Jets fans, and perhaps they team entered the game against Calgary last night with some trepidation even if they did not want to admit it. While Patrik Laine was out, recovering from a concussion suffered against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, the Jets seemed not to notice, or at least miss him.
The team was led by strong play from Dustin Byfuglien who opened the scoring on a fantastic give and go at the Calgary blue line. It looked like it was a set play but it might have simply been timing however you can be sure Mark Girodano was not prepared for what came flying at him.
This was simply a size and speed advantage against a normally outstanding defender. Byfuglien came down the right wing after making a pass up to the blue line and then rushed to attack with speed. Giordano didn't know if he was coming in or the winger but Buff came flying, had room and simply went right around Giordano.
What made this different from other Buff rushes is that he didn't hold off the defender with one arm, he leaned around with speed and came right in on Johnson able to make a shot as he had both hands on his stick. In the past he would be holding off a player and go behind the net hoping to shake them. This was a slick goal and certainly a bit of catalyst after the last game.
The flames attacked though and brought a lot of pucks towards Hellebuyck. They out-chanced and had more shot attempts than the Jets, 51 to 41. The young goalie, who has seen much criticism of late, some of it deserved, stood tall and recorded his 5th shut out on 58 career NHL starts.
Blake Wheeler provided the insurance marker for the Jets as he stole the puck in the Calgary zone on a simply forecheck and moved in to lift up over Johnson' glove to make it 2-0. At that point Calgary threw more shots at the Jets before the home team could respond and then the Flames added final futile push but to no avail.
So them mystery of the Jets continues. Was this a technical game of quality chances and tactical efforts or a grit and heart win testing the team's character?
Depending on how you view hockey you could see either of those two options but I think some credit should be given to the Jets for a bounce-back effort and seizing on opportunity when it was there. Other than that what did Johnson do that Hellebuyck did not?
The Byfuglien goal while a nice play was a bit of a misread by Giordano who gave up a lot of space when he did not need to and the Wheeler goal was an unfortunate gaffe by Brodie. How often have Jets fans see their team have these kind of misfortunes turn into pucks being pulled out of the back of the net? Many times. That's the randomness of sports and this time the Jets got the good fortune, or luck, to go their way.
There may not be karma in hockey but there certainly are variables of chance and those went towards the Jets last night.
Can we take anything away from this game? Probably not, there was no statement in anyone's play other than as a group it was business-like nothing flashy or spectacular. It is the start of another streak and don't look now but the Jets have won 3 of their lats 4 games so far in 2017. Make that 6 of 8 games as they host Montreal and then ht the road to Arizona, LA and San Jose and there might be something else to talk about. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, baby steps are probably just the right thing for now.
In attendance was former WWE and UFA star Brock Lesnar and he came down and did some some with the team with his family. The fine folks at Jets TV got some footage.
"Not too long after I was announced, he scored, so thanks Buff!"@BrockLesnar joined JetsTV for a quick interview at tonight's game! pic.twitter.com/WUeH6rj2fL
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) January 10, 2017
Lesnar and family eventually visited the dressing room post-game too:
After the game tonight, @BrockLesnar and his family met up with the boys and got a tour of the dressing room. Take a look behind the scenes! pic.twitter.com/3pOibFRWf1
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) January 10, 2017