After going 0-for-21 in their previous eight games, the Winnipeg Jets have now scored six power-play goals in their last 11 attempts. The Jets have seen their five-on-five play dip ever since the All-Star break, but in a wild turn of events, it’s their power play that is now willing them to victory.
This article will serve as a rundown of the Jets’ 6-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, with a bigger-picture look at the Jets’ play as of late and their surging power play.
The Winnipeg Jets’ Power Play is Suddenly Red Hot
The power play is red hot. Yes, you read that correctly, after continued months of struggles on the power play, the Jets have found success as of late and have now scored at least two power-play goals in their past three games.
A lot of the power play’s success has to do with Gabriel Vilardi’s ability to play at the side of the net. He scored both power-play goals for Winnipeg on this night, and here’s what Rick Bowness had to say about Vilardi net-side: “He’s very good down there, and he’s very patient with the puck and he does see what the options are, so give him a lot of credit. Some guys just panic with the puck and move it too quick, but he’s taking advantage of what they’re giving him… he’s very very good at the side of the net, which we saw in training camp.”
Bowness also mentioned the fact that they haven’t had much time with Vilardi, Kyle Connor, and Mark Scheifele all healthy on that top-unit, and when you add in the addition of Sean Monahan in the “bumper” position, and Winnipeg’s power play is looking as dangerous as it has all season.
Despite their power play heating up, their five-on-five play has dipped significantly since the All-Star break. They have yet to have a game where they fully control the play at five-on-five, outside of their 1-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 14. They will need to get back to that soon, and with the power play clicking along, they are buying themselves time to do so.
Jets’ Top Line of Connor, Scheifele, Vilardi Struggled at Five-on-Five
Despite the positive power play results, the Jets top line continued to struggle at even-strength. In the games against the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames on Saturday and Monday, this line got out-shot and out-chanced at five-on-five but made up for it with flashes of offensive talent.
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That was the story tonight as well, as according to Natural Stat Trick, they got out-shot-attempted 21-7 and lost the high-danger chances battle 6-1 at five-on-five. Rick Bowness was short in assessing the top-line post-game: “I didn’t like… yeah, they had a tough couple of shifts… give them credit, they bounced back.”
Vilardi was asked about his line’s play on this night, and he told the same story that the analytics told: “We weren’t great at five-on-five, especially our line, we struggled a bit 5v5 tonight, but I think we were cleaner as a group. I thought our third line was really good tonight, especially against their top guys.” The third line of Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton, and Nino Niederreiter was fantastic on this night as they out-chanced their opponents 9-3 and controlled 68 percent of the expected goals.
Laurent Brossoit Was Solid in His First Start Since February 8th
Laurent Brossoit hadn’t played since the Jets 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 8th, and yet he stepped in tonight and made 36 saves for his 8th win of the season. He saved 1.7 goals above expected, and came up huge in the second period when the Jets were outshot 17-6.
Bowness had a glowing quote on Brossoit in the post-game: “He was outstanding, some of those saves he made in the second when we got a little loose, he was the difference and let us get our game back.”
Brossoit being an extremely reliable backup goaltender has been a huge positive for the Jets this season, and it will be even more of a positive in the month of March, when the Jets play 16 games in 29 days. He’s got a 2.28 goals against average (GAA) and a .920 save percentage (SV%), so the Jets will be able to lean on him in a big way through that tough stretch of games.
Despite their shaky five-on-five play, the Jets have now won four of their last five contests and sit first in the Central Division when sorting by points percentage (P%). They’ll need to re-solidify their even-strength game heading into March, but the power play getting back on track is a massive development for a team that was struggling mightily i that category. Their next contest is on Friday against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.