Morrissey delivers the overtime magic, extending the Jets' point streak with a dramatic victory over the Canucks.
Another day, another win for the Winnipeg Jets.
Saturday evening marked the sixth-straight game to which the Jets recorded a point, pulling to within five points of a playoff spot, this time doing so by way of a 3-2 overtime victory over the visiting Vancouver Canucks.
Photo by Terry Lee/USA Today Yes, the 32nd-place Canucks were in town for a matchup against the 27th place Jets.
But it didn't look like the worst team against another low-ranked team. The Jets outplayed the Canucks in every facet, dominating the shot chart and high-danger scoring chance department.
Kevin Lankinen was the difference in goal. He had 24 saves on 25 shots through two periods of play. But ultimately fell apart as the game came to a close.
Saturday's game marked the Jets debuts of Isak Rosen and Jacob Bryson - to whom the team acquired at Friday's trade deadline from Buffalo as a part of the return in the Logan Stanley/Luke Schenn trade.
Rosen skated alongside Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist and registered a shot and a hit in 11:22 of icetime , while Bryson was paired on the blueline with Haydn Fleury. He drew a holding minor while also had a shot and a hit in 15:58.
After coming out of the gate sluggish, the Canucks managed to pull ahead 1-0 just moments after Morgan Barron rattled a wrist shot off the Vancouver goal.
A strong transition play up-ice from the Canucks led to the opening goal of the game for Linus Karlsson. He beat Connor Hellebuyck cross-body to give the visitors an unexpected lead just 7:28 in.
The Jets outshot the Canucks 10-5 in the first period, before continuing to pile it on in the middle stanza. And it took until the final minute for the hosts to tie things up at ones.
Outshooting Vancouver 15-6 in the frame, Winnipeg's final shot made it 1-1.
After a bad icing call by Brock Boeser, Jonathan Toews was sent over the boards with one job: win the face-off.
He did just that and got the puck to Scheifele. He scored a carbon copy goal to his December 27 strike vs. Minnesota with time ticking down on the clock. This time it came with 11.9 seconds to play.
The second period had various members of the Jets looking skyward after near misses or pure robbery from Lankinen in goal.
It didn't take long in the third period for the collective groans to return to Canada Life Centre. A defensive zone turnover led to Liam Ohgren's sixth of the season, as he hammered home a shot from the high slot just 34 seconds into the period, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead.
But late in the third, Max Sasson took a cross checking minor, sending Winnipeg to its second power play of the game. And the Jets' top unit delivered by way of a Gabe Vilardi strike.
In typical net-front fashion, Vilardi collected a setup play from Scheifele and Josh Morrissey, worked his way into Lankinen and opted to go backhand over the sprawling goaltender, tying the game with 4:48 to go in regulation. The goal was Vilardi's 24th of the season and it sent the game to overtime.
“It’s a team you almost don't want to play on a back-to-back in their home barn because they do play dots and boards in our end, and grind you out and try to wear you down," Canucks' head coach Adam Foote said of the Jets. "I thought [Lankinen] had a really good game, you know, he kept us in there.”
Winnipeg needed just 1:49 of extra time to find a winner. This time around it was Morrissey who put home the winner in his return to the lineup. He got the puck from Scheifele, and banked the one-timer off a Canucks defender and past Lankinen into the net.
The goal gave Morrissey the most points ever by a defenceman in franchise history (417) passing Dustin Byfuglien.
"He’s elite. He’s an elite player," Vilardi said of Morrissey.
"He was part of Team Canada for a reason. They missed him out there, obviously. It just shows how big of a difference maker he is for us. I’m not sure what his minutes were, but I’d imagine they were in the high 20s again. He’s one of the top tier defencemen in the league.”
Hellebuyck collected 21 saves on 23 shots, while Lankinen made 32 stops on the 35 pucks sent his way.
Next up for Winnipeg is a Tuesday night test vs. Anaheim in Game 4 of the eight-game homestand. The Jets then play Thursday, Saturday and Sunday as the week continues.