Rookie injects intrigue into Jets-Canucks clash
WINNIPEG 2 , VANCOUVER 1
You’d get it if Brock Boeser played tired.
You trying playing three games in three days.
He still nearly scored a goal. Actually, two.
In his first five periods in the NHL, Boeser had six shots on net, a goal and two near misses. Just wait till he gets some sleep.
In no way did Boeser’s second game look easier than his first. It’s mostly because the Winnipeg Jets managed to do something Sunday that the Minnesota Wild couldn’t. They had the decency to show up.
Michael Hutchinson made 28 saves and Adam Lowry scored a third-period, power-play goal to lift the Jets to the win. Mathieu Perreault also scored for Winnipeg (34-35-7). Alex Edler had the only goal for Vancouver (30-36-9), while Ryan Miller made 30 saves.
Wheezing their way to the end of the season, the Jets provided enough hitting and Sunday’s game didn’t look exactly like the preseason. But it was close.
For two going-nowhere teams, there were some interesting storylines. Chris Tanev was playing his brother Brandon. And ...
OK, maybe there weren’t that many in the Jets’ 2-1 win. But there was Boeser, who some didn’t think would play again after Saturday’s dramatic, emotional debut.
If he’s playing hours after a double-overtime game in North Dakota, he sure as heck can play in Winnipeg Sunday night after an Saturday afternoon game.
Boeser is still obviously figuring out where to be on the ice in certain situations and probably would have scored a power-play goal off a rebound if he didn’t rotate from his spot on the back door in the slot.
He still nearly put in a backhand after Tanev hit what may have been the hardest shot of his life off the crossbar.
Boeser nearly scored in the first, too, when his stick got held up by some wood and a leg. Despite the obstacle, Boeser tapped the puck just enough that it almost slid over the goal-line.
All of these are good signs for a prospect already playing with impossible expectations. But as long as he continues to have good moments like he did in Winnipeg, the Canucks are going to look good for signing and bringing him to the NHL early, even if it does eliminate the first year of his three-year, entry-level contract.