The Winnipeg Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 on Friday night. Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler each scored one goal and had one assist, while Dylan DeMelo, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Nino Niederreiter also each scored one goal with an assist. Mason Appleton and Vladislav Namestnikov both got two assists to contribute as well. Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves so that the teams could win this game!
After a long period without scoring, Wheeler scored for the first time in 21 games. Scheifele had his first goal in 10 games, and Connor got his third goal in 19 games. Coach Bowness stated that the team needed some luck since they had not been very fortunate lately. Even with the first score being a tip-in by Connor, he noted how nice it was to see good luck come into play.
David Perron and Joe Veleno each scored a goal during the third period for the Detroit Red Wings. They were 21 seconds apart. Magnus Hellberg was in net and he made 23 saves. Unfortunately, the Red Wings lost because their two-game winning streak ended.
After the game, Hellberg said that he didn’t do enough to help his team win. He took full responsibility for his performance and admitted that it wasn’t good enough..
Connor scored the first goal of the game for the Jets with 6:56 minutes left in the first period. His 29th goal of the season came when he tipped Brenden Dillon’s shot past Hellberg’s blocker side.
Wheeler then got his 16th goal 8:03 minutes into the first with a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers that he was able to score from the right side.
Bowness coach said Wheeler, “skated better than before and all his teammates were really happy for him which gave an extra boost for everyone on the bench.”
Scheifele scored the first goal, his 39th of the season, only 90 seconds later. Then DeMelo made it 2-0 with his 5th goal at 1:20 in the second period. Lastly, Niederreiter got his own rebound and scored with a backhander for goal 23 in 6:18.
At 5:07 of the third, Ehlers scored from just inside the goal, making it 6-0.
The Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said that first they tried to do a ‘backdoor’ play but didn’t do it right and then the other team got a deflection and scored. He mentioned that throughout the game, his team couldn’t make any progress and build any momentum. Even though they lost overall, he was happy with how his team fought during the third period.
Perron helped Detroit score during a power play at 10:41 of the third period, which was his 20th. Veleno followed with his 8th goal 21 seconds later.
The coach of the Jets, Rick Bowness, wanted to get more offense going so he changed the team’s top line around – Mark Scheifele moved from being center to right wing, then Pierre-Luc Dubois came in at center and Connor became left wing.
The new lineup worked.
Mark Scheifele said playing center instead of his usual position was an adjustment, but it’s easier since he had two good players, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor, to play with. Recently the Winnipeg Jets scored 5 goals in an overtime win against the Florida Panthers on March 11th which was their highest total since then. Up ahead, The Detroit Red Wings will go to Toronto on Sunday for a three-game trip while The Jets’ next game is hosted by them at their home and it will be against New Jersey Devils on Sunday for their 5-game homestand.
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