After losing to the Seattle Kraken at home on Tuesday, members of the Winnipeg Jets admitted they needed to improve their defense.
They did exactly that in the rematch in Seattle, shutting down the Kraken in a 3-0 win for their 40th win of the season.
Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry, and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets as they outshot the Kraken 32-17.
Josh Morrissey thought they were better defensively that night. He felt they allowed the Kraken too many easy scoring chances in the first game.
He believed they did a better job that night by not giving the Kraken as many opportunities. He acknowledged the Kraken's speed and how the Jets improved in handling that.
The Jets made 19 blocked shots, securing their seventh win in the last nine games.
Jets head coach Rick Bowness noted their improvement in protecting the middle of the ice. He praised the forwards for their back checking and the defense for forcing the Kraken to dump the puck in.
Adam Lowry mentioned watching video to identify areas for improvement. He acknowledged their strength in 5-on-5 situations and the need to make adjustments to prevent future mistakes.
Laurent Brossoit stopped all 17 shots for his first shutout of the season and his first in over two years, marking the fourth of his career.
Josh Morrissey commented on the excellence of Laurent Brossoit's performance throughout the year.
Scheifele was hit in the head by a skate while trying to stop a breakaway in the third period. He returned to the bench with two minutes left in the game and had one last shift. It was initially feared he was cut by a skate, but that was not the case.
Rick Bowness mentioned that Scheifele had to go through concussion protocol after being hit in the head.
Both the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars also won on Friday, leaving the Jets and Avs two points behind the Stars for the division lead. However, the Jets have three games in hand on both teams.
The first period was filled with stoppages, and Winnipeg had a 9-8 edge in shots on goal going into the second period.
Neither team could score in the first 6:45 of the second period as they struggled to hit the net.
Eventually, Winnipeg managed to shoot nine times to Seattle’s four in the second period but the game remained tied at zero heading into the third.
Jets fans who stayed awake during a slow first forty minutes were finally rewarded at the 7:15 mark of the third. Morrissey's play at the point allowed Scheifele to score and open the scoring.
Shortly after, Seattle had their best opportunity of the evening. Andre Burakovsky was given a breakaway chance, but his stick broke as he took the shot. Then, Scheifele tripped him, causing Burakovsky to crash into Brossoit in the goal and giving the Kraken a power play.
Scheifele was injured in the incident and had to go to the locker room for treatment, but he came back before the game ended. His teammates successfully defended against his minor tripping penalty, which was the only penalty of the game.
The Jets increased their lead at 11:28 when Lowry scored his 10th goal of the season, the second in as many games after a 21-game goal drought.
The Kraken made little progress in mounting a comeback before Ehlers scored into an empty net with 50 seconds remaining.
The Jets will play again on Saturday night in Vancouver, aiming to improve their 6-0 record in the second game of back-to-backs this season.
