The Winnipeg Jets top the NHL with 56 points and 27 wins while the Detroit Red Wings fired their coach the day after Christmas and entered Friday four points out of a playoff spot.
However, the Jets have lost their last two (0-1-1), while the Red Wings are on a three-game winning streak entering Saturday’s matchup at Winnipeg.
The Jets lost 4-3 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night at home after dropping a 5-2 decision to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on New Year’s Eve.
Troy Terry’s second goal of the game, 3:34 into overtime, dealt the Jets the loss on Thursday. Winnipeg blew a 2-0 lead in the first period and a 3-2 advantage with less than two minutes left in regulation.
“We came out really well in the first, obviously a great start,” said defenseman Josh Morrissey, who had two assists. “I thought there were some points in time where we could have managed the puck better at the blue lines. But I thought we actually did a good job of kind of losing momentum, getting it back, and playing a pretty solid third period until giving up that tying goal. Those are some things we can clean up.”
Alex Iafallo’s goal with 2:44 left in regulation gave the Jets a 3-2 lead, but it only took Radko Gudas 54 seconds to even the contest.
“It was kind of a roller coaster of a game,” Iafallo said. “I just think we didn’t have enough pressure moving forward. … We just have to have a strong three periods. It would have been a different game, I think.”
The Red Wings also blew two leads on Thursday — 3-1 after the first period and 4-3 with less than three minutes remaining — but an unlikely set of circumstances led to Jonatan Berggren’s breakaway goal with 36 seconds left. That tally gave the Wings a 5-4 victory over the host Columbus Blue Jackets for Detroit’s third consecutive win under new coach Todd McLellan, who replaced the fired Derek Lalonde.
Blue Jackets winger James van Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the game with 2:41 remaining to tie it up.
McLellan challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but it was upheld. That meant a two-minute delay-of-game penalty for the Red Wings, which Berggren served.
As the penalty was ending with the play in the Detroit zone, Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot blocked a shot by Ivan Provorov and the puck came to Tyler Motte. He spotted Berggren coming out of the penalty box and made a diving pass to spring the winger, who beat goalie Elvis Merzlikins under the glove and above the pad.
“The finish is what we were looking for, not necessarily the road map we had to get there, but we said we’d find out a little bit about our team,” McLellan said. “Found out that there’s some resiliency in the group.”
It was Berggren’s second consecutive game with a breakaway goal.
“I think there’s no quit,” said Alex DeBrincat, who had a goal and two assists. “We give up that late goal, and our PK does a great job, and obviously (Berggren) scores after that.”
–Field Level Media
