Tyler Toffoli scored two of his team-leading four goals against Anaheim Ducks at Canada Life Centre on Friday to lead Winnipeg Jets to an emphatic 6-0 victory and Laurent Brossoit to another shutout win – both milestones marking Tyler Toffoli’s debut for Winnipeg.
“The crowd was amazing; I got my first taste during our opening game with that standing ovation!” Toffoli said of his first win.
Toffoli Jets Debut
Toffoli scored twice within 2:58 of his arrival from the New Jersey Devils since being traded on March 8. At 8:07, with a wrist shot off a faceoff win by Sean Monahan, he extended their lead to four goals before redirecting Mark Scheifele’s shot from in tight to make it five at 11:05 and make the scoreline five-nil for them.
“Our group had a discussion,” Toffoli explained, “and now must work toward finding consistency across this road trip that won’t necessarily be easy but will prove beneficial for our team’s development.
Rick Bowness noted Toffoli’s goal-scoring abilities: “He’s an outstanding goal-scorer; when given access to puck in key spots, he knows where it needs to go in. And I loved our fans’ reaction; that was absolutely outstanding; our fanbase are such passionate supporters that recognized Toffoli’s contributions by applauding his goals while welcoming back – or welcoming him – back into Winnipeg again!”
Brossoit Shutout Streak
Brossoit made 21 saves while stopping 17 shots against Seattle Kraken on March 8.
Brossoit said his team played well behind him to help extend a goalless stretch to 150:40 since 9:20 of the second period against the Buffalo Sabres on March 3. “I don’t want to get too high off these performances since my opponents in those two games (Seattle and Anaheim) weren’t so easy; in both games, our teammates performed phenomenally in my sight!”
Dylan DeMelo recorded one goal and assist, while Josh Morrissey registered three. Both players have helped lead their Jets (42-19-5) to five consecutive wins (5-3-0).
John Gibson made 32 saves to help secure their 23-41-3 record and prevent their sixth straight and seventh defeats of this season.
Jets vs Ducks Shutout
Anaheim forward Troy Terry lamented their third-period mistakes as “there really was no excuse” to allow Grade A chances like those given up during that third frame to slip away. When I say giving those chances away is unacceptable, that mostly applies to him (Gibson). I say it unfair to leave him hanging like that without support – whether by staying out of penalty boxes and stopping giving power plays to Gibson directly, clearing away in front of him when needed, etcetera.” Terry stated, “Some chances he simply has no chance to convert and this action just seems unfair towards him”.
Kyle Connor gave Winnipeg its initial lead of the game at 16:20 of the opening period when he deflected DeMelo’s point shot and scored with it.
At 7:47 of the second period, Nate Schmidt extended their advantage to 2-1 when his shot deflected off two Ducks players’ skates and past Gibson to make it 2-0 on the power play.
DeMelo made it 3-0 at 4:59 of the third period with his first goal in 64 games since October 14 – it came at 4:19.
“For two periods,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin reported. “Scoring chances were close (9-6). Shots were fairly even. And in the third period… [the Jets] started looking more comfortable as I think they played smart to protect their lead 3-0 lead with limited lineup numbers available to come back and fight back from it until Toffoli’s faceoff goal just went, and they took control again!”
Tyler Toffoli Trade Impact
Mason Appleton extended their advantage to 6-0 at 19:54 by one-timing Adam Lowry’s spinning backhand pass and one-timing it.
“Our first two periods were impressive,” Bowness stated. “I thought our puck management was much improved compared to Wednesday when they faced off against Nashville). Coming through the neutral zone and making decisions at their blue line were so much quicker.” Bowness gave credit to Nashville as they are a fatigued team. We held on to the puck long enough for some plays while being smart with puck management through neutral zone decisions, which led to successful blueline decisions, which then accelerated play more swiftly than before.
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