It’s hard to imagine a return to the bench going any better for Rick Bowness Friday night in Sunrise.
After missing 13 games to be with his wife after her seizure, Bowness stepped back behind the bench for the Winnipeg Jets as they knocked off the Florida Panthers 3-0 in perhaps their most complete defensive performance of the season.
It was lucky number three for Connor Hellebuyck as he stopped all 33 shots for his 33rd career shutout, and he’s allowed less than three goals in all of his last three starts.
“For the most part we allowed me to see everything,” said Hellebuyck. “Blocked the shots we needed to block, cleared the rebounds and broke out as five. So, together we were perfect tonight.”
It was Hellebuyck’s first shutout of the season as the Jets stretched their win streak to five games.
“It’s probably one of the best defensive games we’ve played all year,” said Bowness. “I think it is the best defensive game all year. They didn’t get a chance in the first period. It’s a great team over there and that’s a home game for them. So, for us to come out and play that hard in the first period, and limit that to no chances, that’s just a great effort by our team.”
Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring in the first period. After a scoreless middle period, Nikolaj Ehlers scored a spectacular goal after starting the rush from his own blueline midway through the third, and Adam Lowry salted it away with an empty netter.
The Jets only allowed six shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes.
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“I feel we did a lot of things tonight, a lot of great things,” said Niederreiter. “We got pucks in deep. We outworked the opposites and I think that’s what worked out very well tonight.
“I think it’s the completist game I think we’ve played all year. I think we didn’t give them much in the D-zone and get pucks out when we need to and make plays when the plays were there. And I mean, it was a tight checking game. They didn’t give up much as well and then we just stick to our game plan and did a lot of good things out there.”
The Jets have now won eight of their last nine games.
Neither side could find much offence for the bulk of the opening period before the visitors found the back of the net with just over two minutes to go.
After a scramble off the faceoff, Lowry knocked the puck back to Dylan Samberg at the point. His shot through traffic squeezed through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky and with the puck sitting in the crease, Niederreiter put it home to put the Jets in front.
Moments later, Lowry was sprung on a partial breakaway. Though he missed the net, he was tripped shortly thereafter by Bobrovsky, sending the Jets to their second power play of the period.
But it was Florida who got the best opportunity to score with seconds to go in the period when Eetu Luostarinen took off down the ice alone, though he shot the puck wide as well as Winnipeg escaped the first with the lead and an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period but it was still an eventful 20 minutes.
Florida whiffed on its first power play chance of the game before things got chippy.
With roughly six minutes to go in the second, Mark Scheifele was caught by a high hit from Nick Cousins in the neutral zone, prompting a pileup of bodies and offsetting minors to the two players.
Late in the frame, Samberg and Matthew Tkachuk got into it after the whistle before drawing a crowd. They also got matching minors.
Both goalies were also busy in the second as Hellebuyck stopped all 12 shots he faced in the period while Bobrovsky turned aside 11.
The tight, defensive struggle continued well into the third before Ehlers scored one of the nicer goals you’ll see.
The Dashing Dane collected the puck just inside his own blue line before he set off up the ice. As he carried the puck into the Florida zone, he made Uvis Balinskis look silly, putting the puck through the legs of the Panthers defender, skating around him and then roofing the puck over Bobrovsky’s shoulder to make it 2-0 with 8:45 remaining.
In hopes of mounting a comeback, the Panthers pulled the goalie with over five minutes remaining and got a 6-on-4 when Vladislav Namestnikov was called for a faceoff violation for using his hand to win a draw.
But Lowry put an end to Florida’s chances when he scored a shorthanded goal into the empty net with 3:49 to go.
All that was left to determine was whether Hellebuyck would earn his first shutout of the season, and he got the job done.
The win pushes Winnipeg’s win streak to five games and they’ll try to make it six when they finish off their three-game road trip in Nashville Sunday night. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starts at 5 p.m. with the puck dropping just after 7 p.m.
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