Two Debuts And Two Milestones For The Jets Against Vancouver

The Jets have points in eight games of their last ten games, including all six since the Olympic break. They’ve shown some impressive resilience of late and it makes you wonder where they’d be in the standings without the early season injuries and cold streak around the holidays. Regardless, they are five points out of a wild card spot but with just 20 games to go they’d need to play near perfect hockey to close the gap. Here are three takes from the game:

Morrissey takes over as franchise points leader among defencemen

It was a feel good moment for all of Jetsland but especially Josh Morrissey after he netted the overtime winner in his return to the lineup. JMo has been out since the second period of team Canada’s first game in Milan. Adding him back to the blue line with the Jets in their current form will give the Ducks and Rangers more to think about as they travel to Winnipeg this week. Morrissey was a huge difference maker in this one as the Jets led in scoring chances 18-6 while he was on the ice. It will be a night to remember has Morrissey passed Jet legend Dustin Byfuglien for the franchise lead in points by a defenceman with 417. Just shy of 31 and with at least two more years on his deal, JMo will have plenty of time to pad his lead. 

Scheifele gets 30 goals

For the fifth time in his career, Mark Scheifele is a 30-goal scorer. After a flurry of chances in the second period, the Jets offence was being stifled by Canucks netminder Kevin Lankinen. Late in the frame, Jonathan Toews won a faceoff back to Scheifele who made room for himself and put all his weight into a shot that gave the home crowd a cathartic net pop to tie the game. After a five game goalless streak, he’s now got three goals in three straight games. Scheifele has a seven point lead (78) on Kyle Connor (71) for the team lead. The veteran centreman has found his game of late and is fueling this Jets hot streak.

New faces settling in with Jets

Isak Rosen and Jacob Bryson made their Jets debuts after being acquired just before the trade deadline. Both ended -1 on the night as they were on the ice for Liam Ohgren’s goal to start the third period. Rosen slotted in on the third line with Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist. He made a few slick passes but registered just one shot. He is one that will need some development time and coaching to bring out his NHL potential. Brad Lambert also made his first appearance since early November. He got the fewest minutes of any Jet and didn’t light up the box score but this is the exact type of situation he should be getting a look in. The trio of Bryson, Rosen, and Lambert will be something to keep an eye on through the final 20 games.

The Jets have 5 games left in the home stand, with Anaheim visiting Tuesday night and the Rangers on Thursday.