Mark Scheifele scored his 40th goal of the season, while Connor Hellebuyck picked up victory No. 35, as the Winnipeg Jets pulled three points ahead of the visiting Nashville Predators by way of a 2-0 shutout win from Canada Life Centre on Saturday.
Mark Scheifele scored his 40th goal of the season, while Connor Hellebuyck picked up victory No. 35, as the Winnipeg Jets pulled three points ahead of the visiting Nashville Predators by way of a 2-0 shutout win from Canada Life Centre on Saturday.
After dropping an extremely critical head-to-head matchup with the ever-threatening Calgary Flames on Wednesday, Winnipeg was in need of a significantly stronger performance in its weekend tilt with the Predators.
“We knew after last game we weren’t happy with that," Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said post-game. "We weren’t happy with the way that we played and that needed to change. I think we showed that hunger pretty good."
"Bucky was outstanding. Our Ds were buzzing up and down that ice. That was a good win. Keep that going.”
For a game that meant so much to both teams involved, the first period certainly did not live up to the lofty expectations. Despite three minor penalties in the frame, neither club managed to find a goal in the opening 20 minutes.
Nashville entered the middle stanza up 8-7 on the shot chart, but that changed drastically as the game wore on. Winnipeg pounded Juuse Saros with 20 shots in the frame, while directing 62 total pucks toward the net through 40 minutes.
"They got momentum," Predators head coach John Hynes said of the Jets' strong second period. "I thought the building was rocking and they got that momentum when they scored that goal."
They finally did get on the board with 4:54 to play in the frame, as Scheifele found his 40th of the season on a heavy wrist shot through traffic. The puck rattled of Saros' glove, then hit the post, bounced off his skate then trickled into the net, as Canada Life Centre hit a new season-high on the decibel reader.
“Obviously, a big game and a big time in the game, so obviously that made it feel even better," Scheifele said of his milestone tally. "It was obviously a very, very good feeling and I’m lucky I play with some really good players.”
Josh Morrissey and Vladislav Namestnikov picked up the assists on the late-period marker.
"Good for him, 40 goals," head coach Rick Bowness said post-game. "That's a hell of a season and he's got three more games to add on to that... We stayed in the fight and Mark's goal was a perfect example of that. Just stay in it. Stay in the moment. Stay shift-to-shift. And he gets a very timely goal for us."
Although taking just a 1-0 lead into the final frame, Winnipeg could have easily pulled ahead by four or even five goals in the second period. Bookending Scheifele's goal were two goal posts from Nikolaj Ehlers.
Pierre-Luc Dubios also had a goal waved off by referee Wes McCauley, who indicated he failed to blow the whistle on a dead puck that Dubois poked into the net from underneath Saros.
The Jets needed just 1:36 of the third period to double their lead. Following his exceptional second period, Ehlers setup Neal Pionk for his 10th of the season on a perfect cross-ice pass. The blueliner beat Saros high, blocker side to give Winnipeg a 2-0 lead with 18:24 to play.
“I knew he was coming," Ehlers said. "So it was just a matter of letting those three guys go deep enough for him to be open for me. He comes in at a perfect spot and he rips that one home. It was nice.”
That goal was all the Jets needed to close out the game with former Vezina winner Hellebuyck forming the last line of defence in his fourth shutout of the season.
Nashville's best chance of the period came off the stick of Winnipeg product Cody Glass, dangled his way through the Jets' defence before rattling the puck square off the crossbar as the time remaining on the Predators' season slowly ticked away.
Hellebuyck turned aside all 38 of Nashville's shots as he improved his record to 35-25-2 on the season. Saros made 26 stops in a losing effort, which saw him fall to 31-23-7 for the year.
"Helly’s been awesome," Scheifele said. "He’s been a rock for us all year. He’s the only reason why we are where we are. He’s been fantastic. I think tonight was an easier one for him, but when we needed him he made the big saves. Hopefully we can give him a few more easy ones.”
Winnipeg will conclude its five-game homestand on Monday, as Erik Karlsson and the San Jose Sharks make their way to Canada Life Centre for the Jets' final game as the host this season.
Nashville and Calgary face off in the late-night game on Monday in the Flames' penultimate game of the season. The Sharks will head straight to Calgary from Winnipeg where they will watch the Flames finish their season on Wednesday in the 9:00 PM central showing.
The Jets will then hit the road for Minnesota and Colorado, on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, before those teams travel to Tennessee for their final games of the year.
As has been the case for the past two weeks, each of those games will carry serious postseason consequences, one way or another.