Winnipeg Jets bounce back with 3-2 win in Ottawa

Once again, the Winnipeg Jets did what they’ve been doing so well during the 2021 season – rebound from a loss.

The Jets defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 Wednesday night, bouncing back from a defeat to the Sens Monday.

However, Wednesday’s game picked up where Monday left off.

Winnipeg surrendered a number of breakaways in Monday’s loss and less than 90 seconds into the opening frame, the Senators handed the Jets a healthy dose of deja vu.

Nick Paul grabbed a bouncing puck Neal Pionk couldn’t settle down and came in using Evgenii Dadonov as a distraction before snapping home a goal past Laurent Brossoit on Ottawa’s second shot of the game.

The 1-0 lead didn’t last long though as Nikolaj Ehlers calmly brought the puck over the line waiting for his teammates to join the rush. Ehlers circled back at the Senators’ goal line before sending a strong backhand pass to a wide open Mark Scheifele for an easy tip-in.

The assist from Ehlers marked 300 points for the Dane making him only the fourth NHL player from Denmark to reach the milestone.

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Ottawa clearly has been studying Jets’ film as their penalty kill had two partial breakaways before the Jets registered a shot with the man advantage. Paul broke up Kyle Connor’s pass and fired a wrist shot just over the bar and not long after Alex Formenton read the defence pinching, got a step on Neal Pionk and nearly tucked the puck short side on Brossoit.

Studying the second place Jets continued to work wonders for the Senators, stifling every Winnipeg attempt to enter the offensive zone. The Senators routinely had two men attacking the puck carrier within a few feet of the blue line, frustrating the Jets and causing errant passes into skates and resulting in turnovers heading the other way.

The offensive zone trap proved effective for Ottawa, holding the Winnipeg Jets without a goal in the second period, but the strategy unfortunately didn’t result in much offensive production at the other end as the middle frame only saw a few high percentage chances for both teams.

By the third period, Mathieu Perreault had enough of the 1-1 tie and took matters into his own hands on the power play. Battling for possession below Ottawa’s goal line, Andrew Copp found the puck and got it to an open Perreault along the boards. The Drummondville product looked off a defender, took a few steps towards Sens goalie Matt Murray and fired a wrist shot over his shoulder, obliterating the goaltender’s water bottle giving the Jets a 2-1 lead just a few minutes into the third.

The special teams units played well for both teams tonight, particularly while short handed and Trevor Lewis continued his stellar play killing penalties. Lewis got behind the defence and grabbed a rolling puck at the faceoff dot before turning back toward Murray and lifting the puck over his left shoulder, giving the Jets some insurance midway through the final frame.

The Winnipeg Jets have two shorthanded goals this year, both scored by Lewis who is one of 15 players in the NHL with at least a pair of shorties this year.

The Senators had a two-man advantage to end the game and Josh Norris unleashed a blur of a one-timer to bring them within one, but that’s as close as they’d get as Brossoit recorded his sixth win of the year. Connor Hellebuyck will patrol the pipes Thursday night as the Jets continue to fight for first place in the North Division against the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs.

The pregame show will begin at 4 p.m. on 680 CJOB with the puck dropping shortly after 6 p.m.

The Jets look to make up some ground sitting just five points back of the Leafs, but they sit three points ahead of the Oilers for second.