Winnipeg Jets suffocate Stars 4-0 to avoid elimination – Winnipeg

With their backs against the wall, the Winnipeg Jets rose to the occasion to live to fight another day.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 22 shots he faced and the Jets scored a pair of power play goals in a 4-0 Game 5 win over the Dallas Stars Thursday night in Winnipeg, cutting the Stars’ lead in the second-round series to 3-2.

Winnipeg got a great early chance to get something going when Sam Steel was called for holding 2:49 into the game. The Jets got three shots on goal during the power play but were unable to sustain any real zone time.

Just over a minute after Steel returned to the ice, Adam Lowry was called for cross-checking but Winnipeg got the kill, just like they did when Cole Perfetti took an interference penalty later in the period.

Overall, the Jets were the better team in the first, outshooting the Stars 11-4 but they were unable to beat Jake Oettinger.

Connor Hellebuyck had to make multiple high-quality saves early in the second, including a flashy glove stop on Thomas Harley in close.

Just over six minutes into the second, it was Harley who proved to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as the Jets got on the board first.

With the teams playing 4-on-4, Neal Pionk carried the puck into the Stars end before passing to his left to Kyle Connor. He then hit a trailing Mark Scheifele, who faked a shot and held onto the puck before sending it towards the crease where it banked off Harley’s skate and into the net.

Winnipeg went into lockdown mode as they tried to hold onto their slim lead. Dallas nearly cracked the code with just over three minutes left in the second but Matt Duchene rang a shot off the connection of the post and crossbar over Hellebuyck’s glove.

The Jets got their second power play chance of the game with 2:31 to go in the middle frame when Mason Marchment was given a questionable holding penalty.

The ensuing power play was easily Winnipeg’s best in a while as they held the puck in the zone for nearly the full two minutes, getting all kinds of pressure on Dallas. The puck did wind up in the net at one point but it was immediately waved off because Scheifele propelled a fluttering puck into the net with his glove, prompting Jets’ fans to chant “should have kicked it,” in reference to Alex Petrovic’s controversial game-winning goal in Game 3.

Winnipeg continued to maintain a strong edge in shots on goal, outshooting the Stars 10-5 in the second for a two-period edge of 21-9. Dallas managed just one shot over the final 14:34 of the period and had only 23 shot attempts through 40 minutes, their fewest through two periods all season.

Just 1:39 into the third, the Jets got their third power play chance of the night when Petrovic tripped Mason Appleton in the Stars’ zone, and just 12 seconds later, Scheifele was tripped by Esa Lindell in almost the exact same spot below the goal line, giving Winnipeg a lengthy 5-on-3.

It was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Jets to finally break through against the stout Stars penalty kill.

Winnipeg won the ensuing faceoff leading to a Scheifele slapshot that caught Oettinger high. Dallas then cleared the puck down the ice but the whistle blew at the same time because Oettinger’s mask came off, a big break for the Jets as it kept the faceoff inside the Dallas zone.

Off that faceoff, the puck came back to the point where Scheifele whipped a pass across to Connor. He then sent it down low for Nikolaj Ehlers, who made a quick move to the front of the net before sliding it past Oettinger to make it 2-0 with Winnipeg’s second power play goal of the series.

Dallas got their own power play look with just over six minutes gone in the period, in desperate need of an offensive spark with just 12 shots on goal to that point, but Hellebuyck turned aside both Stars shots in the two-minute minor as Winnipeg got their third kill of the night.

A fifth power play opportunity for the Jets came just past the midway point when Lian Bichsel was called for roughing and late in the man advantage, the second unit put the game on ice. Alex Iafallo found Vlad Namestnikov in the slot and he roofed it past Oettinger to make it 3-0 with 7:53 to go.

Things got feisty just over a minute later when Scheifele and Jamie Benn got tangled up near the Dallas bench. It led to Benn sucker-punching Scheifele in the face, dropping the Jets’ star to the ice. Brandon Tanev jumped in to Scheifele’s defence which wound up putting the Jets shorthanded, but Winnipeg killed it off to complete an exceptional night of special teams execution.

Dallas pulled Oettinger for an extra attacker with over 3:30 remaining but after some strong defending, Ehlers tracked down a loose puck and put it into the empty net to eliminate any doubt.

Winnipeg would finish the game with a 35-22 edge in shots on goal.

The Jets will have to win a road game for the first time all postseason if they hope to host a Game 7. Game 6 goes Saturday evening in Dallas.