Recap: Winnipeg Jets @ NY Islanders
The Winnipeg Jets were on a 2 game losing skid and just beginning a 4 game road trip through the Metropolitan Division, so our franchise really could use a win to start off on a good foot. The job became a bit more difficult when news broke the defenseman Dylan Samberg would be missing the match due to unforeseen circumstances. Could the True Northers pull out a win against the Long Islanders?? Lets find out….
GAME RECAP
The Jets flew out of the gates, controlling the puck and getting a bunch of scoring chances on an early powerplay. Unfortunately, that unit remained snake-bitten and the hometown New York Islanders eventually worked their way back into the game. Well, that is definitely understating things, as the Isles out-shot Winnipeg 15 to 2 in the latter part of the period. In that explosion, the pitiful NYI powerplay was able to strike when the Jets’ PKers got out of position chasing the play along the walls, allowing a quick give & go to result in an easy 1 timer to open the scoring.
Things got worse for our team early in the 2nd period when an odd man rush ended with Brock Nelson tapping in goal from the blue paint to make in 2-0 for the New Yorkers. Winnipeg’s man-advantage unit finally ended it’s scoreless streak on the second opportunity of the game, but still required a little luck as Josh Morrissey’s shot deflected off the skate of a NYI defender to completely change direction on Ilya Sorokin. The Russian goaltender played very well in a back-to-back situation as the Jets out-shot the Islanders 13-7 in the period and had a large advantage in the expected goals.
With momentum heading into the 3rd, Winnipeg was unable to take advantage early as New York defended well. The hometown boys got a huge break when a point shot found a way through the bodies in front, completely fooling Connor Hellebuyck, who likely never saw the puck at all. With 16 minutes to get the tying goal, the Jets received some bad luck when both Logan Stanley & Rasmus Kupari sustained injuries, though only the latter ended up missing time. Kupari’s injury didn’t look very good, as his knee bent at an angle not typically in the repertoire of the human knee. As Winnipeg pushed for offense, they gave up chances against and Bucky had to make a couple beautiful saves to maintain a 2 goal deficit. A slashing penalty just after the mid-point of the final frame gave the Jets PP a third chance. The top unit controlled the puck, but scoring chance after chance was blocked by the NYI defenders. They were persistent though, continuing to push and a Kyle Connor pass to Nikolaj Ehlers netside allowed the shifty Dane to make a quick move across the crease to beat Sorokin. With 7 minutes to play, Winnipeg was now down 3-2 and the Jets applied pressure with good shifts by the 2nd & 3rd lines yet the Islanders were able to limit the looks to the medium danger variety. The Vladislav Namestnikov line definitely threatened to tie the game late in the frame, with Sorokin denying a couple of chances from the group. In the end, the Jets couldn’t break through at 5 on 5 so they pulled Hellebuyck with 1:39 to play. Winnipeg swarmed the offensive zone with the extra skater but the New Yorkers wasted enough time fighting along the boards to keep the Jets from getting more than 2 shots on their goalie.
FINAL SCORE: NEW YORK ISLANDERS 3 WINNIPEG JETS 2
FINAL STATS
Shots: 29-29 TIE / Hits: 34-16 NYI / Face-Offs: 50.9% WPG / x Goals: 4.16 WPG – 2.42 NYI /
MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 74.7% WPG / High-Medium Danger Scoring Chances: 15 to 10 WPG
SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
GOALIE STATS from ESPN & MoneyPuck
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If you would like to dive deeper into the game’s stats, follow the links below to the game pages:
MoneyPuck: Winnipeg Jets vs. New York Islanders – Tuesday March 4 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Winnipeg Jets @ New York Islanders, 2025-03-04
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BOJA’s Observations:
Will add more tomorrow morning. But in the meantime, the Jets’ top forward line was not nearly good enough against the Islanders and unsurprisingly the Logan Stanley–Neal Pionk defensive duo was not very good (15 of 29 NY shots against them).
Not sure what it is about Long Island, but the Jets haven’t won there since 2018.
The Winnipeg Jets have to figure out this lack of offense thing soon…because they aren’t really built to play from behind. A bit of travel and a day off before they get back to work again.
UP NEXT: Winnipeg Jets @ Philadelphia Flyers – Saturday, March 6th @ 6:00 pm CST...
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