Jets 5, Canucks 3
In the first period it took the Winnipeg Jets five minutes to find their legs and the Vancouver Canucks five minutes more. Once they did, the game went from slow to sloppy.
After future Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Toews opened the scoring for Winnipeg at 4:57 in the crease with a puck off his skate, the Canucks answered with Kiefer Sherwood’s 11th goal of the season at 10:21 and Jake DeBrusk’s 6th just 1:37 later on the power play.
Taking a breath or stepping out to grab a beer at that point was a mistake.
At 14:38, Jets D-man Josh Morrissey tied the game with a power play point shot that Sherwood tried to block with his stick. That never works. Instead, it was a beautiful tip-in past his goalie Thatcher Demko.
Fifteen seconds later Nino Niederreiter untied it for Winnipeg with his fourth of the season on a deflection from the doorstep.
Breaking news to start the second period: Demko left the game after 20-minutes, with Kevin Lankinen taking over for his third appearance in four nights.
Other than the Jets continuing to crash the net, literally, the game reverted back to touchy-feely early in the second.
Breaking news part II: Midway through the period, on a backcheck while chasing down Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele, Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, while picking up a hooking penalty, appeared to suffer an upper body injury.
Breaking news part III: Hughes returned to join the top power play unit with 6:21 remaining in the period.
Gabe Vilardi extended the Jets lead in the first minute of the third period on a power play that wrapped around from the late stages of the second. Drew O’Connor was in the box for a careless high stick.
Exactly five minutes into the third, Brock Boeser almost scored from a tough angle, but the puck died on the goal line under Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck. Video review failed to change matters.
With an extra attacker on the ice, Boeser got another chance. This time he buried a shot from the slot after center Elias Pettersson’s point shot created a big rebound. The tally came with 90-seconds remaining in regulation.
That’s all they’d muster. Alex Iafallo, in his 600th NHL game, finished things off with an empty net goal for the Jets, snapping their three-game losing streak.
That’s all Vancouver could muster. The club finished its four-game homestand 1-2-and-1 and hits the road for three games in four nights against the Hurricanes, Lightning and Panthers.
Earlier Canucks:
— Canucks With A 3-Point Weekend
