After a big win against Florida at home, the Winnipeg Jets have improved to 17-3 thanks to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night.
The Jets cruised to a win in this one and any thoughts of a trap game went out the window early in this one.
Winnipeg was led by Connor Hellebuyck only allowing one goal and Kyle Connor picking up his first Gordie Howe hat-trick in his career in a game that Pittsburgh will hope to forget very soon.
Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring almost immediately in this one after Evgeni Malkin turned the puck over deep in the Penguins’ zone, 1:22 into the game. The puck ricocheted to the Swiss winger for his eighth of the season, making a nice move on Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry.
Jarry had to be sharp early, even after the first goal for the Jets, stopping three scoring chances before the game had even hit the 15-minute mark.
Pittsburgh got their first power play of the game a little over the midway point of the first period. The Penguins had a few chances, one in front and one coming off a one timer from the point, courtesy of Erik Karlsson but Connor Hellebuyck stood tall.
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After the Penguins powerplay, the pace of play started to stagnate a little bit until Jesse Puljujärvi took a holding penalty at the 16:47 mark. The best powerplay in the NHL had some troubles generating any chances up a man until Jarry made a nice save off a deflected Neal Pionk shot.
In the second period, Vladislav Namestnikov added to the Jets lead on his 32nd birthday just before the 15-minute mark on a developing odd-man rush. Nikolaj Ehlers dropped the puck to the trailing Namestnikov and he grabbed his own rebound on the backhand after the initial shot was stopped by Jarry for his sixth goal on the season.
Connor Hellebuyck was tested a little bit more than he was in the first period, including an odd-man rush where Rickard Rakell ripped a wrist shot just over the pad, but the Jets goaltender snatched that shot out of the air with the glove. The Penguins looked sluggish and that play continued into the second with plenty of turnovers that led to a handful of Jet scoring opportunities.
Malkin’s rough game continued in the 2nd period after he tripped Gabe Vilardi along the boards with 75 seconds left in the second period sending the Jets to the powerplay. Vilardi wasted no time, ripping a one-timer in the slot thanks to a nice pass from Connor to quiet the Pittsburgh crowd and give Winnipeg a 3-0 lead.
It was a fiesty start to the third period, with two unusual suspects. Sidney Crosby and Connor dropping the gloves and it was a decent scrap between one of the greatest of all time and a former Lady Byng Trophy winner. The refs gave Michael Bunting a cross-checking penalty on the play as well, but the Jets were unable to make the Penguins pay despite some good puck movement.
The penalty parade continued early in the third with Alex Iafallo sitting in the box for two minutes due to a tripping penalty.
The Penguins ended Hellebuyck’s shutout bid after Bunting buried a backdoor tap-in on the man advantage thanks to a nice feed from Bryan Rust. The penalty kill has struggled a little bit over the past two games, giving up three goals on their last six tries.
Up by two, the Jets gave the Penguins a chance to get within one after Cole Perfetti interfered Noel Acciari just after the halfway mark of the third. Despite some tense moments, the Penguins weren’t able to generate anything this go around on the power play with boos raining down from the Pittsburgh crowd.
Pittsburgh pulled the goalie trying to narrow the lead, but they didn’t generate much with the extra attacker and Connor got loose and potted home his 13th of the season to close it out.
Hellebuyck improved to 14-2 on the year stopping 17 of 18 shots.
The Jets continue this six-game road trip on Saturday against the the Nashville Predators. The pregame show begins on 680 CJOB at 4 p.m., with puck drop just after 6 p.m.
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