A tightly contested rematch between Florida and Winnipeg ended with a Jets win at home. The final 3-6 score doesn’t accurately reflect how close the game was, as Winnipeg scored two empty-net goals in the final minute and a half. The Panthers put in a good effort and a high compete level; it was just one of those games where the puck bounces didn’t go their way, and they hit about half a dozen posts. Untimely penalties didn’t exactly help either as the Jets have a quick opportunistic offense. Despite giving up one powerplay goal, the Florida PK had a solid night. The Cats did a lot of things right; they just couldn’t convert on some great opportunities. Goal-scoring came from Greer, Reinhart, and Tkachuk, who made it a one-goal game before the two late empty net goals.
Penalty Kill Went To Work:
The Panthers put themselves into a rough spot early in the second period as a delayed penalty on Balinskis turned into two penalties, with Rodrigues grabbing a roughing call for removing a player’s helmet. That gave the Jets a full two-minute 5v3 power play and a tough task at hand for Florida. Tight defensive structure and discipline, with a few great saves by Bobrovsky, allowed the Cats to kill it off. Florida pressured the Jets and kept them to the outside and kept them passing the puck instead of having a bunch of SOG in the first half of the 5v3. Forsling put his body on the line to make a big block on a shot before Barkov walked the puck in deep. It almost looked like Barkov was going to make a short-handed shot attempt, but he eventually left the puck in the corner of the Jets’ zone. The one power play Winnipeg scored came from an extremely quick pass cross-ice through the crease for a Schiefele one-timer. The pass was so fast that not even Bobrovsky could move post to post quick enough to get a good shot at making a save. Overall, the Cats held the NHL no. 1 power play to 1 for 4 on the night and 1 for 6 between the two games. The PK seems to be gelling quite well now after a bit of a shaky start to the season.
Effort Good, Puck Luck Bad:
The Panthers put in a good effort against the Jets, but it was one of those games where the puck bounces weren’t favorable. Florida had a good night as a team on the stat sheet, holding an advantage in blocked shots (16-10), hits (36,20), and faceoffs (35-26). Shots on goal were close, with Winnipeg holding the advantage there (23-27). Florida hit plenty of posts during the game, including three in the third period alone. The loss didn’t come from lack of trying that’s for certain. The Jets converted their few opportunities in the first period and never looked back, although the Cats would get within one goal in the final period before two empty netters were scored. There are plenty of small things to clean up, but overall, it was not a bad performance. HC Paul Maurice said that the team was ok, not great, in his post-game presser and that it was a game that the team never felt like they were out of.
Wingers Score:
Florida’s offense came from the wingers on Tuesday night, with AJ Greer, Sam Reinhart, and Matthew Tkachuk all lighting the lamp. Down 0-3 in the second period, Greer got the Cats on the board. His shot came from near the blue line and bounced off a Jets player past Hellebuyck, one of the few fortunate bounces that Florida got. The Panthers struck first in the third period with an all too familiar play making an appearance. On the power play, it was Barkov to Tkachuk at the goal line to Reinhart near the slot, and he took the shot to score. The power play’s bread-and-butter sequence that felt automatic in February and March of last season once again showed how dangerous it is and why teams must camp out on Reinhart. Florida was still down a goal, but it felt like the team was going to tie with half the period left to play. A hat-trick performance from Scheifele gave Winnipeg the two-goal lead once again. A late penalty sent Florida to the power play again with under four minutes to go, this time it was Tkachuk who scored off a 6v4 advantage as HC Paul Maurice had pulled Bobrovsky for the extra attacker. A perfect screen by Barkov kept Hellebuyck from seeing the puck, and Tkachuk shot it on the blocker side to get back within one, 3-4 Jets lead. While the comeback didn’t pull through this time, the wingers made some great shots to get the better of Hellebuyck and keep the game close for 58 of the 60 minutes.
Florida continues its road trip in Chicago with a match against the Blackhawks on Thursday.
A Sour Big Apple – Inside The Rink
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