Jets were in their first game to start off a long road trip, the second half of a tough back-to-back after having their butts handed to them the night before, starting a goalie who hadn’t won a game in his previous 12 appearances. Even the shiniest of happy Jets fans were starting to warm to the idea of burning it all down and letting the tank commence.

And then tonight happens. A 4-2 win in Denver against the Avalanche.

Hockey is a heckuva sport to figure out sometimes isn’t it?

It was a game that was more of a throwback to last season’s Jets who were scrappy, forechecked well at times, and got some very goaltending when needed.

They turned Gabriel Landeskog into a mere goon, Nik Ehlers schooled Tyson Barrie in a fight (!!!) and made Patrick Roy lose his mind on the bench which granted doesn’t take much to happen no matter who is playing.

Sure the start of the game was a bit rough with them giving up a power play goal in the first, but it was still markedly better than the night before and when Andrew Ladd scored near the end of the first, it was surely a sign that tonight would be different!

The second period was even better with Drew Stafford picking up a couple of goals, out-shot the Avs 17-12 (although that 12 was helped by some last minute pressure in the period) and generally frustrated them at every turn,

And then that third period.. The Jets actually showed a little bit of killer instinct! Instead of hanging back and waiting for the Avs to inevitably tie the game, they kept picking up scoring chances and creating pressure with the cycle game. Matthiew Perreault scored a beauty to put the nail in the coffin!

Yes sir, this could be a real turnaround for the Jets who are now a mere nine points away from a playoff spot. Wins against playoff teams like Colorado are tough and this could be the big spark the Jets need to get them..

He’s such a kill joy sometimes.

Road Warrior Animal Drew – Drew Stafford scored twice (one of them being a power play goal) and has now scored 10 of his team leading 16 goals on the road. He also added an assist for a three point night. Maybe the key to the Jets success for the rest of the season it to order Drew to stay in a hotel while in Winnipeg and have home fans boo him?

Hutch For The Win! – 32 saves on 34 shots is a pretty damn good night and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be happy that Michael Hutchinson finally got a much deserved win. Much like the rest of the team in front of him, it wasn’t picture perfect (that second goal against was a whole lot of UGH) and it did feel a bit scrambly at times (compared to Connor Hellebuyck though it would) but it was effective enough.

The Kids – Joel Armia had a really nice game, took a ton of shots (is 5 a ton?) and was fantastic in a 4th line role. Nik Ehlers was a player the Avs had a hard time containing and good on him for not only sticking up to Tyson Barrie but – and we might be biased here – took him out in a pretty spirited fight that the guys on the bench seemingly loved.

C+/- is shot attempt differential; Fen+/- is shot attempt
differential minus blocked shots; iSC is individual scoring chances; OZS
is percentage of offensive zone starts relative to offensive and
defensive.