3 Talking Points as the Winnipeg Jets Shutout the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0
The Winnipeg Jets shutout the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 on home ice yesterday. Here are three talking points from the game.
The Winnipeg Jets played host to the Vegas Golden Knights last night at the Canada Life Centre in an important matchup in the Western Conference Wild Cars Race.
The Jets entered the game four points behind Vegas, who was sitting in the second Wild Card playoff spot. The Dallas Stars were also sitting 1 point behind the Golden Knights with three games in hand.
Regardless, this game was the perfect opportunity for the Jets to gain ground on a team in front of them in the standings and they did not let this chance go to waste as they won 4-0.
Here are our three talking points from the Jets win:
3. New Look Third Line
Kevin Chevldayoff and the Jets management team were extremely active during Monday’s trade deadline. In total, the Jets made six trades and welcomed two new players at the NHL level and two noncomers at the AHL level.
One of those players arriving to the Jets was a familiar foe, Mason Appleton, while the other new player was Zach Sanford and both of these players featured on the same line.
Appleton and Sanford played on a line with Paul Stastny. Although this line did not contribute any goals to the win, they played well, especially on the defensive side of the puck, and did the little things right.
Sanford drew the penalty that the Jets scored their first goal of the game on that subsequent powerplay.
The stat lines for both of these players are as follows:
Appleton: 15:24 time on ice, 1 shot, 2 hits, 67% faceoff win percentage
Sanford: 12:07 time on ice, 2 hits, 2 blocks, 2 takeaways.
2. Jets Bounce Back After Their Goal is Disallowed
As we talk about on the next slide, due to Connor Hellebuyck’s terrific performance, the Jets were getting outplayed for most of this game.
Finally, in the mid-second period, the Jets earned a powerplay and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored to put the Jets up 1-0.
A couple of minutes later, Winnipeg executed a terrific passing play and Evgeny Svechnikov capped this playoff with a snipe that beat the Vegas’ goaltender.
This put the Jets up 2-0, but Vegas decided to use their challenge on the play and the goal was called back for offsides.
Then during the next run of play, Svechnikov took a slashing penalty. Things could have taken a terrible turn for the Jets at this moment but they stuck to their game plan.
The Jets killed off the Svechnikov penalty and then they were rewarded with the second goal of the game courtesy of a Mark Scheifele tip-in.
The Jets showed their ability to bounce back yesterday. Whether Vegas controlled the play or things like the disallowed goal and the penalty went against the Jets, they found a way to stick to their game plan and were rewarded for their efforts.
1. Connor Hellebuyck Steals the Show and the Game
Yesterday evening was about as close to a vintage Connor Hellebuyck performance as you could get.
Hellebuyck kept Winnipeg in the game as they were outshot 22-4 in the opening period and the Jets hopes looked bleak, but the former Vezina Trophy Winner kept Vegas off of the scoreboard.
The second period started the same for the Jets as they were outplayed to start the frame but Hellebuyck frustrated the Golden Knights’ offense.
The Jets were able to capitalize on their opportunities and Hellebuyck stood strong the rest of the game en route to a shutout.
This game was a masterclass performance from the Jets’ netminder as he stopped all 42 shots he faced. This was also Hellebuyck’s fourth shutout of this regular season.
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The Jets will look to build on this performance when they return to action on Thursday night as they welcome the Ottawa Senators to Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: What did you think of Sanford’s and Appleton’s performances in their season debut? Leave your comments below!
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