Winnipeg remains undefeated, so far winning all of their games since the start of this season. The Jets hosted the San Jose Sharks at the Canada Life Centre on Friday, October 18th. Both Vladislav Namestnikov and Neal Pionk each had a goal and three assists to help the Jets ease past San Jose for their 8-3 final. The Jets are among three NHL teams yet to lose this season so far, along with the Calgary Flames (4-0-0) and Tampa Bay Lightning (3-0-0). Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti both recorded two goals and one assist each… Tyler Toffoli, Luke Kunin, and Fabian Zetterlund scored three goals for San Jose.
Winnipeg Jets Lineup:
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Perfetti – Namestnikov – Ehlers
Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton
Barron – Kupari – Iafallo
Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Pionk
Fleury – Miller
Hellebuyck
Comrie
San Jose Sharks Lineup:
Gushchin – Granlund – Toffoli
Wennberg – Kostin – Zetterlund
Kunin – Smith – Goodrow
Grundstrom – Sturm – Dellandrea
Walman – Ceci
Ferraro – Rutta
Thrun – Benning
Blackwood
Vanecek
Josh Morrissey opened the scoring quick into the first period at 18:01 to give the Jets a 1-0 lead from the top of the circle, firing a wrist shot through traffic. Two Sharks in the penalty box and Winnipeg holding a 5-on-3 advantage, Nikolaj Ehlers made it a 2-0 lead for the Jets at 10:35 from below the face-off dot with a one-timer. Tyler Toffoli cut it to 2-1 on the power play with 8:17 on the clock… Ehlers struck again soon after the first Sharks goal to make it 3-1 following a turnover by Mikael Granlund in the neutral zone. Cole Perfetti set Ehlers up for a shot on the rush from the high slot. With 1:12 remaining on the board, Neal Pionk gave the Jets a 4-1 lead on the power play.
At 18:14 of the middle frame, Kyle Connor extended it to 5-1 when he got a shot past Mackenzie Blackhood on the rush from the high slot. Blackwood was replaced by Vitek Vanecek after this goal. Scoring the second goal for San Jose, Luke Kunin cut it to 5-2 on a wrist shot, beating Connor Hellebuyck five-hole.
Cole Perfetti pushed it to 6-2 for a power-play goal at 10:10 of the third period… Only 19 seconds later, Fabian Zetterlund made it 6-3, scoring the final goal from San Jose. Scoring his second power-play goal of the night, Perfetti struck again with 7:05 on the clock to extend it to 7-3. Vladislav Namestnikov scored for an 8-3 final with only seconds remaining in regulation.
Cole Perfetti on the power play, and teammates contributing/scoring first goals of the season: “It’s great. It’s been a work in progress… you’re going to have to learn to grow and learn some new things. We’ve been getting better every game and every practice. Tonight it paid off,” – “It’s great to have guys up and down the lineup, every line contributing… It’s always nice to get the first one out of the way – It was a good game for us.”
Vladislav Namestnikov on scoring giving a boost and confidence, and structure: “Whenever you score, it obviously gives you a boost and confidence, but in this league you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. So, we enjoy the night tonight and then move on to Pittsburgh,” – “I thought for the most part, we stuck to the way we play, our structure, and didn’t really give them much. Sometimes in games like that when it’s a big lead, it gets away from you, but I thought we controlled it today.”
Notes:
– Connor Hellebuyck made a total of 19 saves for the Jets in his 500th NHL start.
– Mackenzie Blackwood allowed five goals on 18 shots before getting replaced by Vitek Vanecek, who made 15 saves in relief.
– All three of Nikolaj Ehlers’ points came in the first period (two goals, one assist).
