The Winnipeg Jets were in Ohio to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night and we'll see what happens.
Despite trailing in back-to-back games, the Jackets came out strong from the start and nearly dominated the visiting Jets. But Winnipeg managed to make one good play in Game 1 when Scheifele plated from Gretzky's office and found Conner uncovered in the low slot. After the Jets took a 1-0 lead just 1:26 into the game, Columbus ran all over the ice, outscoring their opponents. Hellebuyck was at his best, denying multiple moderately dangerous shots throughout the period, including two quick saves on the Jackets' power play. Winnipeg had the man advantage in the second half and was eventually able to spend some time in the offensive zone. The Jets picked up the pace a bit after this, but Bucky needed a few more big saves before the horn sounded. The stats and shot charts below don't require much analysis to determine that the local Blue Jackets are the better team.
1st Period MoneyPuck Statistics: Score: 1 to 0 Jets, 7-for-10 shooting, Blue Jackets, 66% worthy of victory Blue Jackets, Expected Goals – All Situations (1.02-0.37 CBJ) and 5-on-5 (0.61-0.34 CBJ)
Columbus had a quality rush against the Jets' defense in the second inning, but when it was denied, it gave them a chance to counter. Ehlers' rush and shot was initially denied, but the second line continued the cycle with the puck traveling along the backboard to Toffoli. The winger plays a pass forward with a nifty no-look between his legs, finds Ehlers low and the Dane takes a shot, Monaghan plays a perfect screen on Merzlikins to give Winnipeg an undeserved 2-0. gave the lead. The Jackets didn't give up and came back with some chances (Weird rush and long cycle shift) before the game devolved into a neutral zone traffic jam. Then, suddenly, the Jets offense exploded and pulled the game away. It started when Toffoli made a zone exit pass to Monahan, allowing him to slide the puck through the neutral zone. As he entered the Jackets' end, he made a pass along the sideboards to Ehlers, which allowed the winger to hit Toffoli, who cut into the slot. Winnipeg's newest forward showed off his sniping ability by cleanly beating the goalie to make it 3-0 with just over half the game remaining. A few minutes later, Columbus tried to wrap the puck around the boards to avoid the Jets' forecheck, but Stanley blocked it at the blue line. Big Stan immediately released a howitzer, hitting Merzlikins without giving the goaltender any time to move, and suddenly it was 4-0. The Blue Jackets had more chances to score, including a shot that hit the crossbar on a 3-on-1 rush, but Winnipeg added another point when Pionk's point shot bounced off Namestnikov's backboard, and the Russian He scored his 9th goal of the season. The period ended with a 5-0 Winnipeg lead. His MoneyPuck information below shows that the Jets worked on getting back into the game in the midfield frame (The actual score certainly did not represent the flow of play over two periods).
MoneyPuck stats after 2 periods: Score: 5 to 0 for jetsBlue Jackets shot 21-19, 51% in the win. jetsExpected Goals – All Situations (1.45-1.43 WPG) and 5 vs. 5 (1.42-1.03 WPG)
Winnipeg remained mostly calm defensively in the third period, but didn't start well when Columbus threw the puck toward Hellebuyck and crashed for the rebound to score. The Jets almost added a sixth point when Barron deftly deflected Dillon's point shot, but a video review determined the contact occurred above the height of the crossbar. The Blue Jackets eventually had another PP chance, but once again Bucky came up big and blocked their best scoring chance with a 4-on-3 player advantage. Winnipeg never stopped creating offense, with Monaghan setting up Scheifele for a spectacular side of the net, and Toffoli intercepting an east-west pass in the neutral zone for a spectacular breakthrough. While #55 was unable to take advantage of his chances, Toffoli made no mistakes in a one-on-one situation with Merzlikins and added his second goal of the game to make it 6-1. Nothing else major happened in his final 2 minutes and 30 seconds. See how MoneyPuck looks at this game in the stats/photos below.
MoneyPuck stats after 3 periods: 51% deserved win jetsExpected Goals – All Situations (2.40-2.38 WPG) and 5 vs. 5 (2.36-1.62 WPG)
Final score: winnipeg jets 6 columbus blue jacket 1
shot: columbus blue jacket 31 winnipeg jets 27
Game observations:
- After a few un-Bucky-like matches, conor hellebike He was back to form last night, stopping 30 of 31 shots as the Jackets faced 11 moderately dangerous looks, posting a .968 save percentage and an above-average 1.4 goals saved for the game.
- The Winnipeg Jets had a terrible start to the game, allowing Columbus to skate around them in the first period, but the team played much better in the second period and took a big lead.
- The Jets' top line was outstanding against Anaheim, but not as good against the Blue Jackets (44.1%xG).The center of the front line unit is Nikolai Ehlers, sean monaghanand tyler toffoli A combo that ended the game with 60.5% xG. The bottom six are also effective, and the third (57.1%xG) and the fourth (55% xG) Try hard enough to win the battle for the expected number of goals.
- Several players achieved milestones against Columbus. Nikolai Ehlers He scored his 20th goal of the season. The speedy Dane achieved that mark in every season of his NHL career except his rookie season (15 goals in 72 games) and the coronavirus bubble period (12 goals in 45 games). tyler toffoli He also scored two goals, reaching the 30-goal mark for the third time in his NHL career.sniper Kyle Connor He scored his 29th goal against the Jackets, moving him one goal shy of the 30-goal mark in six of seven NHL seasons.26 points in 56 games during the bubble period).
- 4th line of David Gustafson, Vladislav Namestnikovand morgan baron They were the only trio that actually performed well in all three periods. Gase was also the only center to win more than half of his matchups (54.5%).
Well, let's hope Winnipeg enjoys an easy game…because the schedule starts to get even tougher from this point on. The final leg begins with a four-game East Coast road trip, starting in the Big Apple with former teammates. Jacob Trouba & jack roslovic.
Next Game: Winnipeg Jets @ New York Rangers – Tuesday, March 19th, 6pm Central
Starting Tuesday, the Jets will play four games in six days in addition to traveling from city to city. These games include matches against top 5 franchises (rangers) and three Eastern Conference teams vying for a playoff spot (The devil, the islanders, and the capital).
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