For the first time since they swept the Edmonton Oilers, yesterday the Winnipeg Jets were back on the ice preparing for the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs even though their opponent is still up in the air.
While the Winnipeg Jets are patiently waiting to find out who their next opponent is, there are still Jets prospects in action at the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
Both Cole Perfetti and Leon Gawanke are in action and as we wrote about two mornings ago, Gawanke and Germany were undefeated, while Perfetti and Canada had yet to win a game. But a lot has changed since Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday, Germany and Gawanke lost their first game of the tournament to Kazakhstan in an extremely fun game to watch. Kazakhstan was trailing by one goal at the start of the third, but scored two unanswered and shut down Germany en route to a 3-2 win. As Germany was tasting defeat for the first time, Canada turned their hopes around.
Winnipeg Jets prospect, Cole Perfetti and Team Canada are on a two-game winning streak
Later on Wednesday evening, Canada was able to win their first game as they beat Norway 4-2. Canada took an early 2-0 lead, but Norway was able to score two goals in the middle of the second period to tie the game. Fortunately for Canada, Andrew Mangiapane was able to give Canada a 3-2 lead heading into the third and Adam Henrique added the final tally in the third.
Perfetti played well in Canada’s first win, despite limited ice time. The Manitoba Moose standout finished with eight minutes and forty-one seconds of ice time, which was the second-lowest on the team. Perfetti only had twenty-nine seconds of time on ice in the third period. During the contest, the nineteen-year-old registered two shots.
Then this morning, Canada had a chance to win back-to-back games and continue their climb up the standings when they matched up against Kazakhstan in Riga.
It was groundhog day for Canada during this Friday morning matchup. For the second straight game, Canada had a two-goal lead in the early stages of the second period, but let it slip away as Kazakhstan scored two unanswered goals to level the game at 2-2 just under two minutes into the third period.
Finally, just over seven minutes into the third, Cole Perfetti was able to put Canada ahead with a beautiful shot from the slot that fired over Andrei Shutov’s glove and into the back of the net. You can watch the goal in the tweet below:
It’s Goal Perfetti time, of course! 🚨
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 28, 2021
Canada takes the lead! 🔥 #KAZCAN #IIHFWorlds @HockeyCanada @NHLJets pic.twitter.com/KmCyndqCZF
Perfetti’s first goal of the tournament, and lone shot of the game, stood as the game-winning goal as Canada defended well for the final twelve minutes of the game and added an empty netter to win 4-2.
With the win, Canada currently has six points from five games played. This currently places them in fifth place in Group B with two games remaining. The top four teams in the group make the quarterfinals.
Canada will be back in action and will be looking to extend their winning streak to three games when they face off against Italy on Sunday morning. Puck drop for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. central time and the game can be watched on TSN1 and TSN4 in Canada and on the NHL Network in the United States.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Do you think Cole Perfetti will make his Winnipeg Jets debut during the 2021-2022 season? Leave your comments below!
*All Stats Provided by the IIHF*