Stanley Cup contender better than two-buck hot dog

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1 Winnipeg Free Press Stanley Cup contender better than two-buck hot dog By: Paul Wiecek I was thinking about two-dollar hot dogs Tuesday evening as I made my way through blizzardforce winds, along with 15,000-plus other Winnipeggers, to Bell MTS Place, where the Winnipeg Jets began an unusually long 10-game homestand with a tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning. If you missed the news last week, the NFL s Atlanta Falcons announced that their concession revenue soared this past season despite the fact they slashed prices during the team s inaugural season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where hot dogs, bottomless Coke products, popcorn, bottled water and pretzels all cost just two bucks at Falcons games this year. Arthur Blank, the billionaire owner of the Falcons, told the New York Times that the bargainbasement concession prices were just his way of thanking Falcons fans for their unwavering loyalty and support over the years. "I understand bringing kids to sporting events and saving up for tickets, and when you get inside you have to buy them food, and a hot dog that is $2 outside is suddenly $7 inside, and being frustrated by it," Blank told the New York Times. "You find ways to tell fans beyond words that you really care about their interests." That kind of talk will be greeted as heresy by Blank s fellow billionaire sports team owners, who have long said all the right things about their respective fan bases Our fans are the best. No, really, I mean it." while simultaneously treating them as cash machines, gouging them for every last dime. Now, you could argue, I suppose, that it s easy to be generous when you re the guy who cofounded Home Depot and you re worth, according to Forbes magazine, US$4.3 billion. Blank could give away hot dogs to Falcons fans for the next decade and it wouldn t make a dent in his personal fortune. But then so, too, could Jets co-owner David Thomson and the Jets charge a princely ten bucks for their signature Jumbo Jets Dog at Bell MTS Place. Thomson is worth roughly six times what Blank is worth, presiding over a family fortune estimated at $27.8 billion, which Forbes says makes him the 24th richest man in the world and the richest in Canada, by a mile. And it just so happens, by serendipitous coincidence, that on a day Jets fans were braving unusually bitter weather even by Winnipeg s lowly January standard, Thomson was getting even richer back in Toronto from Tuesday s news that the Blackstone Group is in talks to buy 55 per cent of the financial division of Thomson Reuters, at a valuation of about $20 billion.

2 David Thomson owns roughly 400 million shares in Thomson Reuters, making it his family s biggest single holding. News of the Blackstone deal sent those shares soaring on Tuesday, up $3.78, or 7.1 per cent. Do the math and David Thomson s family fortune swelled by $1.5 billion during the course of business on Tuesday. That s a pretty good day at the office and it would buy a whole lot of discounted hot dogs for Jets fans on a bitter January night. But don t hold your breath. Thomson s late billionaire father, Ken Thomson who once owned this grand newspaper was an infamous miser who (true story) was still buying day-old bread to save a few cents long after he had amassed enough money to buy a bread company of his own. The kid, from all accounts, is very much his father s tight-fisted son. And so if you re a Jets fan waiting for your two-dollar hot dog just because Thomson hit the jackpot Tuesday, you re going to go hungry. And yet, in another way, Thomson, local partner Mark Chipman and the rest of the True North ownership are paying back Jets fans for their suffering and loyalty in a more meaningful way this season: on the ice, instead of at the concession stand. Your two-dollar hot dog is a hockey team that is the envy of the entire country right now. By any measure, this is the Jets team we ve all been waiting for since that heady day in the spring of 2011 that Chipman strode to the podium and announced the NHL was back in River City. They re young, talented and infinitely likeable. They score goals by the bucket full. They ve got a solid defensive corps with a grit to them that seems to thrive on adversity. They re getting allstar goaltending. They ve got a seemingly infinite amount of depth, which has allowed them to not only survive but thrive through a recent spate of injuries. They ve got a captain making a long-shot bid for a Hart Trophy, with 35 points in his last 22 games. And, more than halfway through this NHL season, they ve got the third-best record in the NHL and have rendered the once unthinkable a Stanley Cup parade down Portage Avenue into the actually foreseeable. What would that look like? Well, it would probably look a whole lot like it did at Bell MTS Place Tuesday night, only drunker. In what can only be described as a measuring-stick game, the Jets went head-to-head with a Lightning team that has been the best team in hockey all season. Winnipeg not only didn t look out of place, they were the better team by a significant measure for most of the night. The Jets outshot the Lightning 37-24, they outscored the Lightning 3-1 and, if these two teams should meet again in June, they served a message to the Lightning: don t be surprised if the road to the Stanley Cup goes through Winnipeg this year. You ve got to give Thomson, Chipman and the rest of True North a lot of credit for the success we re now seeing on the ice. Through a combination of shrewd management and a bit of good

