There were no changes to the Jets’ lineup tonight, as they decided to use the same lineup they used Wednesday night in Montreal. Cole Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov were centered by Jonathan Toews on line 2, Adam Lowry centered Nino Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo on line 3, and on the 4th line Morgan Barron centered Cole Koepke and Tanner Pearson. Neal Pionk is back on the 2nd pairing with Dylan Samberg. Elias Salomonsson remained on the 3rd pair with Logan Stanley.
Eric Comrie got another start in goal, as Hellebuyck remains out for another 3-4 weeks. Haydn Fleury is currently the only other injured Jets player, but this morning the team announced he was cleared of concussions and had begun skating. Comrie came into tonight’s game with a record of 5-5-1, a GAA of 2.99 and an average of 0.897 SV%. Tonight’s game was the Eric Comrie show and the Jets finally got some deep scoring, leading to a much needed win.
1st Period
Before the puck dropped, you could tell by the looks of the Jets players that they were happy to be back on home ice. Eric Conrie made some solid saves early to keep the game level before Kyle Connor opened the scoring at the 4:24 mark.
15 pieces of chicken meal 🍗 😋
Connor’s 15th of the season was nicely set up by Dylan Samberg and Gabriel Vilardi, giving Connor time to get past UPL and give the Jets an early lead.
About three minutes later, Morgan Barron took a tripping penalty, giving the Sabers their first power play of the night. The Jets’ penalty killers continued their recent good play and with some help from Comrie this match remained 1-0.
Jonathan Toews took a tripping penalty with about 6 minutes left in the 1st. This time the Sabers were successful on the power play. Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Norris put Jason Zucker in front, and he collected his own rebound to tie this game at 1.
Minutes later, the Jets got their own power play, but they couldn’t regain the lead before the first period ended. Shots on goal after 20 minutes were 15-8 for the Sabres, with Comrie standing tall in the net to make it a draw.
2nd Period
The second period started exactly as Jets fans would have wanted it to. About 2 minutes after the puck dropped, Cole Koepke collected the puck after a Sabers turnover at the blue line. Koepke set up Tanner Pearson on a breakaway and he wasted no time firing a wrist shot into the back of the net to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.
A few minutes later, Logan Stanley and Jordan Greenway exchanged heated phone calls as Stanley tried to keep the energy up at the Canada Life Centre. Four minutes later, Rasmus Dahlin hooked Adam Lowry on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot. Adam Lowry came in and looked at five holes but was stopped and the match remained 2-1 at half time.
With just over a minute left in the 2nd, Cole Koepke scored his 1st of the season and 1st as a Jet. Dylan DeMelo made a nice breakout pass before Morgan Barron sent one to Koepke and he went to the backhand and buried the puck in the back of the net to give the Jets a 3-1 lead.
OH COLE THAT IS BEAUTIFUL 😍
The atmosphere at the Canada Life Center lifted after this goal and the Jets took a 3-1 lead into the third period. The Sabers continued to take the lead in shots on goal 26-17, but the Jets were battling all game and making the most of their opportunities, finally getting some deep scoring.
3rd Period
The 3rd period was a fairly even final period as the Sabers tried to claw their way back into this game. Comrie continued to make all the saves he needed, and the Jets’ overall defensive structure was better tonight.
Usually you see more penalties in the third period, but there were none tonight. Mark Scheifele scored a goal to make it 4-1 Jets, but that was waived shortly afterwards. Gabriel Vilardi would eventually make it 4-1 Jets as he closed out this game with an empty-netter with 34 seconds left. The Jets have good goaltending, better defense and scoring depth tonight, all of which are part of a recipe for success. Hopefully this win gets the Jets back on track, but it’s a quick turnaround as they fly to Edmonton tonight.
Next
The Jets are back on the road tomorrow as their regular season schedule continues with a game on Hockey Night in Canada against the Oilers in Edmonton. Puck drop for this game will take place just after 9:00 PM CT. Stay up to date with all the latest Jets news, plus previews and recaps of every Jets game this season, right here at Jets Nation.
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