The Jets were in Utah tonight on Hockey Night in Canada for their final game of their current 3 game Western road trip. After a very nice 4-0 win in Vegas on Thursday night, the Jets were looking to pick up another 2 points on the road. With the Pittsburgh Penguins helping the Jets earlier today by defeating the Dallas Stars, the Jets continued to hold a 4 point lead over the Stars in the Central Division prior to puck drop. The Utah Hockey Club are coming off a 4-2 loss against the L.A Kings on Thursday. With their playoff odds now sitting at less than 5%, Utah is now in “must win” mode until they are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Jaret Anderson-Dolan was a late addition to the Jets lineup tonight, with Nikolaj Ehlers out after being a “game time” decision. Tonight the Jets were going for their franchise best 53rd win in a season, but they were unsuccessful in doing so after not the best first 40 minutes of hockey.

Utah was the better team during the first few minutes of this game. After the first 4 minutes, Utah led in shots 3-1. Dylan Samberg was called for a tripping penalty on Dylan Guenther seconds later, giving Utah the first powerplay of the game. Only 7 seconds into the powerplay, the puck found its way in front from Nick Schmaltz to Barrett Hayton to Clayton Keller, who fired one under Connor Hellebuyck, giving Utah a 1-0 lead. Keller’s 26th of the season marked his 499th career point.

Just 30 seconds after Utah took the lead, Kevin Stenlund was called for holding on Alex Iafallo, sending the Jets on the powerplay. The Jets were only able to generate 1 shot on goal on this advantage, and Utah continued to hold onto the lead as the 1st period went on. By the halfway mark in the 1st, the Jets started to play better, not letting Utah get any easy scoring chances. Utah got the next powerplay of the game, after Morgan Barron was called for interference against Logan Cooley. Hellebuyck made a trio of good saves on the penalty kill, and the Jets were able to keep the Utah lead at 1. Mark Scheifele took a holding penalty with 11 seconds left, and the Jets entered the 1st intermission down 1-0 and trailing in shots 11-8.

The Jets started the 2nd on the penalty kill for the 3rd time of the night. Not much happened for Utah in terms of chances, as the Jets penalty kill improved to 2/3 on the night. 5 minutes into the 2nd, Utah was still looking like the better team overall at this point, leading in shots in the 2nd 5-1. Near the halfway mark in the 2nd, the Jets got their 2nd powerplay of the night after Alex Kerfoot hooked Luke Schenn,

This powerplay featured some good puck movement from the Jets, and a pair of chances from Mark Scheifele. Karel Vejmelka, who has started almost every game recently for Utah, made some big saves to keep the Jets off the scoresheet. The Jets finally started looking like the better team in the 2nd half of the 2nd period, but continued to trail 2-0.

Kevin Stenlund made it 3-0 for Utah with around 3 minutes left in the 2nd. Mikhail Sergachev made a nice pass up the ice to Kevin Stenlund, who entered the Jets zone and fired one past Hellebuyck for his 13th of the season. 1 minute later, the Jets got their 3rd powerplay of the night after Michael Kesselring was called for holding on Adam Lowry. The Jets needed to find a way to get a goal before the 2nd period ended on this advantage, but they couldn’t get much going still, and went into the 2nd intermission down 3-0. Shots on goal in the 2nd were even at 11.

2 minutes into the 3rd, the Jets got their 4th powerplay of the night after Olli Maata hooked Nino Niederreiter. This time, the Jets top ranked powerplay was able to capitalize on the man advantage. After a few great saves from Vejmelka in front, Mark Scheifele collected a rebound and wristed one into a half open net for his 38th of the season. This goal also marked Scheifele’s 800th point in his career, only the 2nd Jets 2.0 player to reach that total.

After the 3-1 goal, the intensity of this game picked up, with both teams looking for that next crucial goal. The Jets continued to look like the better team throughout the 3rd period, showing a sense of urgency to try to come back and get the 2 points. Despite some physicality, no other penalties were called throughout the 3rd period. With 3 minutes to go, the Jets pulled their goalie. After a shot on goal, Utah made a quick play to get the puck up the ice, before Nick Bjugstad fired the puck from centre ice into the empty net. Final score was 4-1 Utah, but the Jets made a strong push in the 3rd, leading in shots 14-6. Final shots on goal were 33-28 in favour of the Jets.

It was a slow start for the Jets tonight, who couldn’t get on the scoreboard soon enough. Utah was the better team overall in the 1st and 2nd, before the Jets made a valiant effort in the 3rd period. Vejmelka was easily the 1st star of the game, as he won the goalie duo against Hellebuyck. I thought the Jets would come out with more energy at the start of this game knowing the Stars lost earlier, but I guess that just didn’t happen. Tomorrow afternoon, the Jets will be scoreboard watching the Stars and Wild game, before they head home to play the St. Louis Blues on Monday night at 6:30 pm CT. The Blues are on fire right now, currently on a 12 game win streak, so it will be a real test for the Jets. Check back here on Monday for a preview of this important Central Division matchup.

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