3 old-fashioned luck, a team that has never won a playoff game is suddenly a bona fide Stanley Cup contender. When they ve spent, it s been wisely. Mark Scheifele for eight years at US$6.125 million a season is a steal. Ditto Nikolaj Ehlers for seven years at US$6 million per season. And there s probably more spending to come. Whether this team will be a major player at next month s trading deadline seems doubtful, but the Jets have about US$6 million in salary cap space to add, say, a playoff veteran and/or some left side defensive depth if they choose. Chipman is on the public record as saying the franchise could spend to the cap limit when the right time comes. You have to wonder if that time is now. Two-dollar hot dogs at Bell MTS Place? Sure, that d be nice. But a Stanley Cup would be nicer. And probably more likely. Hutch helps Jets to 3-1 win over Lightning By: Mike McIntyre Michael Hutchinson looked like a player who wanted to savour every moment in his surprising return to the big stage and ensure there will be another one. Banished to the minors at the start of the season with question marks swirling about if or when he'd get another shot at the NHL level, Hutchinson took to the ice at Bell MTS Place Tuesday night in what he hopes will be the start of a redemption story. And what a compelling first chapter he wrote. The 27-year-old capped off a long day of travel even missing the morning skate as he made his way from Utica, N.Y., where he played in the AHL all-star game Monday by stopping 23 shots in his 100th career NHL game as the Winnipeg Jets beat the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 to kick off a 10-game homestand. "You always have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder with the way the season s been going. But when you re out there you don t think about it at all. If you re a little bit pissed off or anything, you can t try and stop the puck harder. It s just one of those things where you have to relax and react to it. I just felt relaxed out there," Hutchinson said following the big win. "Last year I was pretty disappointed I didn t get that 100th game. You know, starting the year off with the (Manitoba) Moose you re wondering if you re going to end up getting it this year. To get to that milestone is huge and definitely one I will look back on and really cherish." Winnipeg improves to and remains on top of the Central Division. Tampa Bay falls to

4 "It just means that we can play with the best. We ve been confident in that, especially at home," said Jets captain Blake Wheeler, who had two assists. "We came into this game, it s a little bit tough because we re both coming out of a little bit of a break. But we still view it as a measuring stick to see where we re at. It just shows, if we play that game, we give ourselves a chance to win." With No. 1 goalie Connor Hellebuyck given an extra few days of rest and No. 2 goalie Steve Mason sidelined indefinitely with his second concussion of the season, opportunity came knocking for Hutchinson, playing in front of a team missing top centre Mark Scheifele and toppairing defenceman Jacob Trouba due to injuries. But rather than stay at home to prepare for his first NHL start of the season and perhaps the biggest of his career considering he heads into free agency this summer Hutchinson opted for a much busier schedule that had many locals fans and pundits questioning the logic of putting him between the pipes. After returning early Friday from a California road trip with the Jets, Hutchinson was reassigned to the Moose and joined up the team on a road trip in Quebec. He played Saturday night in Laval, making 34 saves in a 5-2 victory over the Rocket, then went to Utica for Sunday's skills competition and Monday's game. He caught an early morning commercial flight Tuesday and arrived in Winnipeg just before noon. "It wasn t bad. It was a 5:30 wake-up call for a 7 a.m. flight. Flew to Chicago, then flew to here, got in at 11:45. So I got in at a good time. Had enough time to get a good meal in, get a good stretch, warm-up. My legs felt completely fine. Mentally I felt rested. I got a good sleep on the plane, so it didn t really affect my game at all," Hutchinson said. He admitted there was some thought about pulling out of the AHL all-star game once he knew he'd be playing against the Lightning. But he ultimately decided to forge ahead. "It s my eighth year of pro hockey and I ve never played in an all-star game before. They don t happen every year. So who knows, I might never get another chance to play in one. So I felt it was good opportunity where I could make it and do both. I felt I could have success in both games," Hutchinson said. Fortunately his team came out with one of their best all-around efforts of the season. Sure, there were some nervous moments early in the game, including a couple of goalmouth scrambles where the puck just stayed out of the net. Tampa Bay also rang a couple shots off the post, perhaps showing luck would be on his side. The Lightning opened the scoring in the final minute of the opening frame, as Matthew Peca got in behind the defence and roofed a shot over Hutchinson. But the Jets turned it on and locked it down starting in the second period. With Braydon Coburn in the box for tripping, Chris Kunitz fired a puck into the crowd just 12 seconds into the ensuing penalty kill. That gave the Jets an extended five-on-three, and they wasted no time. Wheeler fed a perfect cross-ice pass to Patrik Laine who made no mistake, connecting for his 23rd goal of the season. It's also his 12th power-play tally, which ties him for the most in the NHL.

