Kyle Connor was the star of the show against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, scoring both goals in a 2-1 Jets win. The win somewhat helped the Jets playoff odds (as other teams in the race ended up winning too), and tonight in Winnipeg on Amazon Prime Monday Night Hockey the Jets hosted the Seattle Kraken. The Jets entered Monday morning three points out of the 2nd wildcard spot in the Western Conference, with just six games to go. The 33-31-12 Jets took on the 32-22-11 Kraken, a team just behind the Jets in the battle for the 2nd wildcard spot in the Western Conference.

The Jets line combinations looked slightly different than last game, as Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov returned from injuries. Adam Lowry remained as the 2nd line centre. Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov were slotted on the 3rd line with Brad Lambert. Isak Rosen, Jonathan Toews and Cole Koepke formed the 4th line. No changes to the defense pairings tonight, as the newly formed 3rd pairing of Haydn Fleury and Jacob Bryson remained the same.

After yet another quality (but not busy) start against the Blue Jackets, Connor Hellebuyck got the start in goal. The Jets lineup now has four players out due to injuries: Elias Salomonsson, Colin Miller, Morgan Barron and Gustav Nyquist. Hellebuyck entered tonight’s game with a 21-21-11 record, a 2.77 GAA and a .898 SV%. Tonight’s game started with some chances from both teams, before the Jets took control of the game in the 2nd period, leading to a big home win on this Monday night.

Teams traded chances to begin this game, including a breakaway opportunity from Mark Scheifele where Philipp Grubauer made two saves. The Kraken opened the scoring just before the halfway mark of the opening period. Matty Beniers gave the puck to Jordan Eberle down low and he went behind the goal and attempted a wrap around. Hellebuyck made the save, but on the rebound Eberle scored on the backhand.

The Kraken carried the momentum from the opening goal for the next few minutes, getting a few more scoring chances. Berkly Catton was called for holding the stick, sending the Jets to the powerplay with just over eight minutes remaining in the 1st.

Less than halfaway into the man advantage, Josh Morrissey fired a shot on goal that was deflected wide and behind the net by Gabriel Vilardi. The puck went back in front, and Jonathan Toews was in a perfect position to tap the puck into the net to tie this game on the powerplay.

Toews’ 10th goal of the season got the Jets back in this game despite being outshot big time prior to the powerplay. After this goal the rest of the period settled down in terms of scoring chances, and after 20 minutes this game remained 1-1. Shots on goal in the 1st were 13-7 Kraken, and the hits were 9-2 Jets.

Winnipeg came out strong to start the 2nd, creating the first few scoring chances of the period. Both teams had a cautious approach on the attack as neither team wanted to make a costly turnover. Adam Larsson took a penalty near the halfway mark of the 2nd, and 38 seconds later the Jets took the lead. Mark Scheifele found Gabriel Vilardi at the point, and Vilardi started and finished a give and go with Jonathan Toews to improve the Jets powerplay to 2 for 2 on night.

The Jets went back on the powerplay less than two minutes after taking the lead. Just before the midway mark of this 5 on 4, the Jets improved to a perfect 3 for 3 on the man advantage. Josh Morrissey set up Mark Scheifele at the top of the faceoff dot, who found Kyle Connor for a one timer from near the top of the other faceoff dot. Connor’s shot was deflected past Grubauer by a Kraken defender for Connor’s 37th goal of the season.

Mark Scheifele recorded his 900th career point on this goal, all of which came with the Jets. The Jets continued to roll after taking a two goal lead, controlling the majority of the play for the rest of the 2nd period. With seven minutes left in the period, Grubauer left the game with an unknown injury. Joey Daccord took over in net for the Kraken for the remainder of the game.

The Jets outshot the Kraken 13-4 in the 2nd period, and now led in total shots on goal 20-17. Going into the 3rd period, the Jets definitely felt confident in their chances of picking up an important two points after a strong middle frame.

The 3rd started with the Kraken getting one goal closer with just over 17 minutes remaining. Kaapo Kakko sent McCann down the ice on the rush. McCann was one on one with a defender and wristed one up past Hellebuyck for his 19th goal of the season.

The Jets restored their two goal lead just over three minutes later. Neal Pionk and Adam Lowry set up Brad Lambert with the puck as he entered the Kraken zone before firing an absolute snipe up past Daccord for his 3rd goal of the season.

Just like last game against the Blue Jackets, the Jets stayed disciplined throughout the game, not taking any penalties. With just under five minutes remaining, Kyle Connor secured the Jets victory with his 2nd goal of the night. After the puck was still deemed as loose in the crease, Scheifele collected the puck and found Connor for a snap shot that went past Daccord for his 38th goal of the season.

The Kraken pulled their goalie with a little over two minutes remaining. Vladislav Namestnikov wrapped up this game for good with an empty netter to make it 6-2 Jets with 2:04 left in the game. The Jets held on to secure a much needed two points to keep their fight going for the 2nd wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Final shots on goal were 31-24 for the Jets.

Following this Easter Monday home game, the Jets will have two nights off before a game on the road in St. Louis. Their regular season schedule continues on Thursday against another team fighting for the 2nd wildcard spot in the West, the Blues. Puck drop for this game will be just after 7:30 pm CDT. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for all of the latest Jets news (including the latest playoff odds), plus previews and recaps on each Jets game this season.

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