It’s official: the Winnipeg Whiteout shall be making a return once more in April.
Needing only a level to clinch a playoff spot, the Winnipeg Jets did one higher Tuesday evening, edging the Washington Capitals 3-2 in extra time in a battle of NHL heavyweights that lived as much as the hype.
Winnipeg acquired on the board first on the 6:50 mark of the primary when Josh Morrissey took a drop-pass from Mark Scheifele and one-timed it towards the purpose. The shot glanced off Martin Fehervary and previous Logan Thompson for Morrissey’s twelfth of the season.
The sport acquired a touch of spice with just below three minutes left within the first when Colin Miller despatched Andrew Mangiapane arduous into the boards, incomes him a boarding penalty. However proper after the whistle blew to cease the play, Mangiapane decked Miller within the chest with a cross-check, inflicting a skirmish.
After the offsetting minors expired, Mangiapane acquired the final giggle. With Washington on a 3-on-2 in transition, Mangiapane had a give-and-go with Jakob Chychrun that Mangiapane completed off with a little bit of a knuckler that floated previous Connor Hellebuyck to stage the rating after 20 minutes.
Washington managed play for the majority of the second interval, partly due to a pair of energy performs however at even power they had been the higher crew for many of the 20 minutes. Winnipeg managed simply two pictures on purpose by the primary 17:30 of the second earlier than a late-period energy play helped to alter their fortunes.
With only a handful of seconds left within the interval, Cole Perfetti rushed the puck up the ice and into the Washington finish, dropping it off to Nino Niederreiter close to the purpose. Niederreiter despatched a cross-ice cross to Mason Appleton, who was promoted to the second PP unit due to the harm to Gabriel Vilardi that prompted Alex Iafallo to affix the highest unit.
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Appleton took a second to settle the puck earlier than roofing it over the glove of Thompson for his ninth of the season with simply 12 seconds left within the interval, just a few moments after the ability play expired.
The Capitals wound up outshooting the Jets 12-7 within the center body for a two-period whole of 18-15 in Washington’s favour.
The place it mattered most, nonetheless, Winnipeg had the 2-1 lead, and the Jets entered the evening with an NHL-best report of 36-0-1 when main after two.
The Jets’ sputtering energy play was given an opportunity to increase Winnipeg’s lead when Taylor Raddysh was known as for interference with 13:31 left in regulation. Having gone two-for-17 of their earlier seven video games, the PP wanted a spark however they couldn’t discover it, managing only one shot on purpose in two minutes.
Winnipeg held onto their 2-1 lead for many of the interval earlier than the various Washington followers in attendance acquired precisely what they needed.
Aliaksei Protas received a puck battle alongside the wall in Winnipeg’s finish and despatched a cross to the far faceoff dot, also called the workplace of 1 Alexander Ovechkin. The sniper took the cross and ripped a wrister by Hellebuyck to tie the sport together with his 889th profession purpose.
When the horn sounded on the finish of the third interval, the Jets had formally punched their ticket to the playoffs. A brief video performed on the large display screen displaying the phrase ‘clinched’, prompting a giant cheer from the sold-out crowd.
However there was nonetheless enterprise to maintain, and it regarded like Washington may discover a technique to steal the sport as they held possession of the puck for over a minute to start out extra time. Their finest probability got here early in OT when Protas rang a shot off the skin of the submit.
The Jets lastly gained possession of the puck when the Capitals mishandled a cross, prompting the Caps to make a line change. Dylan Samberg collected the puck behind Winnipeg’s web and observed Nikolaj Ehlers sprinting up the ice regardless of having been on for the reason that begin of OT. Samberg banked a cross off the boards proper to the tape of Ehlers as he sped into the Washington finish and wired a shot previous Thompson, an electrical finish to a improbable hockey recreation.
Hellebuyck made 27 saves to earn the win whereas many of the NHL shall be extra targeted on the purpose chase of Ovechkin, who now wants six objectives to cross Wayne Gretzky’s report for profession objectives scored.
Washington additionally stays one level forward of the Jets with a recreation in hand within the race for the President’s Trophy.
The Jets will look to make it two wins in a row once they host New Jersey Friday evening. Puck drop is simply after 7 p.m. with pregame protection on 680 CJOB starting at 5 p.m.
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