Tag Archives: NHL

Posted by Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)

Winnipeg Jets head coach Claude Noel and players (L-R) Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Eric Tangradi look up at the score clock during the third period of play against the Montreal Canadiens at MTS Centre on Thursday, April 25, 2013. (FRED GREENSLADE / REUTERS)

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price allows a Winnipeg Jets goal by centre James Wright in the first period on Thursday. (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA)

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets’ season came to a screeching halt Thursday night, and their season finalé matchup against the Montreal Canadiens at MTS Centre was barely two-thirds complete.

During the second intermission of the Jets’ eventual 4-2 loss, Winnipeg players became alerted to the unfortunate truth that their playoff hopes were quashed as the Ottawa Senators earned an overtime win in Washington, thusly eliminating the Jets from Stanley Cup playoff contention.

“We knew after the second that we were out,” said Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who finished the abbreviated 2013 season with a record of 21-20-3 in his fifth year with the club. “It’s not an excuse at all, but it’s tough to play when you know you’ve got 20 minutes left in the season and you’ve got nothing to play (for). But it’s not an excuse. We should finish the game, but we didn’t.”

The Jets were leading Montreal 2-1 through 40 minutes, but when the writing was on the wall they failed to put in a concerted team effort and allowed the Canadiens to score three unanswered third-period goals.

Winnipeg and Montreal plays scrap during the final game of the Jets’ season on Thursday. (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA)

“I don’t know what they knew,” said Winnipeg head coach Claude Noel of his team’s possible awareness entering the third that their season was finished. “To me it was pretty much a two-period game. The third period — I don’t know what they knew or didn’t know, but I thought the game was OK… I would’ve liked to have seen us play with a bit more zip in the first two periods.”

“It’s either you’re in or you’re not, and you want to be a team that’s in the playoffs every year and competing for a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” said Jets captain Andrew Ladd, who finished the season the team’s leading scorer with 18 goals and 46 points. “Not having that chance the last three years is frustrating.”

Winnipeg now enters an offseason full of hope and optimism for the young team. Recent first-round draft picks Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba appear ready to enter their first full-time NHL lineup, while the club holds six of the top 90 picks in the 2013 NHL Draft, including three in the second round and another two selections in the third.

Posted by Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)

Winnipeg Jets’ defenceman Zach Bogosian (44) scores a goal on the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period of play at MTS Centre on Thursday, April 18, 2013. (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA)

Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Ondrej Pavelec deflects a Carolina Hurricanes’ shot at MTS Centre on Thursday night. (STAN MILOSEVIC / CHRISD.CA)

WINNIPEG – Dustin Byfuglien buried an Andrew Ladd rebound 1:23 in to overtime on a two-on-one rush to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at MTS Centre on Thursday night.

The victory — Winnipeg’s fifth in a row — is the team’s longest since a six-game streak during the 2010-11 season when the franchise was known as the Atlanta Thrashers. The two points gained puts the Jets just two back of the Southeast Division-leading and third-seeded Washington Capitals with four regular season games remaining.

While all four matchups are critical in chasing down one of the eight post-season spots for the ninth-place Jets, two of their four upcoming opponents are teams they want to eliminate from the race — the New York Islanders, who they play in Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon, and the Capitals who they visit on Tuesday night.

… Continue Reading

Posted by Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)

Winnipeg Jets’ Kyle Wellwood (L) celebrates his goal with his teammate Olli Jokinen in front of Buffalo Sabres’ Drew Stafford (R) during the second period of play at MTS Centre on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. (FRED GREENSLADE / REUTERS)

WINNIPEG – For a second straight game, the Winnipeg Jets found a second-period offensive burst. And for a second straight game, the Jets rode it to victory. On the heels of a recent five-game skid that had many writing the team off for the season, Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres has the Jet Planes back on the correct nautical trajectory in trying to track down a post-season birth.

… Continue Reading

Posted by Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming)

Winnipeg Jets’ Tobias Enstrom celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of play at MTS Centre on Sunday, March 24, 2013. (FRED GREENSLADE / REUTERS)

WINNIPEG – It wasn’t the prettiest, but the Winnipeg Jets got back into the win column by holding on to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at MTS Centre, wrapping their four-game home stand with a 2-2 record.

The Jets were fortunate on many fronts Sunday night; squaring off against a Bolts team that fired head coach Guy Boucher less than 24-hours before, and facing a farm call up goaltender in Cedrick Desjardins who was playing in only his seventh career NHL game.

“There’s things we could’ve done better. It wasn’t a perfect game,” said Jets forward Bryan Little whose goal and two assists put the 25-year-old in on all of Winnipeg’s markers. “But we found a way to win… We couldn’t say that against Washington. We’ll take the two points and focus on the next one and get better from here.”

“We won the game. That’s pretty much what we did,” said Winnipeg head coach Claude Noel. “We still had a couple of bleeps, but other than that we still managed it pretty good when it was 3-2 because it was pretty tense. There’s a lot at stake for us… There’s a lot we’re trying to do here, so you can feel the impact of the games.”

Following a pair of embarrassing and confounding home losses to the Washington Capitals on Thursday and Friday in which the Jets could only muster a single goal over six periods, Sunday’s victory keeps them atop the Southeast Division with 36 points — four up on second-place Carolina who they visit on Tuesday.

“You’re going to face adversity. And it’s less about the adversity because that’s going to come. It’s how you deal with it,” said Jets forward Blake Wheeler who also finished the game with a pair of helpers. “From the coaching staff on down, we dealt with it well. We didn’t panic. We knew we’ve been playing really good hockey, and we just wanted to bounce back tonight.”

The elevated play of goaltender Ondrej Pavelec has kept Winnipeg in some close games as of late, and his 23-save performance against the offensively-gifted Lightning proved his worth once again.

“(Pavelec) has been arguably our best player pretty much for a long stretch of time,” added Noel. “I’m just thankful that he’s in the net. Let’s put it that way.”

“It wasn’t easy. (They were) tough losses against Washington,” said Pavelec. “A lot of guys put in a strong effort (tonight) and I think we needed this one. But now we’re going on the road and it’s going to be another big series.”

The Jets face the Hurricanes twice this week, in what may help paint late-April’s playoff picture; Tuesday in Carolina, and then back in Winnipeg on Saturday night. Winnipeg travels to Pittsburgh on Thursday to face the blazing hot Eastern Conference-leading Penguins.