Explosive second period gives Jets 7-3 victory over Flyers

Opinion

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This article was published 14/12/2019 (1594 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mathieu Perreault never saw it coming, the victim of a blindside hit that knocked him from the game. But hockey justice often has a way of sorting things out, and it came swiftly and severely for the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon at Bell MTS Place.

After watching their groggy teammate helped off the ice midway through the second period, the Winnipeg Jets exploded for four goals on five shots in a 4:17 span, turning a close game into a rout. Two of those tallies came on a pivotal five-minute power play, with Flyers rookie Joel Farabee ejected for the headshot on Perreault that has earned him a hearing on Monday with the the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. 

The end result was a 7-3 victory for the Jets.

“That’s the most dangerous play in hockey. Even a hit from behind a player has a sense that it’s coming. And that’s why that five minute interference came in. Because it can be devastating. The referee’s certainly got it right on the ice,” said coach Paul Maurice.

It was clearly the turning point of the game, especially after Philadelphia had just pulled within a goal a few minutes and were coming on strong. But the Flyers poked the bear in the Jets, who quickly channelled their anger and used it to repeatedly light the lamp.

“That’s a big point in the game. They had just scored to make it 2-1, kind of riding some momentum, so that was a big moment in the game, had to take advantage of that. I thought we did enough good things, got rewarded,” said captain Blake Wheeler, who scored the first power play goal and then set up Mark Scheifele’s marker later in the extended man-advantage shortly after.

Just like that, the Jets were up 4-1. But they weren’t done yet, as Logan Shaw scored right after the power play ended, followed 16 seconds later by Patrik Laine’s goal.

“We don’t want to see that, no matter who it is on either side,” Shaw said of seeing Perreault go down. “For us, I don’t want to say it paid off but we were pretty upset with that hit and I think the power play came out and handled that, it’s a good sign for us. I hope Frenchie’s OK.”

A further update on Perreault’s status was expected in the coming days. 

“He’s moving around. I’m not saying he’s fine. He’ll get checked and tested (Monday),” said Maurice.

Winnipeg improves to 20-11-2. Philadelphia falls to 17-11-5, having now lost three straight games. They’ve been decimated by injuries in recent days, including a bone cancer diagnosis to young forward Oskar Lindblom last week. They also played less than 24 hours earlier in Minnesota, then travelled to face a well-rested Winnipeg club. 

“They played (Saturday) night at six and then four o’clock (Sunday). That’s tough. We’re going to face that at some point this year. You know that coming in. You know that you got to jump on them. The more you allow them to hang in the game, the more they are going to get their legs under them. But playing two NHL games in under 24 hours is damn hard. We knew that coming in and it was important for us to have a good first,” said Wheeler.

The Jets were looking to rebound after a tough outing Thursday night in Detroit, in which they fell 5-2 to the NHL’s worst team. And they got it in spades, with seven different goal scorers and 12 of the 18 skaters collecting at least a point. 

Nikolaj Ehlers got the offensive party started just 4:57 into the game, ripping a shot past Flyers goalie Brian Elliott right off a faceoff for his 14th of the season. Defenceman Luca Sbisa doubled the lead at 11:49 with a perfectly-timed cannon from the shot, which Elliott couldn’t see thanks to a maze of players in front of him. That’s the second goal of the year for the waiver-wire pickup, who has quickly earned the trust of Maurice and become a big part of the blue-line. 

Philadelphia cut the deficit in half when defenceman Matt Niskanen scored on a rebound early in the second period. But then came Farabee’s reckless play a few minutes later that put his team in a major hole.

Perreault didn’t have the puck when Farabee stepped into him, his shoulder appearing to connect with the veteran’s head. As part of a new rule this year, referees were allowed to review their own call of an interference major. After looking at the video, it was upheld. 

“If they come out if it at 2-1 and we burn through five minutes, you’re also running four forwards on both (power play) units, that kind of top six to eight guys hard, back to back. And you’ve lost another player so you’re really pushing your bench at that point of the game. So scoring two, and the momentum shift that came off of it, two more right after,” Maurice said of taking advantage. 

Wheeler’s ninth and Scheifele’s team-leading 15th were welcomed signs for a power play that has struggled for most of the season. Shaw’s first of the season, and Laine’s 10th, had the hometown fans in full-on party mode. 

James van Riemsdyk scored on a rebound in the final minute of the second, but the damage was already done. Carter Hart came on to relieve Elliott in the third period, only to be beaten by a Neal Pionk shot that was tipped by Scheifele and went off Kyle Connor’s leg, once again on the power play, for Connor’s 14th.

Shayne Gostisbehere finished off the scoring later in the final period.

Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his 16th win of the season, including several big stops in the first half of the game when the outcome was still very much in doubt. 

“It was even until we break it open, right? Right until the power play there. When they make it 2-1, you’re starting to feel uncomfortable,” said Maurice. “But we’ve still got to battle some pucks that we missed or we need a save from Connor on some reads that we just can’t get to in our end of the ice and then like we’ve said, stay in the fight, stay in the fight and then we do have some firepower up front and you put us on the power play — even though it’s not as lethal this year — for five straight minutes and we’re going to generate.”

Winnipeg has now won five straight home games and can extend that streak this week as the three-game homestand continues with visits from Carolina on Tuesday and Chicago on Thursday.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg