Comeback kids strike again

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This article was published 24/02/2021 (1156 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You know the Winnipeg Jets are living right these days when star forward Nikolaj Ehlers is dropping the gloves to fight — and journeyman fourth-liner Nate Thompson is scoring game-winning goals.

No, your eyes weren’t deceiving you. Both those things actually happened on Thursday, the latest plot twists in a young season already chock full of them. More predictably, the Jets found themselves in an early deficit only to claw their way back for yet another victory, this time 6-3 over the Montreal Canadiens.

Winnipeg has now won three straight to improve to 12-6-1 on the year. Montreal, now with just one win in their last seven, fall to 9-6-4. The Jets are an NHL-best 6-2-0 when trailing after 20 minutes, as they were once again in this one to the tune of 2-0. Turns out they had ’em right where they wanted ’em.

“I mean, I think there’s no panic in this room if we’re down two. You saw that the last two games. (Winnipeg was also down 2-0 to Vancouver on Sunday, only to win 4-3). We’ve got the type of talent that can score in bunches and when we play the right way it’s fun to watch and fun to be a part of,” said forward Kyle Connor, who got the comeback started by scoring twice on the night.

“I think this is one of the best groups we’ve had in a while and it’s pretty exciting on this team. We know we’re good.”

That may sound cocky to some, but it underlines the extreme confidence within a group that has largely remained intact now for several years, with a few key additions to the core along with plenty of internal growth.

“I think a part of this is we’re not a young team anymore. We’re not an old team, but we’ve got a little bit of maturity on the bench now. They assessed that game well between the first and second periods. The players understood what happened and there was a maturity there, there’s an understanding,” said coach Paul Maurice.

“So there’s, I don’t know if patience is the word, I hate using that word in the game of hockey, but there’s certainly a calm in some ways to where we’re at. I would say we’ve been really good in the first handful of games here in assessing where we’re at in the game.”

One of those additional building blocks, 22-year-old Pierre-Luc Dubois, had another productive outing with a goal and added an assist, giving him five points in the past two contests. Several of the other stars shone bright, as well — captain Blake Wheeler had a goal and two assists, Mark Scheifele extended his point-streak to a career-best 11 games with a goal and a helper, while Andrew Copp had two assists.

And then there was the unlikely offensive hero in Thompson, the 36-year-old from Alaska who is now with his ninth different NHL team. He had scored goals for seven of them prior to Thursday — and you can make it eight as his shot through the pads of Montreal goalie Carey Price early in the third period snapped a 3-3 deadlock.

“A game-winning goal, I’ll take that any day,” said Thompson, playing for just the third time since missing 12 straight games with an injury.

“Every guy in the lineup, whatever role it is, he wants to be able to contribute in some way. I was kind of chomping at the bit. I got my opportunity playing with Apps (Mason Appleton) and Lows (Adam Lowry) that whole shift. Apps made a good play and I just tried to bury my chance. That’s what it’s all about, when you get your chance you try to make the most of it.”

Thompson’s big tally was actually just the appetizer for the main course that had the Winnipeg bench buzzing — Ehlers dropping the gloves with Corey Perry later in period after they bumped at the blue-line and the bad blood began to brew. Although the much bigger, stronger Perry got the better of the unlikely duel, Ehlers earned plenty of respect from his teammates, many of whom came over to the penalty box to give him a supportive tap.

“Obviously we don’t want to see Nikky fighting. But it also at the same time shows that he’s got some guts. If anything, it just jacks the team up. We haven’t really seen a guy with his amount of skill throwing bombs like that,” said Thompson.

If Perry was trying to fire up his team — playing for the first time since firing coach Claude Julien and replacing him with interim bench boss Dominique Ducharme — it didn’t work. After the hot start to the game in which former Jets winger Joel Armia gave Montreal a 2-0 lead, it was all Winnipeg for the remaining 40 minutes.

Connor cut the deficit in half at 5:37 of the second with a power play goal, but Tomas Tatar restored the two-goal lead a couple minutes later with his own man-advantage marker. But the Jets rattled off five straight scores from that point on, starting with Connor at 11:50 off a terrific four-way passing play between Ehlers, Paul Stastny and Sami Niku, who was inserted into the lineup for the injured Tucker Poolman and played a solid game.

Wheeler tied the game at 14:31 with a wrist shot from the slot that deflected off Shea Weber, and you could just feel the momentum shifting in the otherwise empty rink.

“I think it’s huge. I think perseverance is a key factor in winning hockey games. Eventually, the goal is to win a Stanley Cup. I think the more you go through it throughout the season, the more prepared you are for the playoffs,” Dubois said of his group’s mindset when they got down early.

After Thompson put the Jets ahead at 6:37 of the final frame, Dubois notched an insurance marker at 12:37, while Scheifele sealed it with an empty-netter at 18:22. That gives him a team-leading 11 goals through 19 games, one ahead of both Connor and Ehlers.

“I don’t think we want to make a habit out of it. It’s nice to know we’re confident having that kind of deficit during a game and be able to claw our way back. We know we can score some goals and come back and win the game. But I don’t think we want to make it a habit from here on out,” Thompson said of yet another rally.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had a relatively quiet night, facing just 21 shots. Winnipeg fired 29 pucks at Price, who let in a couple he’d definitely want back.

Winnipeg and Montreal will meet again on Saturday night, with puck drop set for 9 p.m.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg