Winnipeg Jets blow three goal lead, beat Sharks in OT

The Winnipeg Jets finally got an overtime win. I don’t think it should have taken them the extra 18 seconds, but two points are two points.

The Winnipeg Jets were off to a fast start, scoring a goal in just 18 seconds. When you’re hungry enough for it, the goals come. Mathieu Perreault‘s skate knocked it past Aaron Dell. Joel Armia added another one about three minutes later.

The first period didn’t get any slower. Tomas Hertl boarded Dmitry Kulikov and earned himself a game misconduct. Jacob Trouba received a penalty for retaliating, so the teams would skate 4 on 4 for two before a three-minute powerplay for Winnipeg. Bryan Little would later deflect a goal to make it 3-0 for the Jets.

The Jets have 57 first period goals this season, by far the most in the league. In their last four games and 450 minutes? Four goals. They netted three in about half of a period. The Sharks would rebound to put a bunch of pressure on the Jets late in the period, finally getting on the board with a Joe Pavelski wrister with under a minute left. The Jets would go into the second with the most dangerous lead in hockey.

The second was a bit more of classic hockey by San Jose, as they fought back and stuck to the game plan. Right in the meaty part of the period, they received goals from Logan Couture and Chris Tierney. Four minutes apart, and the game was tied. San Jose was really putting the pressure on and Dell was looking better, and the two teams would look to decide it in the third.

I thought Dell would be good and neither team would score a ton, but I was wrong on both counts. The Jets came out firing and San Jose didn’t cave under the pressure.

Joel Armia jumped on that chance, scoring his second about 12 minutes into the third to break the tie. Following what I thought was a four-minute powerplay for San Jose (turns out it was even strength), Timo Meier punched one past Connor Hellebuyck to tie the game again. With less than five minutes, they received an actual powerplay, thanks to some careless frustration from Dustin Byfuglien. He whacked Meier with his stick after the goal. Brutal. You can’t do that, Dustin.

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Byfuglien would be somewhat vindicated when San Jose would kill their powerplay halfway through with a too many men on the ice penalty. This game was boring for 40 minutes, but the first ten minutes and last fifteen were thrilling.

A scary moment occurred when Tyler Myers had to strip Joel Ward on a shorthanded breakaway around the two-minute mark. Being 6’8 must be beneficial for that sort of stick work. San Jose would go on to kill off the penalty. Joe Thornton would get his knee rolled over about with less than a minute to go, and limped right into the locker room. He would not return for overtime.

Well, overtime would only last 18 seconds. Dustin Byfuglien would be fully vindicated here, as he took a strong move around the net and shot a pass to Bryan Little for an easy goal. Bam, the Winnipeg Jets get their first overtime win of the season. Oh, and they also get sole possession of first place again. This was a good game I would watch again.

White Out’s 3 Stars

Bryan Little – Gotta give it to the guy with the OT winner, right? It was an easy setup from Byfuglien, but still. His ninth goal gave them a 3-0 lead, and his tenth won it.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Looked to be the best player on the ice tonight. If there was a loose puck, he was the first to get there. Even when he was on the bench. Two assists don’t hurt his cause.
Joe Pavelski – Tempted to let Armia (two goals) have the spot, but Pavelski was good and the game was close. He scored late in the first to get the Sharks on the board, and never looked like he wasn’t in control.

Next: Jets vs Sharks Preview

What’s Next?

The Winnipeg Jets wrap up this grueling west coast road trip against the Anaheim Ducks. That’s on Thursday, 9 PM UTC.

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