The Winnipeg Jets suffered their first loss of the season on Monday night at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs by the score of 6-4. Their record is now 8-1.
First Period:
The Leafs came out flying. The Jets looked tired after coming back from their 3 game road trip. The Leafs were passing the puck around at will and skating around the Jets players with ease for the entire period. Connor Hellebuyck did his best to keep the score 0-0 for the first 10 minutes of the game. However, the Leafs got goals from John Tavares and William Nylander in the latter half of the 1st period to finish the period up 2-0. Shots were lopsided 19-6 for the Leafs.
Second Period:
The 2nd period began right where the 1st ended with the Leafs firing on all cylinders. Goals from Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly within the first 5 minutes of the period spotted the Leafs a 4-0 lead. From there, the Leafs got into some penalty trouble and gave the league best PP 3 consecutive opportunities. Kyle Connor scored on 2 of them to bring the score to 4-2. But before the period ended, Tavares put the Leafs up 5-2 with his 2nd goal of the game.
Third Period:
In the third period, with the Leafs up 3 goals, they weren't as aggressive which allowed the Jets to carry the play for the majority of the period. On a delayed penalty, with the extra attacker, Mark Scheifele scored to make the score 5-3. Then with Hellebuyck pulled for the extra attacker with under 4 minutes left in the game, Connor's shot deflected off of Gabe Vilardi and into the Leafs net to bring the score to 5-4. Initially it was thought to be Connor's 3rd goal of the game and the ice was littered with hats. The goal was eventually credited to Vilardi. That would be as close as the Jets would get as Tavares added an empty net goal to make the final score 6-4 for the Leafs.
Some takeaways from the game:
The Jets 5 on 5 game for the first two periods was horrendous. Scott Arniel shuffled the lines in the 2nd period, but it was the Jets dominant special teams that got them back into the game.
The Jets PP was 2 for 4 on the night. The PK was 2 for 2.
The Jets 2nd defence pair of Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk were on the ice for all 5 of the Leafs 5 on 5 goals. It was a rough night for them.
Kyle Connor increased his team leading goal total to 8 on the year. He's now got 8 goals in 9 games to begin the season. If he can stay healthy, he may just be able to make a run at that 50 goal milestone. He's really shooting the puck well.
This game was the first sellout of the season at the Canada Life Centre. I believe this was the Jets very first game to be broadcasted exclusively by Amazon Prime. With the loss, the Jets record is now 8-1. Their next game is Wednesday night in Detroit.
Thanks for reading. Go Jets Go!
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