JETS GET SERVED A JAGR BOMB IN SOUTH FLORIDA
The Winnipeg Jets looked to close out their four game road trip on Saturday night with a win, after a very emotionally charged game to nights before in Tampa Bay. One thing was standing in their way of that…………… Jaromir Jagr.
The Winnipeg Jets and the Florida Panthers hit the ice on a very warm night in South Florida with temperatures outside hitting 22 C at puck drop, that weather clearly had an impact on the game inside as the puck was bouncing over players sticks and was unstable on routine passes.
The Winnipeg Jets had decided to ply Michael Hutchinson in place of Ondrej Pavelec who had played the previous three, Hutchinson who was relegated to back up duties behind Manitoba Moose call up Connor Hellebuyck while Pavelec was hurt got his first NHL start since February the 6th.
On the other end of the ice the Florida Panthers started their work horse and future Hockey Hall of Famer Roberto “Bobby Lou” Luongo, that with his stellar play it didn’t take long for the Panthers fans to break out the “LoooooooU” chants.
The action in the game started off fast and furious with both teams wanting the two points that were up for grabs on an early break into the Jets zone Panthers young gun Johnathan Huberdeau was slashed coming into the shooting lane by Tyler Myers, after the slash Jacob Trouba took Huberdeau into the end boards where Huberdeau lost his footing and hit his head on the ice not once but twice cutting his forehead open, Trouba was not called for a penalty on the play. Huberdeau on the other hand left the game and did not return.
Mathieu Perreault came into the Panthers zone with a head of steam before making a great no look drop pass to Dustin Byfuglien who wired his trademark slap shot from the blue line, in front of the net was Andrew Ladd who stood his stick straight up and down and tipped Byfuglien’s slapper with the heel of his stick and it went five hole on Luongo.
At the start of the second period Sportsnet broadcasters seemed to be confused over who actually scored the Jets goal, with Sportsnet changing the goal scorer to Nik Elhers, however after viewing multiple Official NHL game sheets it was concluded that the goal was to be credited to the original goal scorer Andrew Ladd for his 16th of the season.
The second period brought a ton of excitement not only to the Panthers organization and to the fan base in Sunrise/Miami but to Jaromir Jagr and the entire National Hockey League. At 4:53 of the second period Jussi Jokinen fed Dmitry Kulikov who send a snap shot toward the net and it found Jagr’s stick who tipped it in the net not only netting his 19th goal of the season but also his 742nd goal for his career passing Brett Hull and becoming the third leading goal scorer in NHL history behind only Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894).
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The third period brought more excitement to the BB&T Center in Sunrise Florida as the Jets entered the third period tied 1-1, now we all know that the Jets have a horrible record heading into the third trailing, well it is not much better when tied.
At 3:58 of the third period the Florida Panthers young guns went to work again after a funny bounce off a Jets stick Kulikov again carried the puck through the neutral zone and in too Jets territory and found a streaking Reilly Smith who made a great shot toward Hutchison and found the back of the net putting the Panthers on time 2-1.
The third period brought a very good defensive game for the Florida Panthers, one of the best I have seen in a very long time for the Panthers. Jussi Jokinen again found himself with the puck and again Jagr found his way to the net and popped in his second goal of the game giving him twenty on the season and putting the Panthers up 3-1 and putting the game on ice at 13:37 of the third period.
Jaromir Jagr now officially has 15 seasons were he has scored 20 goals or more, except for 2011 in Philadelphia and 2012 in Boston. Tonight’s game gave Jagr 20 goals 23 assists for 43 points in 56 games this season giving Jagr a plus 15 rating for the year all at the tender age of 44, Jagr also netted 20:00 minutes of ice time.
The Winnipeg Jets had a lot to be worried about the official game sheet has the Florida Panthers winning 38 faceoff battles and the Jets only winning 15 faceoff battles.
The young core of the Jets did not step up to the plate last night like they should against a team like Florida who is just as young and inexperienced as the Jets themselves minus Jagr and Luongo, with the trade deadline looming the Jets will need to be sellers and pick up some keys draft picks and key players for next season to be able to compete in the central division.
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I am a married father of three I living in Northwestern Ontario about 5 hours from Winnipeg, I have been involved with hockey my whole life I started playing when I was 4 and played all the way up through high school and I still currently play hockey every Saturday night in the local mens league, I am a level 2 certified ref and I love to ref games from little kids to high school and the ladies league, I have even started doing lines for our Junior A team the English River Miners of the SIJHL. I also own Pinnacle Sports Management I do player placement most of my clients are in Europe but I have a couple in the SPHL I have also worked as a scout for a number of SIJHL teams.