ANALYSIS: Winnipeg Jets back on track after overtime heroics from key players
There was some poetic justice that last night’s game in Buffalo went to extra time. The Sabres and Jets, both on losing streaks. A night of two wounded teams trying to right their ship, and a preview of a goaltending match-up at the 4 Nations Face-Off — American Connor Hellebucyk against Finn Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
But for the Jets, it was far more than those storylines. In the simplest terms, the big boys came to play.
Goals from Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi, with help from Mark Scheifele, set the stage for some heroics in overtime by Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry.
Lowry was the true depiction of a captain against the Sabres — scoring, hitting and dominating in the faceoff circle, winning 15 of 21 draws. And Morrissey, who played just six seconds short of 30 minutes in the game, really showed people outside of Winnipeg why he was picked to Canada’s team for the February tournament.
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Jets fans know, and now the rest of the league is paying attention.
But enough of next February. The Jets are in the midst of 11 of 13 games on the road. The overtime win in Buffalo marks the team’s record at four wins and six losses in that span away from home, far from the pristine record the team accomplished earlier in the season. And certainly far from the style of hockey the team displayed at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers as this road journey started.
But like the New York game — which, by the way, put the Jets at 15-1 — last night’s game was a night of stars doing their jobs. Which is what should happen when a team is struggling.
Hellebucyk, Scheifele, Conner, Lowry and Morrissey. The strength of this team in the best of times. This group, more than any other, gets the glory. And it’s fair to think they are expected to pull their teammates out of the mud and back into the win column.
&© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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