The Winnipeg Jets were back at home tonight following their 4 game Eastern road trip. After going 2-2 on the trip, including a 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Sunday, the Jets were ready for tonight’s game against the New York Rangers. In their 10 matchups, the Jets were 5-4-1 against the Rangers, including a 6-3 win in New York back in mid November this season. Tonight Jets fans got their 1st look at newly acquired defenceman Luke Schenn. Slotting into the 3rd pairing alongside Schenn was Haydn Fleury, who replaced Logan Stanley, a healthy scratch for this one.

It was a strong start for the Jets tonight, who generated 11 shots on goal in the opening frame. Just after the 5 minute mark, Nikolaj Ehlers made a nice zone entry before handing the puck over to Cole Perfetti. After selling a shot on goal, Perfetti worked it down low and then across to an open Vladislav Namestnikov who deflected the puck into the open net, giving the Jets a 1-0 lead.

5 minutes later, the Rangers got an opportunity to tie the game, after Nino Niederreiter removed KeAndre Miller’s helmet, resulting in a roughing penalty. Halfway into the powerplay, the Rangers circled the puck around, before eventually finding Mika Zibanejad in between the two faceoff dots. Zibanejad wristed one into the top right corner, tying this game up at 1. 5 minutes later, the Jets got their 1st powerplay, after J.T Miller hooked Nikolaj Ehlers. The powerplay didn’t look too bad, but the Jets couldn’t get the go ahead goal. Shots on goal after the 1st were 11-9 Jets.

The two teams were pretty evenly matched so far, and the 2nd period was not much different. The story of the 2nd was all the penalties – a total of 6 – 4 for the Rangers and 2 for the Jets. At the end of their 1st powerplay of the 2nd period, Kyle Connor circled the puck up top near the top of the right faceoff circle. After a couple passes back and forth between Cole Perfetti, the puck was passed in front to Gabriel Vilardi, who wristed one past Igor Shesterkin, giving the Jets a 2-1 lead.

After an important penalty kill from the Jets minutes after taking the lead, they were rewarded with another powerplay. No luck for the Jets on this powerplay though, as the two teams were playing still pretty evenly matched during 5v5. At the end of the 2nd period, the Jets got what would be their final powerplay of the night. The Jets couldn’t generate anything to finish off the 2nd period, and they would finish the night 1 for 4 on the powerplay. Shots in the 2nd were 8-6 in favour of the Rangers.

The final period in tonight’s game was much more low event compared to the first two periods. Both teams didn’t want to make the next mistake, and the Jets were looking to extend their lead to 2. Dylan DeMelo high sticked Alexis Lafereniere with just under 14 minutes left. The Jets penalty kill did well again, probably their best kill of the night, and the Rangers finished the night 1 for 3 on the man advantage.

The Rangers would pull their goalie late, going for one last push at the tying goal. Nothing was getting past Hellebuyck after the 1st goal, and after a few final saves the Jets held on for the 2-1 win. The Jets win the season series against the Rangers 2-0, and their 21 blocked shots certainly helped them win this one. Final shots on goal were 24-22 for the Jets, with the 3rd period shots being 7-5 for the Jets.

Cole Perfetti was perhaps the most noticeable player on the Jets tonight, collecting 2 assists. Gabriel Vilardi scored the game winning goal, and Hellebuyck was as solid in net as he’s been all season, making 21 saves. The win keeps the Jets at number 1 overall in the NHL league standings, pending the results of the Washington Capitals games in hand. The Jets become the 1st team to reach 45 wins this season, and now sitting at 94 points, the Jets just need a few more wins to mathematically clinch a playoff spot.

This was a hard fought win by the Jets, who will stay in Winnipeg and have 2 days off before their next game. Friday night at 7 pm CT, the Jets have a Central Division clash against the Dallas Stars. That game promises to be a good one between two top 5 teams in the NHL. As for tonight’s game, it was simply a nice display of the Jets being able to shutdown their opponent at all the right times, leading to a deserved victory.