Winnipeg Jets Three stars of the week Jan 14-21

Be sure to check Betway to check out the latest Jets game day odds and bet on the NHL! It was a relatively easy week for the Winnipeg Jets. After their two games this past, they still found themselves still among the top three in the NHL and fist in the NHL when it comes to points percentage. The Jets handed the New York Islanders their third of four losses and then pulled out a win over the East’s worst team, the Ottawa Senators.

I will leave Connor Hellebuyck off the list this week, even though it would be so easy to make him all three stars. That guy should win a Hart trophy.

Yay, the first defender in these articles. Neal Pionk is the third star, he scored a goal and an assist this past week. His goal, a power play goal, came with some luck as Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin lost his skate blade. All the Jets had to do was pass the puck once, and boom, there was an open net with a puck in the back of it.

Now, we the fans and Pionk are both lucky with that goal, as the primary assister of the goal, Cole Perfetti, didn’t know Sorokin’s blade was knocked out of his skate but made the important pass.

Pionk picked up the primary assist on Nikolaj Ehlers’ overtime-winning goal against the Senators. That’s really all I can say about that assist because Ehlers went out and scored the nicest goal of the week, basically all by himself. Pionk getting an assist on it is just gravy.

Overall, Pionk scored a goal and a primary assist, averaged 21:59 in ice time, racked up five hits and shots, and was a minus one.

The 25-game goalless streak has ended for Mason Appleton! The Appleton haters were getting a little too loud for me. Appleton is on pace for 15 goals this season, three more than his previous best season. So far this season, Appleton has scored 22 points and is looking to surpass his previous best of 25 points.

This week was big for the Jets’ third-liner; he scored two goals, including the game-winner against the Islanders. It was like all the Jets’ goals that night; a weird one. Appleton just threw the puck at Sorokin’s pads, and there it was, the end of the drought.

His second goal in back-to-back games was a beauty to open up the scoring in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. We got to see the big alley-oop from Dylan Samberg that led to the Jets’ 3-on-1 goal.

Overall this week, Appleton had two goals, 16:30 in ice time, a hit, and a blocked shot.

The star is back! After five weeks and two days, Kyle Connor returned. He did not skip a beat with his first major injury in his NHL career. Although he would only score an empty-net goal this week, he was lights out. Six shots in each of his first two games.

His empty-netter goal wasn’t one of those easy goals; no, he had to work for that goal. Connor made three stick checks in his own zone to end up on the breakaway and scoring the fourth goal of the night for his club.

He drew the first of way too many penalties in Ottawa. But it was vintage Kyle Connor with some steam coming down the wing, cutting across the ice, and couldn’t get the shot off because he was hooked. The return of Connor was great; he got up to speed immediately and had no rust.

Just need to see a goal or two from the Jets’ first star of the week next week when they go up against the big bad Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.