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After a lackluster loss to the Vancouver Canucks over the weekend, and a Monday loss to the Calgary Flames, one that saw the Jets blow a 2-0 lead, the Jets bounced back with a hard fought 3-2 victory Tuesday over those very same Flames.
“Right from the get-go I thought the energy was good. We stuck to our game, we stuck to the plan we wanted to have for 60 minutes,” said Trevor Lewis whose first goal of the season kicked the scoring off for the Jets.
“We didn’t have too many lulls. When they scored, we came back and scored again. Any time they got momentum, I thought we did a good job of getting it back.”
For the second straight night the Jets jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead. Derek Forbort followed Lewis’ shorthanded strike with his first of the year, extending the Jets lead to two.
"Forbort is in that fabric of the room where he's a really good guy, a really good team guy. Those goals mean more," said head coach Paul Maurice. "You have Lewis and Forbort, they play hard minutes - the shot blockers, the penalty killers - but everybody wants to score goals. When those two guys do it, it gives you a real good boost."
The Jets 2-0 lead did not last long as Matthew Tkachuk cut the lead to one 35 seconds after Forbort’s goal. But Nikolaj Ehlers’ sixth of the season nearly six minutes later gave momentum back to the Jets who were able to hold onto the lead, securing the much needed two points.
The most impressive part of Tuesday’s win was how well the Jets handled a heavy push from the Flames in the final 10 minutes of the third period. After Tkachuk struck once again, the Jets bunkered down defensively, holding their lead.
A key to surviving the Flames third period push was the Jets ability to block shots. Finishing with 24 in total, Josh Morrissey led the team with four.
“We had a run of blocked shots tonight, so it was kind of fitting that it ended in a way that some of those guys could get appreciated for the work that they did,” said Maurice.
After seeing just 14 shots through the first two periods, Laurent Brossoit saw 17 shots in the third, saving 16 of the 17.
“(Brossoit) was really good tonight. I thought it was such an important game for him," said Maurice. "He wasn’t lucky tonight, he was just darn good and when we needed it, we got lots of good blocks by our penalty killing unit and from our five-on-five as well.”
After Saturday’s loss Maurice reached into his bag of tricks once again, this time pulling out a new first and second line. Maurice split up Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele for the first time this season in Monday's contest. Maurice rolled with the same top-six Tuesday.
Somewhere in Columbus, Patrik Laine was rolling his eyes…
Andrew Copp-Mark Scheifele-Nikolaj Ehlers
Kyle Connor-Paul Stastny-Blake Wheeler
In 76:28 of five-on-five ice time together prior to the change, the Connor, Scheifele and Wheeler trio had been outshot 36-31 and outscored 6-2.
“It’s always good to have options. With our top six, and that actually extends throughout our lineup, our lineup is full of guys playing in different roles, playing in different spots,” Wheeler said Monday.
“Just trying to find the right fit.”
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • 
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