The Winnipeg Jets came into last night’s game looking to avenge their loss from less than 24 hours before against the Calgary Flames and end their longest losing streak of the season (two games).
In Monday’s game between the sides, the Jets had a two-goal lead and could not put the Flames away. Ultimately the Flames battled back and the game was decided by a shootout, where Calgary won 4-3.
It is fair to say that the Jets’ fixed their wrongs from the night before and took home both points to jump into third place in the Scotia North Division.
The Winnipeg Jets played a solid all-around game to beat the Flames 3-2
Here are three talking points from yesterday’s Jets vs. Flames game in Winnipeg:
3. How about a Shorthanded goal?
At this stage in the young 2021 season, the Winnipeg Jets’ powerplay has gotten a lot of credit and they are much deserving of it, but not much has been said about the Jet’s penalty kill.
Heading into last night, the Jets penalty kill was around the middle of the league in average. They had some stellar kills, while also getting beat easily on others.
Yesterday, the Jets penalty kill played outstanding and they were one of the reasons the Jets won the game.
On the Jets’ first kill of the game, they forced Calgary to make a bad play on their breakout. Giordano skated the puck out of his defensive zone and passed it to his winger in front of Calgary’s bench.
Winnipeg’s defensemen stepped up and forced the Calgary player to pass it back into his own zone. Fortunately for Winnipeg, Mason Appleton was in the vicinity and stole the pass.
Appleton then skated along the wall towards the back on Calgary’s net and sent a pass to Trevor Lewis, who was skating to open ice in the slot.
Lewis ripped a shot over Rittich’s glove to give the Jets the lead and this goal was Lewis’ first one of the season.
This whole play was a textbook example of how to defend a powerplay breakout and the Jets were rewarded with a goal for their efforts.
2. Forbort makes his old team pay
To bolster their defensive depth, this offseason the Winnipeg Jets decided to sign Derek Forbort to a one-year contract. He was just coming off a 2019-2020 season where he was traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Flames to help with their postseason push.
Forbort is by no means known for his offensive prowess. The twenty-eight-year-old is the definition of a defensive defenseman, but last night he got to show off his offensive skills.
Right after Neal Pionk came out of the box he made a play at the Jets’ defensive zone to get the puck and skated up the ice. Forbort had a wide-open lane on the far side of the ice and took it.
Pionk fed a pass to the wide-open Forbort at the Flames’ blueline and Forbort had a lane to the net.
Forbort released a wicked wrist shot right over Rittich’s shoulder to give the Jets a 2-0 lead. The goal can be seen below:
Forbort’s first goal in a Jets uniform was a thing of beauty and it is interesting that his first one came against his old team.
1. The Jets hold on to the lead
The Winnipeg Jets gave themselves a shot at redemption last night. For the second night in a row, the Jets took a two-goal lead into the second period.
On Monday night, the Jets squandered their lead and found themselves trailing in the dying minutes of the game. Luckily, Winnipeg was able to tie the game and force overtime, taking a point out of the contest.
Yesterday, the Jets had another opportunity to protect the lead and performed well. The Jets dictated the play in the second, but the Flames threw everything they had at Laurent Brossoit in the third.
Calgary did score around the halfway point of the third to come within one of the Jets, but the Jets stuck to their gameplan and shut the door on Calgary.
Brossoit played absolutely outstanding and finished the third with 16 saves on 17 shots en route to giving the Jets all two points from this game.
The Jets will be taking on the Flames in game three of their four-game set on Thursday night at Bell MTS Place. So far, each team has won one game of this series.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Who was your Jets’ first star of yesterday’s game against the Flames? Leave your comments below!
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