The Winnipeg Jets overcame an early two goal deficit to knock off Seattle 5-3 in the Kraken’s first ever visit to Winnipeg on Thursday night.
The Jets surrendered a pair of goals in the first 13 minutes, but responded with three straight markers, and Josh Morrissey broke a three-all tie with just six minutes remaining to give the Jets the lead for good.
It’s the first time the Jets have won back-to-back games since January 4.
“It’s huge,” said Morrissey. “Obviously, we know where we’re at in the standings, and we need points, and wins right now. So, I’ve liked where our game’s been at since we’ve come back from the break for the most part.
“Obviously, it was an emotional win last night for us, and to rebound against a team that’s coming in fresh and waiting for us here tonight, wasn’t necessarily the prettiest game through and through for us, but it’s huge win, and we’re going to need to stack wins together if we’re gonna go on a run here.”
After going on a tear since the break, Mark Scheifele was kept off the scoreboard, ending both his five-game goal scoring streak, and a five-game point streak.
Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist though, and he’s now registered 11 points in just the last four games.
It was the first time all season the Jets won games in back-to-back nights.
“It’s so hard to play back-to-back games and correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t think Seattle played last night,” Wheeler said. “We do it all the time. Teams play in Minnesota the night before, come up here, and we spank them, typically. It’s a tough thing to do to play against a rested team when you’re not rested.”
Kyle Connor also recorded a goal and an assist, scoring into the empty net to seal the victory. Dylan DeMelo had a pair of helpers in the win.
The Jets fell behind in the early going, but a short-handed goal with just 13 seconds left in the opening period turned the momentum around.
“Testament to our group to sticking with it,” said Wheeler. “Huge goal, huge play by Lows (Adam Lowry) and Tony (Dominic Toninato) at the end of the first. I thought that changed the game. That gave us a spark. That was a huge play for us tonight.”
“We didn’t start the game the way that we wanted to start the game,” said interim head coach Dave Lowry. “But I really liked how we responded.”
Connor Hellebuyck had a rare night off as Eric Comrie stopped 20 of 23 shots in his first appearance since January 29.
“I think the guys felt the desperation going into the third period,” said Comrie. “And we went out there and earned that one.”
Andrew Copp didn’t play for the Jets after getting injured in the third period the night before against the Wild. Kristian Vesalainen took his place in the lineup on the third line with Lowry and Kristian Reichel.
Cole Perfetti didn’t play in the final 11 minutes of the game and the head coach didn’t reveal much afterwards.
“I’ll be able to answer that tomorrow,” said Lowry. “He’ll be evaluated tonight, and then we’ll have an answer for you tomorrow.”
In his first game back in Winnipeg since joining the Kraken, former Jet Mason Appleton was held pointless with no shots on goal. Strathclair’s Morgan Geekie also didn’t register a point in his first NHL game in his home province.
READ MORE: Scheifele’s hat trick propels Jets to 6-3 win over Wild in front of more than 12,000 fans
The Jets got behind the eight-ball early after Logan Stanley was assessed a very questionable boarding penalty just 94 seconds into the game.
Late on the ensuing power play, Vince Dunn blasted a one-timer from the point that eluded a screened Comrie for his seventh tally of the season.
The Jets got their own chance a few minutes later with the man-advantage but could not take advantage.
The visitors kept their strong start going when at the 12:15 mark Marcus Johansson was allowed to loop around the Jets’ zone with no defensive resistance, finding himself right in close on Comrie whom he beat with a slick wrister to make it 2-0.
Winnipeg’s struggles continued when Pierre-Luc Dubois took a high-sticking penalty with 35 seconds left in the period.
But a nice bank pass off the boards from DeMelo sprung Lowry and Toninato on a short-handed 2-on-1. Lowry showed patience before sliding a perfect pass to Toninato, who buried it past Philipp Grubauer with just 13 seconds to go in the first.
The Jets would kill off the penalty to start the second and just moments after Dubois got out of the box, he tied the game.
An ill-advised Kraken drop pass landed on the stick of Wheeler, who sent a saucer pass to Dubois cutting toward the corner. He then ripped a wrist shot past Grubauer that probably should have been stopped.
Each side had a number of decent chances during a wide-open second period before the Jets grabbed hold of the lead for the first time.
Kraken defenceman Jamie Oleksiak turned the puck over while trying to skate out of his own zone. The puck slid off his stick right to Paul Stastny, who found a wide open Wheeler in the slot. The Jets’ captain made no mistake at the 11:54 mark to give Winnipeg a 3-2 advantage.
With this being just the second ever meeting between the two franchises, there was no bad blood coming in but that changed when Yanni Gourde drove Scheifele into the boards from behind, setting off a big scrum. Many gloves hit the ice but no punches were thrown, and in the end Winnipeg wound up with a power play but could not score.
Winnipeg held onto the lead for a while but not building on it proved costly when the Kraken drew level just over seven minutes into the third. Johansson picked up a loose puck and fired it towards Jordan Eberle who was parked on the doorstep. Eberle redirected the pass into the back of the net to make it a 3-3 game.
It stayed that way until the 13:50 mark when the Jets would regain the lead thanks to Morrissey. After Reichel found Connor in the slot, the team’s leading goal scorer fed a knuckling puck to Morrissey for a one-timer. The blueliner wired it top-shelf to put Winnipeg ahead 4-3.
The Kraken tried for one last push and pulled Grubauer for an extra attacker but with just 0.4 seconds to go, Connor found the empty net for his 28th of the season, putting the finishing touches on a second straight Jets win.
READ MORE: Jets expect full house at Wednesday’s game against Wild
Comrie improved to 5-2-1 in limited action this season. The win also improves Winnipeg’s record to 4-1-1 since the all-star break.
They’ll try to keep the good vibes going when Edmonton visits Saturday afternoon.
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