5 "It s huge. You get that and it kind of changes the complexion of the game. Our power play has done a pretty good job all year of at least creating chances and creating momentum for our team. You get a five-on-three, you feel like you should score every time," said Wheeler. Kyle Connor made it 2-1 moments later, burying a rebound past Tampa Bay goalie Louis Domingue for his 16th goal and the game-winner. Bryan Little added some insurance with just over five minutes left in the third, sweeping in a rebound for his 11th of the season. Tampa Bay hit another post late in the game but couldn't do any more damage against Hutchinson. The Lightning finished 0-for-4 on the power play. "We didn t give up any odd-man rushes. Last year that was one of the things where we really tried to generate a ton of offence and we were able to do that, but on the flip side of that we had some pucks last year that seemed to just bounce over our sticks and come back the other way on odd-man rushes," said Hutchinson. "I think Tampa Bay is one of the best teams in transition and generating odd-man rushes and I don t think we gave up any. So that s a real big step the team has taken. Defensively they re blocking a ton of shots, the PK is great, it makes goalies' reads a lot easier. So (Tuesday) was a pretty easy night for me." Now the question is when his next chance may come. Hutchinson was asked if he's given the organization plenty to ponder with his performance. "Who knows. We ll see. You never know what s going on in their heads. But I m just here to show up every day and do my job and we ll see what happens," he said. Winnipeg continues the homestand Thursday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. Buff, Myers getting more playing time By: Mike McIntyre ALL for one and one for all. That s the motto the Winnipeg Jets seem to be adopting following the loss of top-pairing defenceman Jacob Trouba, who is expected to miss up to two months with a serious ankle injury. "One thing, as we found out this year, one guy doesn t really matter. We gotta continue to go out there and work together," veteran blue liner Dustin Byfuglien said prior to Tuesday s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. His comment wasn t meant as a slight against Trouba, but rather a sign of how the Jets have weathered other losses this year, including being without No. 1 centre Mark Scheifele since late December. Winnipeg was without Scheifele heading into last night s action. "It s never easy to lose a teammate. It doesn t matter what injury or who it is. It s one of those things," said Byfuglien, who along with partner Toby Enstrom is expected to take on a bigger

6 role with Trouba sidelined. Same goes for Tyler Myers, who slides into the top pairing with Josh Morrissey. Ben Chiarot and rookie Tucker Poolman are the third pairing, with Dmitry Kulikov currently sidelined with injury. Kulikov could be ready to return Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights after missing two games. "Our D corp is pretty solid, and the guys we got below can hopefully step in and pick up," said Byfuglien. "It s one of those things we have to continue working as a team and go out there and play." Byfuglien was part of the team that made the playoffs despite being hit with a rash of injuries that required them to use 13 different defenceman during the season. "We re only losing one guy, two guys. I think at that time we had all six of them down," Byfuglien said of similarities between this season and that one. Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday he knows players like Byfuglien and Myers will welcome the increased minutes that come with losing Trouba. "They ll run about 25, which is a number they both really like, so they re very pleased with that," said Maurice. "It s the area of our team we probably have the most depth, the right D position. So nothing changes, they re gonna get matched in a lot of ways the same way they have. Those four defencemen will play against the other team s best." Byfuglien, who publicly complained earlier this season when he was limited to under 18 minutes in a game, said he s ready "to take it and go with it" as Winnipeg tries to stay above the playoff line in the ultra-competitive Central Division. "You gotta come to the rink every day willing to work, knowing that teams are trying to get in or trying to stay on top," said Byfuglien of entering the post all-star game stretch of the season. "The pace and the grind pick up a little bit harder, but for the most part it s the game of hockey and we just gotta come out ready to work." Winnipeg Sun Hutchinson makes 23 saves in triumphant return to Jets By Ken Wiebe Since being demoted to the minors during training camp, Hutchinson has been one of the best goalies in the American Hockey League this season, posting impressive numbers for the Manitoba Moose. But there was plenty of debate about whether it was a wise decision for Hutchinson to participate in the AHL All-Star Classic in Utica, New York on Sunday and Monday and then rush home on the morning of the game to play for the Jets for the first time in roughly 10 months.

