The Jets have been one of the pleasant surprises in the NHL this season and even with this shootout loss, they are still tied with Nashville (21-8-4) and St. Louis (20-10-6) for first place in the Western Conference's mighty Central Division. Winnipeg's captain and leading scorer is old friend Blake Wheeler (9 goals, 32 assists) who unbeknownst to probably most of his haters in Boston has completely transformed his game into one of the top American players in the league. Tuukka Rask (season-high 37 saves, 10th win of the season) and Hellebuyck had the hockey equivalent of a pitcher's duel going as they went through the first two periods without allowing a goal.
Winnipeg superstar Patrik Laine hit the post in the first period with one of his patented snipes and you'll here more from him in a moment. Bruins defenseman Torey Krug finally broke the ice with an unassisted goal (his 6th of the season) at 8:16 of the third period. A loose puck was flung in his direction by a silly Jets defenseman and Krug made him pay with a blast from the point that finally eluded Hellebuyck. Less than a minute later (9:13 to be exact), Laine tied it up with his team-leading 18th goal of the season. Boston was in scramble mode and that's never a place you want to be in with Laine in your vicinity. He beat Rask top-shelf, assisted by Ehlers and Thrasher/Jet for life Bryan Little.
When it was officially going to overtime, you had to laugh since Boston was 1-4 in the extra frame this season which was a better record than Winnipeg's stinky 0-5. Both teams had some golden opportunities in overtime (Winnipeg outshot Boston 6-4 then and 38-33 for the entire contest) but ultimately this had to be decided by that cheesy format. Little went first for the Jets and scored while Marchand (playing through a nasty flu virus that forced teammates Riley Nash and Ryan Spooner to sit out tonight's action) was stopped. Laine couldn't find the back of the net again vs. his fellow Finn and David Pastrnak tied it up. Mark Scheifele and Patrice Bergeron couldn't convert in round three which sent it to round four.
The B's have a good thing going right now-7-2-1 in their last 10 games-and they have pulled within two points of the Leafs (21-14-1) for second-place in the Atlantic Division with a whopping three games in hand. Boston has one more tilt before Christmas break (when every club gets 3 days off) as they host sputtering Detroit (13-14-7) on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). A win there would be the perfect way to send the team into the holidays. David Krejci missed his third game in a row which meant that rookie center Colby Cave was an emergency recall from Providence this afternoon and he became the third Bruin to make his NHL debut this season (joining Anders Bjork and Jake DeBrusk). It's a tough call which Bruins goaltender should get the start against the Red Wings since Rask is 7-0-1 in his last eight games and backup Anton Khudobin is coming off a 36-save shutout of the pitiful Sabres (8-19-7) on Tuesday. Anything can happen in wacky Saturday afternoon games but whoever Cassidy chooses, shouldn't find it too difficult to get another two points for the Black and Gold.
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