The Winnipeg Jets defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 at Canada Life Centre Tuesday evening in a game that had an air of playoff intensity.
Gabriel Vilardi’s second period power-play goal stood up as the game winner for the Jets, who improved to 45-17-4 with the win. The Rangers, who are desperate to stay in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, fell to 31-28-6.
jets & Rangers Trade Goals in First
The Jets got off to a fast start by opening the scoring at 5:18 when Vladislav Namestnikov banged a puck in to finish off a nice three-way passing play between he, Cole Perfetti, and Nikolaj Ehlers. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin came way out his crease to challenge Perfetti, leaving the net wide open for Namestnikov after Perfetti passed instead of shot.
The Rangers tied it up on the power play at 11:00 with Nino Niederreiter in the box for removing K’Andre Miller’s helmet. Mika Zibanejad, corralling an errant J.T. Miller pass in the slot, wired in his 15th of the season past Connor Hellebuyck after 55 seconds straight of zone time.
Jets Retake Lead in Second
The Jets responded in the second period with a power-play goal of their own to retake their lead when Vilardi scored his 12th man-advantage tally of the season and 27th overall. The goal unsurprisingly came from his net-front office after another nice Perfetti pass.
The Jets had a few breakaway opportunities after Vilardi’s goal, but Shesterkin stood tall to keep his team’s deficit at one heading into the final frame.
Jets Have Goal Disallowed in Third, But Hang On To Win Anyway
The Jets appeared to extend the lead to 3-1 early in the third period when Dylan DeMelo one-timed in a Niederreiter pass. However, the Rangers challenged for goalie interference because Morgan Barron was in the crease and after review, the goal was disallowed. A few minutes later, DeMelo took a high-sticking penalty but the Jets killed it off.
The disallowed goal didn’t end up impacting the final result because the Jets hung on from there to seal the 2-1 victory. The Rangers pulled Shesterkin for an extra attacker but could not find the equalizer despite some good pressure.
Notes & Observations
Defenseman Luke Schenn made his Jets debut after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins at last Friday’s trade deadline. The hard-hitting veteran skated on the third pairing with Haydn Fleury and logged 16:01 while registering one shot, five hits, and five blocked…
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