Finally… Victory!

Thanks to a pair of @Jack Roslovic goals and a 38 save performance from @Connor Hellebuyck that was especially big in the third period, the @Winnipeg Jets raced out to a 3-0 lead and then survived a late scare in the third to prevail 5-2 over the @St Louis Blues

Given that both teams were on the second half a back to back set, and that the Blues had traveled in from Edmonton, it was expected that there would be a bit of a sluggish start to the game, but the opening minutes of the first period were anything but that. The Blues carried play for most of the first period as the Jets struggled with zone exits (nothing new there) but did well to prevent much of anything in the way of attacks to the front of the Jets net and slot area.

Both teams gave up stretches of puck possession in their own zone at times, but neither team seemed to be able to create much in the way of high danger scoring chances, with the Jets actually holding a slight 3-2 lead in that department at even strength in the first period, even thought he Blues did out-shoot them 14-12.

Winnipeg finally gets some momentum late in the first after a @Colton Parayko slashing penalty results in some offensive zone time for the Jets. While they miss out on a power play goal, the Blues are on their heels enough for @Sami Niku and Jack Roslovic to take advantage with the game’s opening goal late in the period.

The Jets get into a little bit of penalty trouble to start the second period which helps the Blues start strong, but again even though the Jets are giving up shots against, Hellebuyck is stopping everything he sees and the defense in front of him is doing a solid job of clearing rebounds and second chances. Another noticeable difference between this game and a large number of Jets games over the last while is that the Jets aren’t turning over the puck as much – or at least not turning it over in the worst possible ways that leave them open to grade A scoring chances against.

Just like the first period, the Blues initial push for the first half of the second period gives way to more of a Jets push in the later half as the Jets end up even in shots for the middle frame at 14-14. More importantly, the Jets score twice in less than three minutes with Roslovic picking up his second goal of the game.

That was followed up by Roslovic setting up a streaking @Andrew Copp who rushes the zone and beats @Jordan Binnington clean to give the Jets a 3-0 goal.

The dominate the last five minutes of the second period and the third goal feels like a huge confidence booster for a somewhat fragile team who might have played a lot tighter if they were only up by two at the start of the third period…

As it was, the Jets did back off a bit – which is to be expected due to score effects and a club that didn’t want to screw up a three goal lead. Hellebuyck continues to shine as the Blues do start finding ways to generate offense closer to the Jets net.

Sure enough, with the Blues now persistant with pressure and the Jets falling back into a bit of a defensive shell, St Louis finally breaks through to make it a 3-1 game.

Two and a half minutes after that, the Blues make it an even tighter game with a second goal.

Shots in the final period were 12-7 for St Louis and as you can imagine, they also had a 9-2 edge in scoring chances and a 2-0 lead in high danger chances. What those stats don’t count is the crossbar the Blues hit a minute after the @Ryan O’Reilly goal that would have tied the game.

As it was, the Blues pulled Binnington for the extra attacker and the Jets were good enough to score a pair of empty net goals to bring home a win for the first time in their last six tries.

Connor Hellebuyck had himself a very Conor Hellebuyck-like game, the defense in front of him did just enough to make sure he wasn’t victimized by rebound and second chance scoring opportunities, and the Jets third line of Copp, Roslovic and @Jansen Harkins had a really good night in helping lead the offense.

A three point night for Jack Roslovic as he had the game’s first two goals and an assist on what ended up being the game winner from Andrew Copp. Not a bad night at all for a player who was only on the ice for 12:21.

The divisional fun doesn’t stop after tonight as the Jets will get a day to enjoy the Super Bowl and then move on to host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. The game will be on TSN and TSN 1290 and starts at 7:00 PM CST.