Jets outlast Kraken in shootout to close out home stand

WINNIPEG -In the first two meetings between the Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken this season, the Jets were on the back half of back-to-back games.
In Tuesday's season series finale, the Jets (34-19-1) were rested, and they channeled that rest into a 3-2 shootout win over the Kraken, in a performance the team can certainly be proud of.
Especially in a battle of two of the top teams in the Western Conference.
"We played well for the better part of that game and felt we deserved those two points," said Pierre-Luc Dubois, who scored the equalizer in regulation and the insurance marker in the shootout.
"They played well, too. They had their moments," Dubois said. "Those wins, especially at this time of year, they feel good and they're huge going towards the end of the season."

Along with Dubois' goal, Blake Wheeler also scored in regulation, with Mark Scheifele picking up the shootout winner. Incredibly, 54 games into the season, this was the first time the Jets found themselves in a shootout. Josh Morrissey also had an assist on the Dubois game-tying goal, giving him 45 assists this season - the most by a defenceman in one season in franchsie history.

The Jets went 2-for-3 in the shootout, with Scheifele and Dubois beating Phillip Grubauer, and only Kyle Connor being stopped. David Rittich made 27 saves and followed it up by stopping both Ryan Donato and Jordan Eberle in the skills competition.
"He found out this morning that he was going to start. (Connor Hellebuyck) shows up under the weather, so all of a sudden David is in," said head coach Rick Bowness. "Every game that he's played, he's been outstanding. Flats has done a fantastic job with him. David is a hard-working guy. He's a good teammate and he's doing the job we need him to do."
The Jets were dominant early in the first, outshooting Seattle 10-2 at one point before having to kill off six minutes worth of penalties. During a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Morgan Barron, Adam Lowry blocked two shots - after giving his stick to Brenden Dillon - drawing a huge roar from the crowd as he deflected the second puck out of play.
"I could have been a goalie. I played it when I was young, for a bit," Lowry grinned, although he admitted that the ovation he got from the fans made him feel a bit awkward. "It feels good they recognize not only the goals or the hits or things like that, but just the effort."
Wheeler opened the scoring with his 15th of the season with seven minutes off the clock in the second. Nikolaj Ehlers, celebrating his 27th birthday, forced a turnover behind the Seattle net by intercepting an attempted backhand pass by Jamie Oleksiak. Quickly, Ehlers flipped it out front to Wheeler, who made a quick cutback to his forehand and tucked it home to make it 1-0.

Oleksiak made up for his mistake just 6:19 later. His stretch pass to Morgan Geekie created an opportunity for Seattle up ice, and Geekie spotted John Hayden in front. Hayden deflected the pass, which came from the left wing to the middle of the ice, through David Rittich's legs for his second of the season to tie things at one.
It was Seattle's third shot of the period, compared to Winnipeg's 12 at that point.
"For the most part, there was long stretches where we didn't give up a lot of grade-As," said Lowry. "We see there was a few turnovers and things like that where they were able to generate some things, but I thought we did a real good job on our forecheck and not getting caught too low or too aggressive to turn some pucks over and really frustrate them through the neutral zone."
Seattle took a 2-1 lead on a terrible break for the Jets, as Jared McCann's shot on a late second period power play banked off the skates of Dylan DeMelo, then Mason Appleton, and trickled past Rittich with 27 seconds left in the middle frame.
"That's hockey," Bowness said of the bounce. "You play 82 games, man, you're going to see a little bit of everything and that's a perfect example. You keep playing."
The Jets were outshooting Seattle 25-17 through 40 minutes, but were still down by a goal.
Bowness made a small line shuffle to try and spark things in the third, putting Ehlers with Dubois and Connor, and Morgan Barron with Scheifele and Wheeler.

It paid off with 10:21 remaining in regulation, as Dubois collected a rebound off a Morrissey shot and had a backhand play go off Vince Dunn and in for his 23rd goal of the season.
"That was a pass. I thought somebody was back door," Dubois admitted. "That's just how it goes sometimes."
In overtime, Rittich made three of his 27 saves, and Winnipeg's best chance trickled off the stick of Wheeler on a 2-on-1 rush with Scheifele.

Not to worry though, as the Jets sharp shooters took care of business in the shootout, giving them three wins in a row before a four-game road trip.
"Good teams find a way to win and we found a way," said Bowness. "There's not much separating these two teams. Just look at the standings. So yeah, that's how we want to play, for the most part."