Ehlers finds usual form as Jets take down Canucks, extend win streak to five

WINNIPEG - No, Nikolaj Ehlers doesn’t actually have eyes in the back of his head.

It just seemed that way.

In what was his second game back after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia, the dynamic Winnipeg Jets winger was up to his old tricks and looking like himself.

Zigging and zagging.

Demonstrating his zone entry-expertise and explosive stride.

Finding a space in the net when there appeared to be none, chasing Collin Delia in the process.

And the capper, his no-look backhand pass to Kyle Connor his first of three goals in what turned into a 7-4 victory for the Jets over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon.

While Friday’s return to the lineup after a 36-game absence featured plenty of signs of rust to shake off, Ehlers was much more up to speed in this one, taking 22 shifts for 15:10 of ice time as he chipped in a goal and two helpers in what was just his fourth game of the campaign.

“Yeah, it definitely did. Last game was definitely a tough one. I think everybody could see that. So I did everything I could to make my legs and my body feel better for this game today,” said Ehlers, whose line with Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois combined for four goals and 10 points, all of which came at even strength. “We played well (as a line). There’s always going to be things we can improve on. But we used our speed to find each other, to get on their D and get some loose pucks. And that worked out for us. It’s something that we’re going to continue doing.”

No line on either team was more noticeable in this game.

Connor picked up his second hat trick of the season (the other came on Nov. 17 against the Anaheim Ducks) and the fourth of his career.

Connor’s first goal was vintage Ehlers, as he got the puck, picked up speed through the neutral zone, executed a perfect give and go with Dubois on the zone entry and then found the sniper all alone in front of the net.

“I wouldn’t say that I saw him, but I knew where he was going to be,” said Ehlers. “And I just tried to throw it in his area, because I knew he’d be coming down off that right side because they were looking at me and it would be open.

“We haven’t played much together, but we have played together. Even when you don’t play together you see what the other lines do. It’s those reads you kind of look for and remember.”

Connor was more impressed with the play than Ehlers seemed to be with himself.

“It’s hockey awareness, offensive awareness to realize that a lot of D are just expecting him to chip that puck in. He takes the puck off the wall, has their whole D sag back, goes to the middle and gets the puck from (Dubois). I think it’s that type of skill set that separates him, makes him such a good player,” said Connor, who hit the 20-goal mark for the sixth consecutive season and now has 49 points in 40 games. “Obviously a lot of potential, with that line. We also think the same way in a lot of senses, coming into the offensive zone. That’s what gives us the ability to read off of each other. A lot of cross-and-drops, finding the weak side. It’s just a lot of fun right now and hopefully we just continue to grow.

“This is Nik’s second game. This is Nik’s second game back and he’s only going to get better, our chemistry is only getting better, and hopefully the sky’s the limit. He kept it simple and didn’t second-guess anything. He’s getting the puck, he’s skating, he knows what he’s doing with the puck and he’s putting it into the net, or he’s making a play. A lot of times, you see him holding onto the puck in the zone. That goal he scored, he comes around the net, holds onto the puck, just buys the extra time for himself. He was a lot stronger with his reads and I’m sure his legs felt a lot better too.”

Ehlers preferred to heap praise toward Dubois, who chipped in four helpers and is up to 19 goals and 47 points in 40 games this season.

“He’s been unbelievable. He’s a big body that can skate incredibly fast,” said Ehlers. “And the way he protects the puck and opens up space for his linemates, it’s pretty impressive. We knew that he had that in him. He showed it last year as well. But this year he’s taken a huge step and that’s exciting for us.”

There were chunks of the game that Jets head coach Rick Bowness liked a great deal and others that had him shaking his head and crossing his arms in despair on the bench.

Watching a pair of two-goal cushions (2-0 and 4-2) evaporate into thin air will do that.

“You saw two different teams out there. You saw the team that we wanted to be in the first 11 minutes of the first period,” said Bowness. “That’s how we want to play - and then we stopped playing that way for nine minutes and all of a sudden, they’re back in the game. We made it too easy for them. When you get into the playoffs, you can’t play the way we did.

“It’s as simple as that. You can’t. We’ve got to get into the playoffs and we’ve got to learn before we get there that if you get a 2-0 lead, you keep playing the right way. We started making poor percentage plays and when you start doing that against a highly skilled team like Vancouver, they’re going to make you pay and they’re going to make you look bad, which they did at times. To me, that’s self-inflicted and those are things that we’ve shown enough signs that we’ve corrected them and then all of a sudden, they come right back in and now we’ve got to address it again and fix it for the road trip.”

The Jets have won a season-high five consecutive games to improve to 26-13-1 on the season and they’ll open a three-game road trip on Tuesday night against Andrew Copp and the Detroit Red Wings.

Ultimately, the Jets got the go-ahead goal - and eventual game-winner from fourth-liner Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who beat Spencer Martin from distance with a high wrister at 18:17 of the second period.

Jonsson-Fjallby used his speed to set up Dylan DeMelo for a shorthanded goal in the third period before Ehlers rounded out the scoring by finding Connor alone in the slot.

The Jets also got five points from the blue line, another example of getting the complementary scoring required to augment the contributions of the big guns.

And while there were a couple of shaky moments, backup goalie David Rittich, who was making his first start since Dec. 23 against the Washington Capitals, finished with 34 saves and improved to 6-4 with a 2.75 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in what was his 10th start in 40 games

As the Jets get set to hit the midway point of the season, Rittich is still on track to be in the neighbourhood of 20 starts, which is important as the club looks to strike the balance of keeping Connor Hellebuyck sharp but also keeping him fresh for the stretch run and beyond.