*Photo from TheScore*
It was a win that the Winnipeg Jets absolutely needed to have, and they worked hard to get it. Evgeny Svechnikov scored, Kyle Connor scored two goals, and the Jets rallied to defeat the Arizona Coyotes with a 5-3 win on Sunday afternoon in Glendale.
The win comes as the Jets snap a 4 game losing streak, with an 0-3-1 record in that time. The Jets have really been skidding in the second half of the season, and there were concerns about whether it was the coaching staff or the players who were more to blame. The Jets showed resolve in this one, trailing 3-2 entering the 3rd period before rattling off 3 unanswered goals.
Connor said of the mentality in the locker room that "We didn't point fingers, blame each other, we really came together there, and we had a good push. Obviously, the way we've been playing, things weren't going the right way, but we came in here really focused."
An interesting quirk of this game was the fact that neither team had a power play in the whole game. The Jets took the win this time not thanks to opposing penalties, but from multi point games from Connor, Svechnikov, and Nathan Beaulieu.
It was Adam Lowry who kicked off the scoring, giving the Jets a 1-0 lead 7:39 into the game, his 6th goal of the season. Jakob Chychrun tied the game for the Coyotes at the 10:16 mark of the period, good for his 3rd goal. Svechnikov then put the Jets back in front with his 5th goal of the season, before Barrett Hayton re-tied it with 3:20 left in the first, making it 2-2 after one period.
The only goal of the second period came from Nick Ritchie, who scored in his first game with the Coyotes, putting them ahead 3-2 at the 13:56 mark of the second. Blake Wheeler kicked off the 3rd period by scoring 3:17 into the period, tying the game 3-3 early in the period. Connor scored his first goal of the game at the 5:34 mark to put the Jets up 4-3, and then his second goal of the game came with 1:08 left on an empty net.
Getting his 3rd start in the last 26 games for the Jets was backup goalie Eric Comrie, who held the fort down to get the win. Comrie saved 26 of the 29 shots on goal the Coyotes sent his way, good for a .897 save percentage. With the win, Comrie's record increased to 6-2-1 in 9 starts this season.
Comrie said after the game that "I just hope to get on a roll, that's a big win. I think we're playing fine. I think we're right there. We're just just not quite getting the results. But I think we're going to start to find some more results here, and some more success."
Across the ice from Comrie was Arizona's Scott Wedgewood, who got hit with the loss once again. Wedgewood stopped 33 of 37 Winnipeg shots on goal, posting a .892 save percentage, similar to Comrie's numbers. With the loss, Wedgewood's record drops to 7-13-3 on the season for the Coyotes and New Jersey Devils.
Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny said of the Jets that "I think they dominated all the game in my opinion. We had really good goaltending keep us in the game. You can see it by the number of giveaways we had. When you don't want to get engaged, you force the play with the puck and you turn it over and are under duress."
The Jets get back in action with a Tuesday home matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, with Connor Hellebuyck back between the pipes to start. The Coyotes host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, with Karel Vejmelka likely to start.
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