7 In the end, it was much ado about nothing, as Hutchinson showed no signs of fatigue and made 23 saves as the Jets earned a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at Bell MTS Place. It was the 100th NHL game for Hutchinson, who said he never doubted the opportunity would come even after being sent back to the minors and being bypassed for Eric Comrie in late November after Steve Mason suffered his first of two concussions. You always have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder with the way the season has been going. But when you re out there you don t think about it at all. If you re a little bit pissed off or anything you can t try and stop the puck harder. It s just one of those things where you have to relax and react to it, said Hutchinson, who arrived back in Winnipeg just before noon after starting his day with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call. It s been about 10 months since my last NHL start or something like that. At the start of the game there was definitely some nerves there, especially going from three-on-three last night to five-on-five. The ice just seemed really crowded out there. Just try to battle through traffic in the first period, you have a little bit of nerves, your heart stops a couple times. I felt better as the game went on and by the third period I felt just like I hadn t left the NHL. The Jets, who improved to on the season, continue a 10-game homestand on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights. During a scrum that lasted nearly six minutes, Hutchinson explained why it was important for him to go to upstate New York instead of blowing off the all-star game to prepare for this start. It s my eighth year of pro hockey and I ve never played in an all-star game before, Hutchinson said. They don t happen every year. So who knows, I might never get another chance to play in one. So I felt it was a good opportunity where I could make it and do both. I felt I could have success in both games. Hutchinson wasn t overworked in the contest, but he provided the type of effort the Jets look for from a backup goalie. Most importantly for Hutchinson, he showed his AHL success can translate to the NHL game especially with Mason on the shelf indefinitely. Big picture, it s very, very important. Any team (that) loses a goaltender, that s a real problem for you, said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. To have the kind of depth that we have, that is really key. In the backup goaltending world, you have to constantly re-establish yourself. You aren t given that three or four game or, even at times, longer run with your No. 1 guy that if he s not on his game he still gets reps, gets put back in the net. The backup role is very unforgiving so you need to go in and have success. (Hutchinson) was here when we got real young for a couple years and it was tough standing in between the pipes certain nights and his numbers reflected that. Now, he got to play behind a pretty good team tonight, as well, and against a good team and he played well. The Jets gave up a goal to Matthew Peca during the final minute of the first period, but pulled even during a lengthy five-on-three power play early in the second. After a no-look cross-ice pass from Jets captain Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine unloaded a onetimer for his team-leading 23rd goal of the season.

8 It s huge. You get that and it kind of changes the complexion of the game, said Wheeler, who had two primary assists to give him 14 goals and 56 points in 51 games this season. Our power play has done a pretty good job all year of at least creating chances and creating momentum for our team. You get a five-on-three, you feel like you should score every time. It was good to get it quick and we still had a lot of power play left on the clock. It would have been nice to get another one. Getting the one on the five-on-three was a big moment in the game. For Laine, it was his 12th goal with the man-advantage, which ties him with Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Evgeni Malkin. Kyle Connor (with the game-winner) and Bryan Little had the other goals for the Jets, who stifled the potent Lightning attack. It s a testament to all of the guys in the room, Connor said. With the depth on our team, everybody has bought in this year and it s really showing. Can Jets follow Lightning model for dealing with an injury on back end? Stamkos encourages Scheifele Top goalies rest How will Jets handle home cooking? By Ken Wiebe Jon Cooper has a pretty good idea of what Paul Maurice is about to go through. For the past three weeks, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been playing without top blue-liner Victor Hedman, who is a Norris Trophy candidate. On Tuesday, the Lightning faced the Winnipeg Jets, who started an extended stretch of time without Jacob Trouba who is expected to be out six-to-eight weeks with an ankle injury he sustained in the latter stages of overtime in a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in the final game before the All-star break. Hedman returned to the Lightning lineup on Tuesday after missing the previous five games with a knee injury, but Cooper can relate to the challenges presented to the Jets during Trouba s absence. It s tough because they play everywhere, Cooper said following the morning skate. Hedman, for us, is first over the boards, first over the boards for the power play. The big thing is usually he s playing against the top lines from the other teams, so somebody has got to step up to do that. It s one thing when you lose a forward, because there are 11 other guys who can step in there and kind of mask that. When you start losing defencemen, just with the amount of minutes that they play, it s tough. (Hedman) has been a guy who has meant to us, just like Trouba for the Jets. These guys play such prominent roles, they re tough to replace and you just collectively

