The Jets last played on Sunday night, but after a long early season break they were back in action tonight against the San Jose Sharks. The 3-0-0 Jets were at home to take on the 0-2-2 Sharks in a battle of one of the remaining undefeated teams against one of the remaining winless teams. On paper, this game looked like it should be an easy win for the Jets, and it turned out that was the mainly the case tonight.

Tonight was Connor Hellebuyck night at Canada Life Centre, a night to honour Hellebuyck’s achievements from last season, including his 2nd career Vezina and the William Jennings Trophy. Tonight was also a special night at Canada Life Centre, as they welcomed 1 lucky fan who would be awarded with an amazing prize package for being the “20 millionth guest”.

Right from puck drop, the Jets played with a high level of energy. Only 1:59 into the game, Nikolaj Ehlers brought the puck in on the rush and started a nice play to open the scoring. Dylan DeMelo fed the puck over to Morrissey, and Morrissey wristed it top corner. On the 1st (perhaps 2nd?) shot of the game the Jets took an early 1-0 lead.

Following the opening goal, the Jets continued to play a strong game defensively. The Sharks appeared tired to start this game, and that was likely due to them playing in Chicago against the Blackhawks last night. It took quite a long time for the Sharks to generate anything in the 1st period, and the Sharks had no shots on goal for the first 8 minutes of the game.

The Jets continued their strong opening period play, displaying good puck movement as they continued to get chances. A tripping penalty on Alex Wennberg awarded the Jets their 1st powerplay of the game 8 minutes in. The Jets soon after got a 5 on 3, due to a 2nd penalty by the Sharks, a high sticking minor on Jan Ruuta 1 minute later.

The Jets 5 on 3 went to work with 1:15 on the clock for the 2 man advantage. After a couple quality shots on goal, the Jets made a great passing play (thanks to that good puck movement) that led up to a pass from Gabe Vilardi to Nikolaj Ehlers for a powerplay goal on their 10th shot of the game.

A tripping call on Nino Niederreiter took the Jets off their 2nd powerplay. Shortly after, the Sharks got a goal on the powerplay. Tyler Toffoli, the former Winnipeg Jet, tipped home a shot from the point for his 4th goal of this young season. With a goal and an assist already, Nikolaj Ehlers soon after would pick up his 3rd point of the night. His 2nd goal of the period came off a snipe off the rush following a costly Sharks turnover, making it 3-1 for the Jets.

The Jets continued their strong play, and were rewarded with a lucky 3rd powerplay in the 1st period with 3 minutes left for a too many men penalty on the Sharks. Neal Pionk would make it 4-1 for the Jets, after some good traffic in front and a shot that got through the screened Mackenzie Blackwood. The score after the 1st was 4-1 for the Jets and the shots on goal were 15-8 for the Jets.

The Jets picked up where they left off at the start of the 2nd period. The Sharks were giving the Jets too much time and space multiple times already, and they made this mistake again 2 minutes into the 2nd. Neal Pionk dropped the puck back to Kyle Connor, who sniped (a common type of goal tonight) one home past Blackwood to make it 5-1 for the Jets.

The 5th Jets goal would mark the end of Blackwood’s night, who was replaced by Vitek Vanecek. Much like the 1st period, it took the Sharks around 8 minutes to get their 1st shot on goal of the 2nd period. Their 1st shot seemed to spark the Sharks, who picked up some stream before making it 5-2 just a few minutes later. Luke Kunin picked up his 1st of the season with a wrister out in front that just snuck by Hellebuyck on the five hole.

The Sharks gained some energy after their 2nd goal, but they may have gotten too antsy as they would take their 4th penalty of the night following a turnover. The Jets went back to the powerplay, but were unsuccessful despite a couple solid chances. The Sharks went on their 2nd powerplay of the night after a holding call on Josh Morrissey. Just before that penalty expired, the Sharks picked up their 5th penalty of the game, a cross check from Luke Kunin.

The Jets went on their 5th powerplay, already 2/4 on the night, but were not able to add another goal before the man advantage expired. The Jets went into the 2nd intermission up 5-2, with the shots on goal now 29-16 for the Jets.

The 3rd period was uneventful, but only for the first 5 minutes. The Sharks took their 6th penalty of the game with 12 minutes left, followed by their 7th penalty of the game with 9 minutes left. Alex Iafallo made a nice play after he entered the zone and found Perfetti unmarked in front of the net, before he shot it past Vanecek for his 1st goal of the season.

The Sharks answered back 20 seconds later. A 2 on 1 was finished off by Fabian Zetterlund for his 3rd goal of the season. This goal happened before the Jets 7th powerplay of the night. Remember that puck movement I mentioned earlier? That was in full display throughout this powerplay. Namestnikov dropped the puck back to Pionk, who found Perfetti on the right side, who slap shotted his 2nd goal of the night past Vanecek. The “extra point” was good, and the Jets now led 7-3.

The rest of the game played out as a typical 7-3 game would play out late. The Jets weren’t done quite yet though, as Vladislav Namestnikov added an 8th Jets goal with 33 seconds left. A great play by Neal Pionk set up Namestnikov, who fired home one last goal to send the Jets fans home even happier than they already were up until that point. Final score 8-3 Jets, as they stay perfect on the season at 4-0-0.

The Jets finished the night 4/7 on the powerplay, while the Sharks went 1/2 on the man advantage. Final shots on goal were 36-22, while the final penalty minutes were 12 to 4 for the Sharks. Toffoli and Granlund led the way for the Sharks with 2 points each. Namestnikov and Pionk both had 4 point performances tonight, each collecting a goal and 3 assists. Ehlers and Perfetti each scored twice and added an assist to both finish with 3 point nights. Update: Perfetti was awarded a 2nd assist, so he finished the night with 4 points. Iafallo and Vilardi had a statement as well this game, with 2 points each (2 assists).

It was a complete team performance tonight as the Jets remain undefeated following tonight’s wonderful home performance. Up next for the Jets is a Sunday afternoon showdown against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Winnipeg. Puck drop for this game is at 2 pm CT. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for pre and post game articles for that game, as well as every game throughout the 2024-25 season.