Comrie steals the show
Comrie and the Jets had a rough outing Monday in Buffalo, where a slow start put them down 3-0 after 20 minutes and led to head coach Scott Arniel pulling the 30-year-old goaltender. Back in the crease against Montreal, Comrie responded with a strong performance, making multiple point-blank saves in the opening frame to keep Montreal off the board.
With the score tied 2-2 in the third period, Comrie came up big again, denying Cole Caufield on a potential go-ahead goal. In overtime, Ivan Demidov nearly ended it for the Canadiens, but Comrie’s glove had the answer. The Edmonton product made five saves in the extra frame alone.
Top line continues to lead
The Jets’ top line of Connor, Scheifele, and Gabriel Vilardi has been carrying the offence lately, and that continued in Montreal. They opened the scoring at 18:35 of the first period when Connor chipped Scheifele a cheeky backhand pass into the slot, and Scheifele ripped it past Jakub Dobeš for his 14th.
THE EFFORT.
THE BACKHAND PASS.
Kyle Connor magic 🪄
In the second period, just under two minutes after Montreal tied the game, the line went back to work. After dominating an entire shift in the Canadiens’ zone, Vilardi spotted Connor drifting into space and slid the puck to him at the left faceoff dot, where Connor hammered it off the post and in for his 14th of the year.
Broken stick assist ⁉️
Better, but more work to do
There’s no question the Jets played a much better game than Monday’s disastrous performance in Buffalo. However, puck management remained an issue. Winnipeg recorded 26 giveaways on Wednesday night, several of which forced Comrie into tough stops. Without his performance, this game likely doesn’t reach extra time.