9 have to play better (defence). We were fortunate to get through some of these games without him, but we re definitely a better team with him. There s never a good time to lose a top-pairing defenceman, but Maurice believes the depth on the right side of the blue line should help his team weather the proverbial storm. In the short term, Maurice figured the minutes for both Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien would be on the rise, bumped into the 25-minute range. Byfuglien s ready for whatever comes his way. I guess my minutes might go up a little bit more. That s hockey. I m ready to take it and go with it, said Byfuglien. As we ve found out this year, one guy doesn t really matter. We ve got to continue to go out there and work together. Words of encouragement After watching Jets centre Mark Scheifele suffer a suspected shoulder injury in a game against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 27, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos was quick to reach out. Stamkos, who trains with Scheifele during the summer, knows a thing or two about having to battle back from injury. I sent (Scheifele) a text and told him that it sucks obviously, when you re going through it, especially when you re having as great a year as he was having but the only thing you can do now is continue to work hard which he is doing, for sure, said Stamkos. When you get back, just get back to being that elite player because of the work that you ve put in. There s no concern over him. You don t want to see him get hurt, you want him to get healthy and you hope for the best. Day of rest for No. 1 goalies Both the Jets and Lightning decided to give their top netminders the evening off on Tuesday, since both Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy participated in the NHL All-star weekend in Tampa and have been workhorses for their respective clubs. There was plenty of debate about the Jets going with Michael Hutchinson, who suited up for the Manitoba Moose on Saturday afternoon and then participated in the AHL All-Star Classic in Utica, New York on Sunday and Monday before flying home on game day. Maurice was asked about the decision and made it clear this was about getting some rest for Hellebuyck, who has appeared in 41 of the first 51 games for the Jets. This is about Connor Hellebuyck. About 11,000 miles last month (of travel), played four-in-six coming out of the break. Went from off to here to Calgary and back to here, to the West Coast, to the East Coast, and back to here. He gets the day off, said Maurice, who was then asked if he had to convince Hellebuyck to take the breather. He ll play every game. They all will. Like I said, 11,000 miles is enough. Ten time zone changes, four-out-of-six. Been to an All-Star game and home. He s our No. 1 guy, we ll take care of him a little bit. With Lightning backup Peter Budaj out with an injury, Louis Domingue got the call. No dog days for Jets

10 Although the Jets have been among the best teams in the NHL when it comes to their home record, a 10-game homestand probably isn t ideal. But when pressed about some of the challenges of being at home for such an extended period of time, Maurice didn t sound concerned. As a coach, going into the game, I don t feel a whole lot different home or the road, said Maurice. We like it here. What s the best part of it? We don t have to change time zones or get on an airplane. There s going to be so much emotion this month in all of these games. In the Western Conference and clearly the Central Division, you re checking the scores after every night because you can move a lot of teams around. So there will be lots of energy. The dog days of the NHL aren t going to hit the Winnipeg Jets or probably anybody in the Central (Division) because it s a full-on sprint now. Canadian Press Michael Hutchinson Earns Win in Net as Jets Beat NHL-Best Lightning By Judy Owen, The Canadian Press WINNIPEG Michael Hutchinson didn t think it was a huge deal that he arrived in Winnipeg seven hours before making a rare appearance in net for the Jets. Hutchinson made 23 saves in his first NHL start of the season to help the Jets defeat the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday. Both teams let their starting goaltenders ranked first and second in the NHL for wins have a night off after they took part in last weekend s all-star festivities in Tampa Bay. Hutchinson was replacing Connor Hellebuyck after his own all-star appearance, but in the AHL marquee game Monday in Utica, N.Y. He said he took a 7 a.m. flight through Chicago, slept on the plane and got into Winnipeg just before Noon. It s my eighth year of pro hockey and I ve never played in an all-star game before, Hutchinson said after notching his 100th NHL game. They don t happen every year. So who knows, I might never get another chance to play in one. So I felt it was a good opportunity where I could make it and do both. I felt I could have success in both games. Hutchinson had been sent to the Manitoba Moose after the Jets training camp and admitted after his recent recall that he was upset with the move. You always have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder with the way the season s been going, but when you re out there you don t think about it at all, he said after the game. Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 23rd goal of the season for the Jets ( ). Kyle Connor and Bryan Little also scored and Blake Wheeler supplied a pair of assists.

11 Rookie forward Matthew Peca scored for Tampa Bay ( ), which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Louis Domingue was playing his 10th game of the season in place of league-leading goalie Andrei Vasilevsky and stopped 34 shots. The game marked the first of 10 straight home games for the Jets, who have now won seven straight at Bell MTS Place (18-3-1). The Lightning had a welcome addition to the roster with defenceman Victor Hedman back for his first game since injuring a knee on Jan. 11. He was expected to miss three to six weeks and had sat out five games. Hedman, who played 25 minutes, said that he felt good, although expected better. His teammates were happy to see him back at the lower end of the initial prognosis. He s a guy you can t replace, forward Tyler Johnson said. We thought it was going to be a lot worse, and then you see him come back at three weeks. He s a guy that works extremely hard, he rehabs hard. The Jets were starting a stretch without defenceman Jacob Trouba, who s out six to eight weeks with an ankle injury. Playing his fourth NHL game this season, Peca took a slick pass from Brayden Point and put a shot past Hutchinson with 29 seconds left in the first period. Peca had been invited to the AHL all-star game, but decided not to go. Winnipeg got a two-man advantage early in the second and Laine scored 35 seconds later at 3:30 to even it up 1-1. It was his 12th power-play goal of the season. The Jets were 1 for 4 on the power play and the Lightning 0 for 4. Connor scored his 16th when he jammed the puck in during a scramble in front of the net at 8:35 of the second. Little s goal off a rebound with 5:25 left in the third had the crowd roaring. Jets coach Paul Maurice wasn t making any predictions about Hutchinson s role down the road, saying his team s depth in the crease is key. The backup role is very unforgiving so you need to go in and have success, he said. (Hutchinson) was here when we got real young for a couple years and it was tough standing in between the pipes certain nights and his numbers reflected that. Now, he got to play behind a pretty good team tonight, as well, and against a good team and he played well. The Jets hosts Vegas on Thursday and the Lightning travel to Calgary for a game the same day. NHL.com

