Wow. Was I ever wrong about the points being acquired on this recent road trip. And am I glad I am. I thought the Jets would maybe sneak a point out of Ottawa and nothing out of the other three games. As it is, the Winnipeg Jets have continued their game plan of smart, hard-checking road hockey.
They defeated the Ottawa Senators this evening, 3-2. It's the Jets fifth point out of a possible six so far on this trip away from the MTS Centre. I think the success of this trip thus far is not only the commitment of the Jets of this hard-nosed style, but the fact they always play up or down to the level of their opponent; or it seems.
They have one or two-goal games against Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, but lose to Arizona, Buffalo and Colorado. That might explain the competitive vigour shown by the Jets on this four-game trip. Pittsburgh and Montreal are clearly two of the upper echelon teams this season. Ottawa isn't too shabby either. It appears the Jets have continued that philosophy. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Austen Matthews close out this road trip before the Jets head home to meet the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, February 28.
Mathieu Perreault scored for the second consecutive game about 11 minutes after Dustin Byfuglien scored his ninth of the season. Josh Morrissey got the game winner with his third of the season.
Once again, I heard a fair amount of cheers from Jets fans in enemy territory. The biggest crescendo seemed to have come at the end of the game when the Senators thought they scored when Jean-Gabriel Pageau pushed Hellebuyck's leg into the net, forcing the puck across the red line. Sorry, that doesn't count. It didn't when Byfuglien did it against Pittsburgh and it still doesn't.
