JETS FIND SPARK TO IGNITE COMEBACK WIN
Winnipeg spots Nashville 3-0 first-period lead before roaring back, writes Ken Wiebe.
JETS 7, PREDATORS 4
It was the type of penalty that could have been a defining moment of this series — and it still might be.
But not for the reason you may have expected.
The Winnipeg Jets scored an early goal in the second period and were about to be given a power play after Austin Watson caught Blake Wheeler with a high check.
Jets centre Mark Scheifele took exception to the hit and took a minor penalty for roughing, his retaliatory action negating the power play and putting the teams into a four-on-four situation.
But after scoring twice in a span of 18 seconds, the Jets had turned a 3-1 deficit into a tie game and brought the crowd inside Bell MTS Place alive.
It also brought the Jets together.
Instead of folding and getting blown out, the Jets found their footing and held serve on home ice, earning a 7-4 victory and taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 4 is set for Thursday night.
Wheeler had been snake-bitten for most of the contest, creating plenty of glorious opportunities, including one he fired over the goal on the same shift he was hit by Watson.
But with the Jets on the power play late in the third period and P.K. Subban in the box serving a high-sticking minor, Wheeler buried a rebound with 4:59 to go in the third period for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Wheeler added an empty-netter with 50.8 seconds to go, with Brandon Tanev completing the scoring with another empty-netter with 30.7 seconds remaining.
The Jets got a big contribution from the back end as Dustin Byfuglien had two goals and an assist and Jacob Trouba produced a Gordie Howe hat trick, rounding things out by dropping the gloves with Predators centre Nick Bonino early in the third period.
Searching for an offensive spark, Jets head coach Paul Maurice got the blender out and flip-flopped the left-wingers on the top two lines, putting Nikolaj Ehlers with Scheifele and Wheeler and moving Kyle Connor with Paul Stastny and Patrik Laine.
The switch was designed to get Ehlers and Connor going.
The two combined for 60 goals during the regular season, with Connor leading all rookies with 31 goals and Ehlers producing a career-high 29.
But through the first seven games of these playoffs, both Ehlers and Connor had yet to dent the twine.
Before the game, Ehlers was joking about saving those goals for later on, then he got back to business.
“Everyone likes scoring goals. Everyone loves winning games. What we’re going through now is all about winning games, and playing for each other,” said Ehlers. “If I can play a good game, not score, and we still win, I’d rather have the win than have one goal and lose. I’m OK with what’s going on right now.”
The move paid some dividends as Stastny scored on a redirection 2:38 into the second period.
Byfuglien cut the deficit to a goal at 5:11, blasting home a slapper from the point after a smart drop pass from Bryan Little.
Just 18 seconds later, Wheeler found Jets defenceman Trouba alone on the back door to even the score.
Then in the final minute of the second period, the Jets put an exclamation point on the fourgoal outburst.
After some hard work down low by Stastny, Laine made a cross-ice pass to Byfuglien for a one-timer that gave the Jets their first lead of the contest with just 44.7 seconds remaining.
Stastny was a spark plug, finishing with three points.
The Predators jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes of play, scoring three times on 12 shots against Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
The first goal was a result of a nifty redirection from Ryan Hartman, allowing Mike Fisher to pounce on the loose puck and bang it home at 4:53.
The next two goals definitely fell into the soft category — a one-timer from the left point from Subban during a power play at 10:06 and a long wrister from Watson at 17:35.
Despite the relatively shaky start and three-goal deficit, Maurice did not pull Hellebuyck in favour of backup Steve Mason.
As the Jets worked their way back into the contest, Hellebuyck found his form, finishing with 26 saves.
Although the Jets fired home three goals on five shots in the opening six minutes of the second period, Predators goalie Pekka Rinne also got into the groove and made several important saves to keep his team within striking distance.
Filip Forsberg had the other goal for the Predators, a powerplay marker that would have sent the game to overtime, if not for Wheeler’s marker.
For the second time in three games, the Predators were forced to make a change to their fourth line.
After skipping the morning skate, Calle Jarnkrok was scratched with an undisclosed injury and replaced by Miikka Salomaki.