Entering their meeting with the Seattle Kraken, the Winnipeg Jets power play had not been firing on all cylinders.
You would not have known that Monday night as the Jets cashed in on all three of their power play opportunities in a 6-2 win that keeps their slim playoff hopes alive.
The Jets were just 6-for-52 with the man advantage since the Olympic break until going 3-for-3 against the Kraken after promoting Jonathan Toews to the number one power play unit.
“We went with a more of a shot mentality of attacking the net a little bit more and a little bit quicker,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “I thought we did a great job of that. And a lot of the goals came off of that.”
The win temporarily moved the Jets within a single point of a playoff spot but with two teams ahead of them in the standings, the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators meeting in a late start, the Jets will again be three points back by morning.
Kyle Connor scored twice in the win, while Toews, Gabriel Vilardi, Brad Lambert and Vladislav Namestnikov had the other markers for Winnipeg. Mark Scheifele recorded three assists, including two helpers on the man advantage.
It’s the first time the Jets have scored three power play goals in a single game since December of 2024.
“Obviously we got a little lucky,” said Scheifele. “There’s other games where we’ve had a lot of good looks and haven’t gotten aa goal, so, just got rewarded for sticking with it.”
The Jets entered the third period with a two-goal lead, but Jared McCann quickly brought the Kraken within one. But Lambert then came flying into the Kraken zone before picking the top corner for the biggest goal of his career to restore the two-goal cushion.
“I mean, I think every goal feels great,” said Lambert. “Obviously to be able to do it at that time, a big goal for us, made it extra special.”
With his second point of the game, Scheifele registered his 900th career point.
“It means a lot,” said Scheifele. “Very honoured and humbled by it. It’s pretty cool to think about. It’ll probably take a little bit to sink in but obviously it’s very cool in my mind.”
Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter both returned to the lineup after lengthy absences but Morgan Barron missed the game and is now week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
It was the first time the Jets have beaten the Kraken this season after Seattle won their first two meetings.
Winnipeg had a great look to open the scoring when Scheifele was sprung on a breakaway with just over four minutes gone but he was denied on the initial shot and the subsequent rebound by Philipp Grubauer.
Seattle broke the ice at the 9:17 mark thanks to their captain. After a poor clearing attempt by Dylan DeMelo, the puck came back down the wall to Jordan Eberle, who tried to stuff it past Connor Hellebuyck on a wraparound.
The shot was stopped but the rebound trickled into empty ice, so Eberle collected it, skated to the other side of the crease around a mass of bodies and backhanded the puck through Hellebuyck for his 25th of the season.
Eberle almost doubled up moments later on a very similar looking play, but his shot hit the post.
With 8:08 left in the first, Winnipeg was given the game’s first power play and took full advantage, thanks in part due to a change in personnel on the top unit.
Josh Morrissey blasted a shot from the point that took a deflection and hit the boards behind the net. The puck then fluttered back over the net where Toews knocked it down with his body before swatting it into the net for his 10th of the season.
Toews had just been moved to the top unit with Cole Perfetti moving down to the second unit as Winnipeg attempted to fix its struggling power play.
Seattle outshot the Jets 13-7 in the first as the game stayed tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
It nearly became 2-1 Seattle just over six minutes into the second when Cale Fleury’s shot from the point hit the inside of the post before bouncing off the backside of Hellebuyck and just wide of the other post.
Winnipeg’s power play came through for a second time just shy of the midway point of the second with Adam Larsson in the box for high-sticking.
Vilardi had the puck at the right point and passed it down low to Toews, who put a sharp angle shot on goal. The rebound trickled through the legs of two Kraken defenders as Vilardi cut to the net-front area, collecting the loose puck and firing it past Grubauer for his 29th of the season at the 9:55 mark.
Just over a minute later, the Jets found themselves on the power play once again, and again they made good to take a 3-1 lead.
The puck cycled around to Connor at the right point, who fired a shot on net that deflected off the stick of Ryan Lindgren and fluttered over the shoulder of Grubauer.
After a whistle with 6:40 to go in the second, Grubauer skated to the bench and took himself out of the game, forcing Joey Daccord into action. During that break in the action, it was announced in the arena that Scheifele had hit the 900-point plateau, and he was given a hearty ovation by the Jets faithful.
The Jets outshot the Kraken 13-4 in the second and carried their two-goal lead to the third.
But Seattle cut the lead to one just 2:28 into the period when McCann carried the puck over the Winnipeg blue line and, using a backpedaling Namestnikov as a screen, wired a wrist shot that squeaked through Hellebuyck.
The two-goal advantage was restored 3:31 later thanks to Lambert. The speedy rookie picked up the puck at centre ice and flew down the right wing into the Seattle end. He saw that Vince Dunn was shading towards the middle, giving him room to skate in and rip a wrist shot that beat Daccord top shelf for his third of the season.
The Jets extended their lead when Connor scored his second of the game at the 15:19 mark. Daccord thought he had the puck covered but Connor helped chip it free to Scheifele in the corner. Connor then backed up into the slot, got a pass from Scheifele and ripped it through Daccord for his 38th of the season.
Seattle pulled their goalie with about 2:30 to go but Namestnikov, playing in his first game since getting injured Feb. 27, scored into the empty net for his first goal since Jan. 9.
The Jets will now head to St. Louis for another big game against the Blues Thursday night.
