Jets rally for 'gutsy' win in Calgary

CALGARY - There is digging deep, then there is what the Winnipeg Jets did on Saturday night.
At the end of a road trip, on a frustrating five-game winless skid, and down 2-0 to a rested Calgary Flames squad, the Jets still found a way.
Kyle Connor scored twice, including the eventual game-winner with 4:51 to go in regulation to give the Jets a gutsy, come-from-behind 4-2 victory.
"It's just one of those games where we needed everybody and you could see it from our bench, every little play, every blocked shot, right play, we were cheering them on," said Connor. "That's what we needed to come out of this."

Connor was reunited with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler in the game, with the trio combining for five points as the Jets improved their record to 10-7-4 and snapped the Flames' seven-game point streak.
Paul Stastny and Andrew Copp also scored in the victory, while Connor Hellebuyck was sensational in goal making 16 of his 34 saves in the final period, including six on a penalty kill that featured a wild scramble just outside the crease.
"He's our backbone. He stands on his head pretty much every game and makes some big saves," said Scheifele, who assisted on Connor's game-winner. "That was one of those gutsy efforts. He made a lot of gutsy saves especially toward the end of the game. It was a big one."
The Jets found themselves behind early, as Matthew Tkachuk redirected a pass from Johnny Gaudreau into the top corner 26 seconds into the game. Tkachuk's 10th of the season just got past the glove of Hellebuyck, shortly after the Jets couldn't corral a puck below the goal line.

An Evgeny Svechnikov boarding penalty put the Flames on the power play with 12:25 to go in the first, and seven seconds later, Elias Lindholm banged home a rebound to increase the Calgary lead to 2-0.
"It's so easy to fade away in that game," said Maurice. "The way it's been going for us, it's so hard to muster the fight to stay in the game and then, from our goaltender on out, after that they just scratched and clawed."
That was also the last puck to get by Hellebuyck, who has always taken pride in his ability to bounce back after losses. This is especially true after he's pulled, as he was after having four goals get by him on 14 shots in Minnesota the night before.
"He says this morning 'Remember last year we were struggling and came in here and I got a shutout,'" Maurice said with a grin. "He was outstanding in this game. I'm not saying we outplayed Calgary. They had a bunch of real good chances, we had some good chances. But our goalie was pretty damn good tonight."
Then, the Jets comeback began.

The reunited line of Connor, Scheifele, and Wheeler went to work and put together a strong shift in the offensive zone culminating with Wheeler getting a stick on a loose puck in front - slipping it over to an open Connor. He sent it past Jacob Markstrom for his 13th of the campaign to pull the Jets within a 2-1 score.
"We had them hemmed in there. Just tried to create some 2-on-1s all over the ice," Connor said. "I had the puck carrying down the right wall and Wheels popped, I tried to pop it to him, he came from net front in the slot, tried to get it to him in the slot. Kind of loose puck and he did a great job just poking it, keeping it alive over to me and sitting on the back door and just tried to get it up."
Stastny nearly tied the game early in the second on a shorthanded partial breakaway, but while Markstrom made the stop there, Stastny would make good on his next chance a few minutes later.
After Svechnikov redirected a Logan Stanley point shot, Stastny pounced on the rebound, shoving home his fifth goal of the season 4:50 into the second period.
Even after the tough start, the Jets had pulled even.
"It's easy to sulk and feel pretty crappy about the one last night, but we all came to play," said Scheifele. "We all put our big boy pants on and came to play tonight. There were a lot of gutsy efforts, a lot of blocked shots, a lot of taking hits and made hits. That's what it takes in this league."

Shortly after Hellebuyck and the Jets killed off a Brenden Dillon tripping call in the third, they got the break they were looking for as Wheeler joined a rush up ice to give the Jets a three-on-two with just under five minutes left.
"I faded to the weak side and he made a hell of a pass under his stick backhand," said Connor. "As a shooter, you know where the net is. You know where you're going. It's that spatial awareness. Something like that, you just try to get it off quick."
Going back to the Scheifele, Wheeler, and Connor trio was something Maurice had considered earlier, but with Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois getting off to such a strong start this season - he waited.
But tonight was the night to put them back together.
"They need each other a little bit. And right now we needed that," said Maurice. "All Mark and Blake need is that half step. That little bit more room. And Kyle will provide that. That speed he has is so exceptional."
Even after a "huge" win - as Maurice called it - the Jets know there is still more work to do.
They head home for a four-game home stand that begins on Monday, and Connor believes the team will be ready.
"It's one win in an 82-game season still, but we can definitely draw from this game later on," said Connor. "It gave confidence to our whole group and kind of sparked something here, especially going home for a home stand."