NHL scores 2017: The Coyotes were the cure for the slumping Jets

Ondrej Pavelec needed a game like Wednesday night. Maybe not the first three minutes of it, but definitely the remaining 57.

In fact, all of Winnipeg needed to see their team beat up on someone for a change. With the Jets goaltenders leaking goals left and right, Pavelec was brought up from the AHL to stop the bleeding. Yes Pavelec, the goaltender sent down by Winnipeg before the season because he couldn’t stop the puck, was the Jets’ last resort.

And what do you know? It worked! Mostly because their opponent was the NHL’s second-worst team, but partly because Pavelec held the line when he was needed the most, saving 29 in the effort. It didn’t start out that way either, when Pavelec let in the first shot he faced in net that gave Arizona a 1-0 lead three minutes in.

Yet, Pavelec settled down in net and produced some quality saves, including this stick stop that kept the Coyotes from cutting into the Jets’ insurmountable lead.

Of course, the Jets know what they’re getting with Pavelec. He too is an unstable time bomb of a goaltender, with a save percentage of an AHL goaltender. Even still, the change sparked the Jets to a 6-3 win and have, for now, halted the goal bleeding.

Playing the Coyotes sure didn’t do the Jets any harm either.

Jets 6, Coyotes 3
Penguins 4, Canadiens 1
Red Wings 6, Bruins 5 (SO)
Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (OT)
Sharks 3, Kings 2

1. NBCSN has had their fill of high-scoring hockey games

Turning into NBCSN’s Wednesday night rivalry game, you’d likely see a familiar sight. Goals were aplenty in the second period of the Bruins vs. Red Wings game and 10 total were scored in regulation. It wasn’t as riveting as the Penguins and Capitals on Monday nor was it was defensively irresponsible as the Rangers and Stars, but the Bruins and Red Wings put on a show again on national TV.

At one point, the Bruins were leading 4-1. The Red Wings came back to tie it 5-5 late in the third before taking the game in the shootout. Now Bruins fans are fearing for the life of head coach Claude Julien. Wonder how he feels about all of this?

2. Connor McDavid reached the 100-point mark

It was only a matter of time for Connor McDavid to hit the 100-point benchmark. A pair of assists and the game winning goal in the Oilers’ 4-3 win over the Panthers pushed him over the mark in 92 games.

That puts him in pretty high company as McDavid becomes the fourth fastest active NHL player to reach 100 points.

McDavid also has Jagr beat by 26 games. One has to wonder what McDavid would have put up had he not been injured last season.

3. The Canadiens were lifeless and the Penguins opportunistic

Considering Montreal is the top team in the Atlantic by a far margin, clocking out in a game isn’t all that much of a cause for panic. Yet, the Canadiens were quite uninspired on Wednesday, getting just 20 shots on Matt Murray in a 4-1 loss.

Meanwhile, the Penguins depth had a field day while their bigger scorers took the back seat. Four different players scored for Pittsburgh, with only one of their goals coming from a top-six forward. Quite a different tone than the Penguins’ last game.

McDavid won the game for the Oilers with seconds left in overtime, but the goal wasn’t without controversy as James Reimer had the puck in his glove. The ruling was it crossed the line even though it was in the glove of Reimer.