Jets Fall Flat Back At Home To Panthers 5-2

It was another former Chicago Blackhawk that had the big night on the scoresheet Thursday night at MTS Centre as the Florida Panthers came into Winnipeg and took two points away from the hometown Jets.

Kris Versteeg scored the game's opening two goals and added an empty netter for his first hat trick of his NHL career as the Panthers came away with a 5-2 victory when it was all said and done.

The game featured a number of players from the now dismantled 2010 Stanley Cup champions, including Jets captain Andrew Ladd, Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Panthers forwards Tomas Kopecky and Versteeg, as well as Panther defenseman Brian Campbell.

Also scoring for the road team was Jason Garrison and Mike Santorelli.

On the board for the hometown Jets were Tim Stapleton with his first as a Jet on the power play and Andrew Ladd with his fourth of the campaign.

The Panthers had leads of 2-0 after one and 4-0 after two before the Jets forced their way back into the game in the third with two quick goals by Stapleton and Ladd in the first six minutes of the final frame.

Ondrej Pavelec made eleven saves on 15 shots and was sat for the final frame as Peter Mannino made his Jets debut, stopping all four shots he faced in the third period.

The Jets outshot the Panthers in the final period by a 17-4 margin, but Jose Theodore ended up stopping 25 of 27 on the night for the win.

The Panthers went two-for-five on the powerplay while the Jets went one-for-three on the man advantage.

Mark Stuart was the only Jet who finished with a plus rating (plus one) over 18:16 of ice time.

Dustin Byfuglien logged 24:44 of ice time to lead the Jets. Zach Bogosian logged 24:22, Johnny Oduya logged 22:29, Alexander Burmistrov logged 19:46, and Evander Kane logged 18:55.

Bryan Little was excellent in the faceoff circle, winning 15 of 20 draws on the night, while Jim Slater won seven of fourteen and Burmistrov won eight of fifteen.

Slater had a game high six shots on net, while Byfuglien had four.

The Jets now go back on the road for a meeting with the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets and former Jet and Jacket head coach Scott Arniel Saturday night.


Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports & Getty Images

Jets Shutout Islanders on the Island 3-0

Ondrej Pavelec stopped 34 shots and the Winnipeg Jets and their starting goalie captured their first shutout of the season as the Jets blanked the New York Islanders 3-0 Thursday night.

Evander Kane continued his great play, scoring his fifth of the season at 4:21 of the first period on a great second and third effort which resulted in the puck finally eluding Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro.

Kane's goal would hold up as the only goal until Johnny Oduya would score his first goal on a shot from the right side that careened off an Islanders defender and behind DiPietro for a 2-0 Jets lead at 16:04.

Alexander Burmistrov would ice the game with an empty netter at 17:44.

Kane would finish the night with a goal and an assist - which puts him at eight points in eleven games this season, with all of those points coming in the last six games.

It was Kane's third multi-point night of the season.

Johnny Oduya was also figuring into the scoring with a goal and an assist as he was thrust into more action with the absence of Tobias Enstrom.

Oduya had 22:07 of ice time last night. His points in the game were his first since October 13th against Chicago. He finished a season-high +2.

Kyle Wellwood continued his consistent play with his fourth assist of the season. He now has nine points (five goals, four assists) in twelve games.

Nik Antropov, Burmistrov, and Kane all finished with +3 ratings, while Dustin Byfuglien and Oduya finished as +2.

Byfuglien played a team high 23:40 of ice time, while Zach Bogosian played 22:54, Oduya 22:07, and Brett Festerling 19:05.

Randy Jones had played a team high 18:55 before taking a slapshot off the leg early in the third period.

Mark Flood played 13:41.

Bryan Little won 12 of 18 faceoffs, Burmistrov three of three, Antropov two of six, and Jim Slater five of fourteen.

Jets are back in action Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils.


Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports & Getty Images

Predators Down Jets In Comeback 4-3

Despite a strong start to the game at Bridgestone Arena Saturday night, the Winnipeg Jets could not overcome a Nashville Predator power-play surge in the second period.

After a great first period where the Jets opened the scoring with goals by Spencer Machacek at 5:48 and Paul Postma, his second of the pre-season at 10:27 on the power-play, the Jets ran into some penalty trouble in the second.

The Predators got on the board 4:50 into the second on a Jordin Tootoo goal but the Jets responded on the power-play as Derek Meech blasted a point shot from the right side to make it 3-1.

Sergei Kostitsyn would make it 3-2 on the power-play at 9:14.

After Troy Bodie took a double-minor penalty trying to stick up for teammate Tobias Enstrom, the Predators would tie the game and then go up 4-3 with goals from Martin Erat at 12:30 and then Patric Hornqvist at 13:50, on a reviewable goal that was not reviewed.

There was no scoring in the third as the Predators shut down the Jets offense from getting going.

Chris Mason went the distance for the Jets and stopped 18 of 22 shots. On the end, Chet Pickard stopped 20 of 22 shots, starting and ending the game after Pekka Rinne went out after a shot from Bryan Little went off his mask and cut him open.

Rinne stopped seven of eight shots.

The Jets now turn their attention to Charlotte, NC for tomorrow night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, in which the other split-squad team will play at 3:45 PM CT.

Jets All Out will have live blogging of the Jets-Hurricanes game tomorrow starting at 3:45 PM CT.