WINNIPEG – Michael Hutchinson won his first NHL start of the season as the Winnipeg Jets began the third longest homestand in NHL history with a victory over the league’s top team.
Starting a nearly month long, 10 game homestand, the Jets defeated the NHL leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday at Bell MTS Place.
“It just means we can play with the best.” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said.
“I think we’ve been confident in that, especially at home. We have approached every single day with the mindset to try and get better. Came into this game, it’s a little bit tough because we’re both coming off a little bit of a break, but we still view it as a measuring stick to see where we’re at.”
After travelling from Utica, NY earlier in the day where he was at the AHL All-Star game, Hutchinson stopped 23 of 24 shots in his first NHL start since April 4, 2017.
“I think it’s been 10 months since my last NHL start or something like that.” Hutchinson said. “You have a little bit of nerves and your heart stops a couple times, but I felt better as the game went on, and by the third period I felt just like I never left the NHL.”
The Jets have now won seven straight games on home ice dating all the way back to December 14.
Wheeler contributed a pair of assists while Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Bryan Little each had one goal in the victory.
“I thought our performance was good.” head coach Paul Maurice said. “About five minutes there at the end of the first where we were spending a lot of time in our own end, but other than that for the first game back after the break, it was good, well thought about. I didn’t think we made a lot of foolish plays. A pretty direct, a pretty simple game.”
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After a mostly uneventful first period, Brayden Point found a wide open Matthew Peca in front of the net and he roofed the puck on Hutchinson with just 29 seconds left in the period. It was Peca’s first goal of the season and just the second NHL goal of his career. Jake Dotchin had the other assist and the Lightning had a one goal lead after 20 minutes of play. The shots were 10-9 in the Jets favour in the opening period.
The Lightning were assessed back to back penalties in just a 12 second span early in the middle frame. On the ensuing 5-on-3 man advantage Wheeler spotted Laine in his usual spot at the face-off dot and he buried the one-timer for the powerplay goal. His 23rd goal of the season was also assisted by Dustin Byfuglien.
The Jets took their first lead nearing the midway point of the period. Wheeler threw a shot towards the net. Louis Domingue made the original save but on his second attempt, Connor whacked in the loose puck. Tyler Myers also had an assist on Connor’s 16th goal of the campaign and the Jets had a 2-1 lead.
The Jets added an insurance marker with a little over five minutes remaining in the third period. Little deposited the rebound beind Domingue for his 11th of the campaign. Mathieu Perreault and Nikolaj Ehlers had the assists and the Jets held on for the two goal victory.
Jacob Trouba sat out his first game since it was revealed he’ll miss the next six to eight weeks with a lower body injury. Shawn Matthias, Steve Mason and Dmitry Kulikov also missed the game with injuries. Marko Dano was a healthy scratch.
The Jets’ current 10 game homestand is just two games shy of the longest in NHL history.
The Jets’ homestand continues on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights at Bell MTS Place.
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