12 Hutchinson wins season debut for Jets against Lightning Makes 23 saves to end Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak by Scott Billeck / NHL.com Correspondent WINNIPEG -- Michael Hutchinson made 23 saves in his season debut to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Bell MTS Place on Tuesday. Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Bryan Little scored for the Jets ( ). Winnipeg is the third team to reach 30 wins after the Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights. Hutchinson played in the AHL All-Star Classic on Monday. He caught a flight out of Utica, New York, at 5:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday and got into Winnipeg just before noon CT. "It's been about 10 months since my last NHL start, or something like that," said Hutchinson, who last played on April 4, 2017, in a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues. "At the start of the game there was definitely some nerves there, especially going from 3-on-3 last night to 5-on-5. The ice just seemed really crowded out there. Just tried to battle through traffic in the first period, you have a little bit of nerves, your heart stops a couple times. I felt better as the game went on, and by the third period I felt just like I hadn't left the NHL." Matthew Peca scored for the Lightning ( ), whose three-game winning streak ended. Louis Domingue made 34 saves. Tampa Bay was 0-for-4 on the power play. "It was probably a little indicative of how our whole game was going," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "When we're playing the team 5-on-5 game, usually the power play follows suit. But we weren't on it. And then when the power play went out, it probably sucked the life out of us a little bit." Peca scored his first goal of the season with 29 seconds left in the first period for a 1-0 lead. Brayden Point found Peca alone in front after Peca got behind Winnipeg's defense, and he scored on a deke high on Hutchinson. Laine tied the game 1-1 with his 23rd goal -- 12th on the power play -- at 3:30 of the second period. The Jets took the lead at 8:35. Dominge made a save on Blake Wheeler's shot, but Connor was able to get two shots, with the second going in for a 2-1 lead. "I was trying to get good space and try to get open there," Connor said. "[Wheeler] took a shot to the net and it kind of came right to me. I took a whack at it, and then another one, and it went in." Little made it 3-1 at 14:35 of the third period, converting on a rebound in front after Mathieu Perreault's shot was saved by Domingue. Lightning forward Victor Hedman returned after missing five games with a lower-body injury.

13 "It was OK. I expect better but I felt good," Hedman said. "It was tough tonight. We wanted to win this game and I think we played pretty good in the first, and then we kind of folded a little bit." Goal of the game Connor's goal at 8:35 of the second period. Save of the game Hutchinson's glove save on Tyler Johnson 17 seconds into the third period. Highlight of the game Laine's power-play goal at 3:30 of the second period. They said it "He's a guy you can't replace. We're very fortunate that we got that three- to six-week criteria at the beginning [after Hedman's injury]. We thought it was going to be a lot worse, and then you see him come back at three weeks. He's a guy that works extremely hard, he rehabs hard. We're very happy to have him on our team." -- Lightning forward Tyler Johnson "It's won us hockey games, it's scored us goals, but one of the great side benefits of it is when you have offensive players, there's a pressure. If your power play is not going, then they've got to find those numbers 5-on-5 and you'll find they cheat a little more. That's not a fair word with our group because I don't think we have a whole lot of pressures there for them to put numbers up, and if your power play is not going, it builds frustration in your room. So we don't have that now. We have a lot of confidence in it." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice, whose team went 1-for-4 on the power play Need to know Point has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past eight games. Peca's two NHL goals have come against the Jets. Perreault has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past nine games. Jets forward Adam Lowry returned after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. The Jets have won seven straight home games and 14 of their past 15. What's next Lightning: At the Calgary Flames on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SN360, SUN, NHL.TV) Jets: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV) Global Winnipeg Michael Hutchinson backstops Winnipeg Jets to win over league leading Lightning By Russ Hobson Sports Anchor/Reporter Global News WINNIPEG Michael Hutchinson won his first NHL start of the season as the Winnipeg Jets began the third longest homestand in NHL history with a victory over the league s top team.

