the Jets currently sit third in the Central, one point behind Minnesota and two behind St. Louis. After dropping the last two, the Jets will look to keep up their good play, and try and tighten up some more.
The Blues were in the board first, when Pavel Buchnevich came in to the right of Connor Hellebuyck and found a way to get the puck through the five-hole. Neal Pionk coming on the back-check almost caught up to Buchnevich, but was just a second too late. I am sure that is also a shot Hellebuyck would like to have back.
Halfway through the second period, Neal Pionk uses his incredible offensive vision to hold off Jordan Kyrou and does a really nifty spin-o-rama and opens up a lane for a shot, which eventually bounces off Marco Scandella and past Jordan Binnington. One of the many goals like this we can expect to see out of Pionk, who has been a great addition to this team since acquired from the New York Rangers.
Kyle Connor scores his ninth goal of the season. After the puck finds its way out from behind the net, Connor holds onto it for an extra second to give him the wide-open net to shoot at. One of the small things Connor does that puts his game above so many others. Connor, currently scoring at a 61-goal pace. I don't expect it to stay that high, but I do think that 45+ goals is completely do-able for the 24 year old winger. On this goal, Blake Wheeler's assist put him at the 700 point mark. A night to remember for the long-time Jet.
Just 6 minutes later Jordan Kyrou beats Connor Hellebuyck to tie the game. A lot of credit goes to Pavel Buchnevich's assist, as he bursts into the Jets end and after making a clean deke, finds Kyrou out front who, on a weird angle, is able to put it past Hellebuyck to tie the game.
The Jets offense was creating lots of scoring chances, notably, Scheifele and Dubois. The top two centers on this team showed exactly why that is the case, as they both had very strong performances. Scheifele using his silky hands, and always finding a way to keep posession and find the open man, and Dubois using his strenght to win puck battles to set someone up, it is a 1-2 punch that many teams in this league will be worried about matching up against.
The line on Connor-Dubois-Svechnikov is still sticking together after some lineup changes, and rightfully so. Totalling 8 (mostly high quality) shots, of the teams 41, and generating lots of offense, while still being defensively responsible, I think this line will stick for a while.
Defensively the Jets still seem to be getting better with each game. The communication, positioning and transition, all seem to be on the same page with the d-corps. With Schmidt and Pionk leading the way offensively, Morrissey has also been quite dependable at both ends. This defensive group is really coming together strong.
The Jets will look to take on the San Jose Sharks (7-4-1) on Thursday. Just 12 days after their last meeting (2-1 OT loss to Sharks), the Jets will look to find some more success against them. Only scoring 2 goals over the last two games will be somehting the Jets will try and fix between now and the game, as this is what stumped them last time.
Thank you for reading, in the comment box, let me know your thoughts on the game, and what the Jets should be doing ahead of Thursday. I would expect Hellebuyck to get the start again after Eric Comrie had a few extra games this week.
By Jacob Billington Follow @JacobBillingt10