Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Jets Stave Off Sabres for Eighth Place

The Winnipeg Jets did themselves a huge favour tonight playing an almost perfect game where they dominated, especially in the third period, to at least temporarily keep the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference all to themselves by defeating the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 in front of a loud and very involved crowd at the MTS Centre.

Ondrej Pavelec came up big when he had to, although his defence did a really admirable job for him on this night, where no one blueliner could be singled out for their solid play. Newcomer Grant Clitsome made an impression on the home crowd as he took the body, played intelligently and had multiple shots on goal when he pinched in from the point.

Bryan Little was the star of the game as he had a career-high three assists in one game. Blake Wheeler, with his breakaway goal, extended his consecutive game-point streak to 16 points in nine games. Captain Andrew Ladd's opening goal, his 21st, was the eighth time in nine games that the Jets have scored first on this, the final game of an eight-game home-stand.

And once again the Jets played the role of streak-busters as the Sabres had not lost in regulation in eight games, going 6-0-2 during that span. If you remember, the Jets also stopped the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins streak of not being defeated in regulation time in 15 games that stretched from Jan. 31 to Feb. 17. They defeated the Colorado Avalanche's eight-game home undefeated streak and five-game win streak on Dec. 27. And on Dec. 13 the Jets ended the Minnesota Wild's win streak of seven.
Coach Claude Noel's post-game press conference
and post-game podcast both courtesy of Illegal Curve.