Scheifele’s franchise record 898th game as Jet ends in a well-deserved 5-2 win with 5 different goalscorers

After a long 2-4-0 six-game road trip that didn’t go ideally, the Jets returned to Canada Life Center for three straight home games starting tonight. The now 11-7-0 Jets took on the 10-7-2 Columbus Blue Jackets, looking to reset and attempt to start a win streak at home. The Blue Jackets have had an average start to the season and currently find themselves in the middle of a Metropolitan Division that sits just seven points from first to last in the standings.

Despite some below-average games lately, the Jets lineup has seemed relatively the same as the team continues to inch closer to being fully healthy. The first line remained the same and Cole Perfetti, Jonathan Toews and Vladislav Namestnikov formed the second line. The third line featured Nino Niederreiter, Adam Lowry and Alex Iafallo. Morgan Barron centered line 4 alongside Gustav Nyquist and Tanner Pearson. Prior to the game, Haydn Fleury was the only Jet listed on the injury report as he is still in the concussion protocol.

The Jets’ defensive combinations remained at full strength while everyone was healthy, and Eric Comrie got the start in goal. Comrie came into tonight’s game with a 3-1-0 record, a 2.75 GAA and a .908 SV%. Tonight, Comrie did whatever it took to help the Jets maintain their lead. Tonight the Jets opened the scoring quite early in the first inning, and after taking a 2-1 lead, they played like the team that didn’t play on back-to-back nights, taking a well-deserved victory with 5 goals different scorers.

1st Period

The first period was quite action packed tonight with both teams getting eleven shots on target. Elvis Merzlikins and Eric Comrie each made some good saves to keep this first period low. Ivan Provorov took an early penalty at 1:37 for high-sticking, but the Jets were unable to capitalize on this early opportunity.

About four minutes after the power play ended, Adam Lowry scored his first goal of the season. Neal Pionk created some space at the point before finding Nino Niederreiter on the sideboards. Niederrieter headed toward the goal and found Lowry in front, and a nice wrist shot beat Merzlikins to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

This game remained 1-0 until there was just over a minute left in the 1st. Elvis Merzlikins got the 2nd assist when he made a pass to Damon Severson behind the net. Severson made a nice pass to Miles Wood, who advanced the puck and got past Luke Schenn before going for goal and backhanding past Comrie to make it a 1-1 game.

Both teams went into the first break quite happy and the Jets looked quite energized for the first home game in over two weeks.

2nd Period

The second period started off great for the Jets, scoring just 1:12 after the puck drop. Kyle Connor found Mark Scheifele near center ice and he carried the puck into the zone. Scheifele waited and made a perfect pass between the legs of a Blue Jackets defenseman, and Josh Morrissey tapped the puck into the back of the net to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.

With 8 minutes left in the 2nd, the Jets defeated the Blue Jackets 6-2 (in the 2nd) and 17-13 overall as they looked like the team that deserved to be ahead. Luca Del Bel Belluz took a holding penalty with just over 5 minutes left in the second frame, and the Jets got their second power play of the night. Not even halfway through the power play, Nino Niederreiter and Gustav Nyquist set up Neal Pionk, and a booming slap shot went past Merzilikins.

Pionk’s first of the season gave the Jets a well-deserved 3-1 lead, and after outscoring the Blue Jackets 8-4 in the second period, they took a two-goal lead into the final intermission.

3rd Period

The Jets took their momentum from the 2nd through the start of the 3rd. Josh Morrissey made a nice interception near center ice and found Mark Scheifele. A quick drop pass to Kyle Connor led the star forward into the zone, and a perfect wrist shot from an acute angle found its way past Merzlikins, who couldn’t stay close enough to the post.

Three minutes into the third, the Jets had a commanding three-goal lead. A minute later, the Blue Jackets cut their deficit to two. A Jets turnover in their own zone was picked off by Charlie Coyle. After a quick pass to Cole Sillinger, Zach Werenski got the puck in the slot, and his wrister went past Comrie to make it a 4-2 game.

Just two minutes later, the Jets regained their three-goal lead. Luke Schenn handed the puck to Mark Scheifele, who was playing in his franchise-record 898th game near center ice. After entering the zone, Scheifele dropped the puck back to Logan Stanley, who walked in and fired a slap shot from the top corner near the faceoff point past Merzilkins.

Stanley’s third of the season gave them a three-goal lead. 24 seconds after the goal, Morgan Barron picked up the first and only Jets penalty of the night, an interference call. The Blue Jackets had their chances on this power play, but Comrie made some great saves, including a great save just before the power play ended.

The rest of the match went without more goals or penalties and the Jets held on for the 5-2 win. The final shots on goal were 30-22 for the Jets, and tonight’s complete team performance earned them a much-needed win on home court. Please note that most (or all) of the goals from tonight’s match could not be properly embedded in this article due to the outage that has affected X/Twitter and other online platforms in recent days.

Next

The Jets’ three-game homestand continues Friday night as the Jets’ regular season schedule continues against the Carolina Hurricanes. Puck drop for this match will again take place just after 7:00 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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