14 Starting a nearly month long, 10 game homestand, the Jets defeated the NHL leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday at Bell MTS Place. It just means we can play with the best. Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. I think we ve been confident in that, especially at home. We have approached every single day with the mindset to try and get better. Came into this game, it s a little bit tough because we re both coming off a little bit of a break, but we still view it as a measuring stick to see where we re at. After travelling from Utica, NY earlier in the day where he was at the AHL All-Star game, Hutchinson stopped 23 of 24 shots in his first NHL start since April 4, I think it s been 10 months since my last NHL start or something like that. Hutchinson said. You have a little bit of nerves and your heart stops a couple times, but I felt better as the game went on, and by the third period I felt just like I never left the NHL. The Jets have now won seven straight games on home ice dating all the way back to December 14. Wheeler contributed a pair of assists while Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Bryan Little each had one goal in the victory. I thought our performance was good. head coach Paul Maurice said. About five minutes there at the end of the first where we were spending a lot of time in our own end, but other than that for the first game back after the break, it was good, well thought about. I didn t think we made a lot of foolish plays. A pretty direct, a pretty simple game. After a mostly uneventful first period, Brayden Point found a wide open Matthew Peca in front of the net and he roofed the puck on Hutchinson with just 29 seconds left in the period. It was Peca s first goal of the season and just the second NHL goal of his career. Jake Dotchin had the other assist and the Lightning had a one goal lead after 20 minutes of play. The shots were 10-9 in the Jets favour in the opening period. The Lightning were assessed back to back penalties in just a 12 second span early in the middle frame. On the ensuing 5-on-3 man advantage Wheeler spotted Laine in his usual spot at the face-off dot and he buried the one-timer for the powerplay goal. His 23rd goal of the season was also assisted by Dustin Byfuglien. The Jets took their first lead nearing the midway point of the period. Wheeler threw a shot towards the net. Louis Domingue made the original save but on his second attempt, Connor whacked in the loose puck. Tyler Myers also had an assist on Connor s 16th goal of the campaign and the Jets had a 2-1 lead. The Jets added an insurance marker with a little over five minutes remaining in the third period. Little deposited the rebound beind Domingue for his 11th of the campaign. Mathieu Perreault and Nikolaj Ehlers had the assists and the Jets held on for the two goal victory. Jacob Trouba sat out his first game since it was revealed he ll miss the next six to eight weeks with a lower body injury. Shawn Matthias, Steve Mason and Dmitry Kulikov also missed the game with injuries. Marko Dano was a healthy scratch.

15 The Jets current 10 game homestand is just two games shy of the longest in NHL history. The Jets homestand continues on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights at Bell MTS Place. Winnipeg Jets security staffer replaces goalie during NHL practice By Mitch Rosset Reporter/Anchor Global News WINNIPEG As a member of the Winnipeg Jets security staff, Glen Lafrenais spends a lot of time around the team but he never imagined one day he would be part of it. There were a couple chuckles when I came through the door, the Venue and Event Security Manager at True North Sports + Entertainment said. They were giving me the gears a bit. On Monday, Lafrenais replaced Connor Hellebuyck in net during practice after the Jets decided to give the all-star goalie a day off. They needed a quick guy to be a human shooter tutor, Lafrenais said. They asked me if I wanted to and I said yeah. A goalie his entire life, Lafrenais once suited up in the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League. He now plays on a beer-league team, facing shots that barely rise off the ice. I like to say I held my own a bit, Lafrenais said. I stopped a Patrik Laine one-timer when they were working on the power play. I think there s some people in the NHL that may have not done that so I can hang my hat on that. For his troubles, Lafrenais skated away with a few new sticks, some autographs and the right to call himself a NHLer. (My teammates) are joking now, saying don t forget about us, Lafrenais said. Now I have a little bit more clout around the room hopefully. Sportsnet.ca 31 Thoughts: How NHL could give Jaromir Jagr a proper send-off By Elliotte Friedman There were three zeroes on the clock and Michael Hutchinson had beaten the NHL s best team. Teammates mobbed him with congratulations, but he knew one of them would be slightly more sarcastic.

