Recap: Winnipeg Jets @ Utah HC
The Winnipeg Jets got some good news on Saturday afternoon when they discovered that the Dallas Stars dropped their contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins, bringing the magic number to lock up the Western Conference’s top spot down to 4.5. Might be nice if the Jets sent Sidney Crosby a Canadian-made care package that includes things like Labatt’s Blue beer & Old Dutch ketchup chips as a thank you for his timely hat-trick.
A few hours later, the True Northers (24-14-0 on road) were in action and looking to reduce that “magic” figure even more by out-performing the Utah Hockey Club (16-15-7 home record). After the obligatory national anthems were completed, the game got underway at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City when the linesman dropped the puck. Here is how I saw things unfold after that….
GAME RECAP
Right from the opening shifts, Winnipeg showed what kind of night it would be as the Jets’ defense were thinking & acting too slow to avoid a tenacious forecheck from Utah. The issues that caused resulted in some early chances on goalie Connor Hellebuyck and then the game’s first powerplay a mere 2 minutes in. The True Northers won the face-off, but when Alex Iafallo lost a puck battle behind the net, the Hockey Club were able to take the lead off a quick 1 timer. UTH 1-0. Winnipeg got a man-advantage of their own shortly after, but they couldn’t even up the score on their two dangerous chances. Yet it was the hometown Utah club that dominated play with their speed and that resulted in a couple more PP opportunities to help them finish with a 11-7 shot advantage after the opening frame. Maybe the one bright spot for the Jets in the 1st was the play of Cole Perfetti, who ended up setting up Iafallo for a glorious chance from the slot.
Utah’s third powerplay of the game carried over to the 2nd period and while Bucky made a huge stop to deny a low slot attempt, the home squad was able to eventually bang home their second goal of the contest. UTH 2-0. Winnipeg continued to give up quality chances, but eventually they started to create some offense of their own: Perfetti almost connects with Vladislav Namestnikov on a backdoor play, Jaret Anderson-Dolan had a glorious chance from the slot, and Mark Scheifele rang one off the post from the PP bumper spot. In between, Hellebuyck kept the Jets in the game with some more quality saves, but as the period neared it’s end a mistake in coverage allowed former Winnipegger Kevin Stenlund the chance to blast one by the goalie from the right face-off circle. UTH 3-0. Our team got a late PP look, but did absolutely nothing with it.
A good forecheck by Nino Niederreiter allowed the Swiss winger to free the puck and eventually draw a hooking penalty, giving the Jets their 3rd PP chance of the game. It immediately looked dangerous with a blast from Kyle Connor that created a juicy rebound, but Perfetti’s shot was blocked by the defenseman. Winnipeg kept on the attack and eventually a puck popped out to an uncovered Scheifele to allow the visitors to break the home team’s shut out bid. UTH 3-1. The Jets did have a few more looks to make it a tighter game, but the best of them might have been a sweet tic-tac-toe passing sequence between Connor, Scheifele, & Perfetti that saw #55 get robbed by Karel Vejmelka’s stretched pad. Winnipeg continued to push after finally waking up in the 3rd period, but the inevitable empty net goal for Utah came when they tried to pull the goalie for the extra attacker. UTH 4-1.
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FINAL SCORE: UTAH HC 4 WINNIPEG JETS 1
FINAL STATS
Shots: 33-28 WPG / Hits: 36-12 WPG / Face-Offs: 51.0% WPG / x Goals: 4.13 WPG – 3.72 UTH /
MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 62.1% WPG / High-Medium Danger Scoring Chances: 17 to 14 WPG
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SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
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SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
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ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
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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. Utah Hockey Club – Saturday April 5 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Winnipeg Jets @ Utah Hockey Club, 2025-04-05
*****
BOJA’s Observations:
Not sure what it is about Salt Lake City….but the Winnipeg Jets have played terribly in that place. Out-scored 9-3 by the Utah Hockey Club in their own barn. Not a great look. Don’t let the advanced stats fool you…the Jets were totally out-classed for two periods and only turned the switch to “on” in the 3rd period when the game was already out of reach.
Other than good performances by Connor Hellebuyck & Cole Perfetti, there was very little positive about Saturday’s game. It was painful to watch, especially after the Dallas Stars opened the door for the True Northers to take a firmer grip on the Central Division title.
Get well soon Nikolaj Ehlers, Neal Pionk, Gabriel Vilardi, & Rasmus Kupari. We will need you all for the playoffs, but an even earlier return may help us hold onto 1st.
Prospect Update: Three of Winnipeg’s prospects have been eliminated from the Juniors’ playoffs recently. Despite putting up 5 pts, Kieron Walton’s Sudbury Wolves got swept and we will have to see if Kevin Cheveldayoff signs him to an ELC or gets him a Amateur Try Out (ATO) with the Manitoba Moose for the remainder of the AHL season. He will be returning for at least one more Junior season after this. Niagara’s Kevin He was also knocked out after 3 goals & 5 points in the playoffs and we will have to see if the signed prospect joins the Moose for a taste of professional hockey before He returns for his final Junior season. Finally, over in the WHL, the Vancouver Giants were beaten in their series, putting an end to Connor Levis’ Junior career (4 pts in 5 playoff gms). From the sounds of it, Levis will be taking advantage of the new ability to switch to the NCAA and has an agreement with Bowling Green. Chevy could alter his plans by offering him an entry level contract before Winnipeg’s rights to the forward end on June 1st, 2025.
Well, with no help from the Winnipeg Jets, the magic number did drop to 4.5….but a missed opportunity by the True Northers to make the race for the Central title much easier. Two big upcoming matches against division rivals, but maybe the Minnesota Wild can do the Jets a favour today by knocking off the Dallas Stars and get them to 3.5??
UP NEXT: St. Louis Blues @ Winnipeg Jets – Monday, April 7th @ 6:30 pm CST...
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