Final
Jets eye rare victory in San Jose
Oct 11, 2014 - 2:45 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Winnipeg Jets take aim at another rare victory in San Jose on Saturday evening as they continue their season-opening road trip versus the Sharks.The Jets won two of the three meetings between these clubs a season ago, with a 4-3 victory on March 27 marking just the franchise's second win in nine all- time trips to San Jose (2-6-0 with a tie).
Winnipeg began its season with a 6-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, with Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little both scoring twice. Wheeler added an assist, while Mark Stuart and Dustin Byfuglien added goals.
Ondrej Pavelec stopped 26 shots in the win.
"I think we were aggressive in the first period," Wheeler said. "When you're just simple and you have the right intentions early in the season, you're going to find yourself getting good bounces."
One negative from the win was the loss of Evander Kane, the subject of offseason trade rumors, to a lower-body injury in the first period. He collided with teammate Mark Scheifele and was only able to skate in one more shift before exiting.
Head coach Paul Maurice said on Friday his club still did not know the extent of Kane's injury, but it appears unlikely the forward will be able to play tonight or on Sunday when the Jets wrap a three-game road trip in Los Angeles.
"I don't know, but my expectations are no," Maurice said of Kane playing. "I would not list him as day-to-day right now and we'll go from there."
Winnipeg would love the same kind of effort in Los Angeles as the Sharks were able to put forth against the Kings on Wednesday. Forced to watch L.A. raise its championship banner, San Jose then went out and blanked the defending champs 4-0.
It was a needed victory for San Jose, which blew a 3-0 series lead in the first round of the recent playoffs to Los Angeles.
Tommy Wingels scored twice, while Patrick Marleau and Matt Nieto added goals.
Picked to start over Alex Stalock, netminder Antti Niemi made 34 saves in his 28th career shutout.
"It's not necessarily faith, we all believe in (Niemi) or he wouldn't be here," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said. "He's come back and really focused on playing well."
Joe Thornton, stripped of his captaincy in the offseason, had two shots in 17 minutes in the win and Brent Burns added two assists.
The Sharks return to the road for five straight beginning on Tuesday.
- WINNIPEG: 0
SAN JOSE: 3
Final
Oct 12 12:37 AM - WINNIPEG: 0
SAN JOSE: 3
End of 2nd
Oct 11 11:43 PM - WINNIPEG: 0
SAN JOSE: 2
End of 1st
Oct 11 10:51 PM - WINNIPEG: 0
SAN JOSE: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Oct 11 10:17 PM
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