The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Dallas Stars 5-4 in Dallas on Friday night. Here are three talking points from the game.
The Winnipeg Jets flew into Dallas on Friday night looking to bounce back after a horrible 6-1 loss in Minnesota just two days earlier.
Dallas entered the matchup as winners of three of their last four. This was the team’s final meeting of the season, and first since the Jets rocked the Stars 5-1 at Canada Life Centre on November 8th.
Rick Bowness, looking to put the 6-1 loss to the Wild behind them, broke out the lineup blender prior to the game. All four lines and all three defensive pairs had new looks on Friday, seeing Pierre-Luc Dubois slide between Kyle Connor and Sam Gagner, and Mark Scheifele now playing between Cole Perfetti and Blake Wheeler.
The bottom six saw changes before and during the game as well, with Mikey Eyssimont and Jansen Harkins getting a bump up to the third line with Adam Lowry. Connor Hellebuyck was between the pipes for the second straight game.
After a wild contest that saw about everything you could possibly imagine in a hockey game, the Jets emerged victorious with a 5-4 overtime win.
Here are three talking points from the Jets’ win over Dallas.
3. Wheeler becomes Winnipeg Jets leader in Games Played
With Blake Wheeler suiting up last night against the Dallas Stars, he officially passed Bryan Little as the leader in games played for the Winnipeg Jets. In what was his 1065th total NHL game, it was also his 844th game for the Jets, now one ahead of Little’s 843.
It was a productive game for Wheeler, as he tallied an assist on Cole Perfetti’s game-opening goal just 92 seconds into the first period. He also added an assist on Josh Morrissey’s overtime winner, which is something we’ll talk about later.
Now 19 games into the season, Wheeler has been a pleasant surprise. After it was revealed that he was having the captaincy stripped, everyone seemed to be anxiously awaiting his play without the “C”.
Without speaking for Wheeler, it looks as if he’s playing with a bit more jump. Whether that’s just unbridled aggression or the weight of the captaincy being removed, it appears to be working.