Before the puck had even dropped to start the Winnipeg Jets 2016-2017 season, the front office shook things up.
Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec was sent down to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League giving way to Michael Hutchinson and Connor Hellebuyck to become the starters. Pavelec had been with the Jets since the Atlanta Trashers days posting 148 wins and 154 losses in nine seasons with the franchise.
The Jets opened up the season at home in style coming from behind to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in overtime. Shawn Mathias, acquired in the offseason, scored the first Jets goal of the 2016-2017 season with a sharp angle shot 4:14 into the first period. The Hurricanes stormed back for four unanswered goals.
After Canes forward Victor Rask made it 4-1, Jets captain Blake Wheeler led the charge scoring shorthanded 9 seconds later. Second overall pick, Patrik Laine scored his first career goal on the power play to cut Carolina’s lead to one goal.
With just 1:30 left to play, Mathieu Perreault scored the equalizer and force the game to overtime. Mark Scheifele capped the comeback burying a one-timer from Wheeler to send the MTS Centre into a frenzy. After the game, Scheifele talked about his team’s comeback.
“The first and second probably wasn’t exactly what we wanted but we battled back in the third,” Scheifele said. “We got the first game jitters out and it was a great third period for us.”
Central Division rivals, the Minnesota Wild, hosted the Jets and ensured that there would be no comeback on their home ice. Winnipeg got off to a quick start as Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler scored goals in the first period for an early 2-0 lead. The Wild roared back in the second with goals from Chris Stewart, Matt Dumba, and Eric Staal. Jordan Brodin scored in the third period giving Minnesota a two goal cushion. Mark Scheifele scored with 19 seconds left in the game but Winnipeg’s rally was too little, too late, falling to the Wild 4-3. The Jets could only muster 17 shots on Wild netminder Devan Dubnyk who picked up the win.
Blake Wheeler continued to show why he was selected as the captain. Wheeler scored his third goal in as many games to open the scoring against the Boston Bruins. The lead was short lived for Winnipeg with Dominic Moore replying 19 seconds later to tie the game up. With just under a minute in the second period, the Bruins took the lead for good. David Pastrnak tried to pass the puck but went off Toby Enstrom and past Connor Hellebuyck. Brandon Carlo added a goal and Zdeno Chara scored with an empty net to drop the Jets to 4-1. Tuuka Rask picked up the victory in a 32 save performance.
Up next for the Winnipeg Jets (1-2) will be Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs followed by the Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in the Heritage Classic at Investors Group Field.
Photos by Star Roxas and Ron Cantiveros | Filipino Journal