16 [Dustin Byfuglien] always comes up with something, a laughing Hutchinson said by phone, approximately one hour after Winnipeg beat Tampa Bay 3 1. This time it was like, Good thing you didn t blow it. No, he didn t, closing a memorable 24 hours where Hutchinson competed in the AHL All-Star Event before making his return to the NHL. What a sweet day for someone who was so disappointed with his demotion to the Manitoba Moose that he declined interview requests all season. I knew there was a good possibility I d be going down when we signed [Steve Mason], he said. You feel uncertain, you re hoping for a trade, you re really not in the organization s plans, you get put on waivers, hoping someone will take you and, no, you don t want to be a distraction. [Mason] Appleton is having a great year. [Jack] Roslovic is playing great and gets called up. [Kyle] Connor plays great and gets called up to the first line. There are reasons I didn t talk that I m going to keep to myself, but those are the guys who deserved the attention. Hutchinson made sure to point out that his fiancé, Jenna Illchuk, helped snap him out of the funk. She let me mope around the house and be pissed off for a little bit, he laughed. It s good to have someone who lets you do that, then puts their foot down and says, Okay, time to move on. He s been extremely good around the team, Manitoba head coach Pascal Vincent said during a delay in his own travel back from all-star festivities. Going through this last year with Ondrej Pavelec helped me in dealing with it. [Michael and I] had a small conversation when he first came down. I told him I knew he was not necessarily happy to be back here, but we would help him in any way we can. We are trying to build a good culture and do the right things, and all we asked is he not be in the way of that. He s a good person, a smart young man. He s been on a mission, making his point by performance, which is the only thing he can control. His performance? Spectacular. Hutchinson s.942 save percentage is second behind Toronto s Garret Sparks; his 1.95 goals-against average third behind Marlies teammates Sparks and Calvin Pickard. The Moose missed the playoffs last season. They lead the Central Division by 10 points right now. When the team is successful, everybody enjoys it more. Older guys tell younger guys that winning means a longer career, Hutchinson says. Teams want winners. Another thing that helped Hutchinson? He s been around. You forget he was drafted 10 years ago, and has learned that you have to separate business from hockey. After my entry-level contract ended, Boston didn t qualify me and I went to the ECHL. I took my experience from that. No matter what happens, you don t let it take away your love of the game. In some way, it actually makes stopping pucks more enjoyable. Probably never more enjoyable than Tuesday night, his triumphant return to the NHL. 31 THOUGHTS

17 1. One more note on Hutchinson: Vincent said his greatest strength is ability to read the play. The goalie says there is a reason: He skates as a forward in the summer. I like it. It allows me to see the game from that side of the ice. And, it allows me to explain to the guys in front of me how I want them to play. Do you run over goalies like normal skaters do? Uh no, he laughed. I m a perimeter passing player. I can t believe guys block shots in so little equipment. I m afraid to go near the net [without goalie padding]. 11. Also interesting: the Jets. They are a legit contender, fighting through injuries to Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba. One thing I think they are considering: Is there a left-shot defenceman out there who can make them better? And by better, that s someone who deserves to play ahead of Tobias Enstrom, Dmitry Kulikov and/or Josh Morrissey. Is there an option out there? 25. Twenty-six years ago, Pascal Vincent was a 20-year-old forward for QMJHL Laval when Montreal draft pick Greg MacEachern returned to junior. Suddenly, Les Titans were over the limit for 20-year-olds and Vincent was the odd man out. Bob Hartley coached that team with Michel Therrien as an assistant. They told me, If you don t want to go, you can stay and coach with us, Vincent said Monday, as he flew back from the AHL s all-star weekend. I wanted to play, so I was traded to Verdun, and we went to the Memorial Cup. But that was the first time I thought of coaching. Vincent is now in his second season as bench boss for AHL Manitoba, first in the Central. He said that as he stood on the bench during the all-star game, he thought of his road to that spot. After 57 games with the ECHL s Knoxville Cherokees in , he was getting ready to take physiotherapy at the University of Ottawa, but got an offer to coach Quebec midget hockey. I thought about it for a week, then decided to try it for one year. I called my parents (Jean- Claude and Lucille) and told them I was putting off university to take the job for $250 a week. What was their reaction? They were not too happy. Now? Every summer, I tell them I ll finally go to school next year, he laughs. 26. Vincent s first big break came in 1999, when he was offered an assistant coaching job by QMJHL Cape Breton. He didn t speak English, and the idea of being forced to learn it appealed to him. He never imagined how quickly he d need to do it. The late Greg Lynch, who played a major role in getting the team to Sydney, decided to make a coaching change early that season and gave Vincent, then 28, the job.

18 It was 10 games in, Vincent said. I remember telling him, I don t speak enough English. He said, You ll figure it out. The players were amazingly good about it, and it helped we had some from Montreal who were bilingual. Vincent said one of the ways he accelerated the learning process was taping hockey games on the old VHS (ask your parents) and listening for terminology, repeating what I was hearing. He d read the dictionary for proper pronunciations, but there was a lot of television watching. Any particular shows that helped? Friends was a real friend, he answered. He would eventually add the GM title, staying in Cape Breton until 2008, when he left for the Montreal Juniors. 27. Vincent interviewed with Montreal, the Islanders and Tampa Bay for AHL jobs. Then, in July 2011, Vincent was eating lunch in Montreal when his phone rang from a number with a 204 area code. I had no idea where that was. It was Claude Noel (then coach of the Winnipeg Jets). I didn t know him, didn t know anyone in Winnipeg. He introduced himself and said he was looking for coaches in the organization. He wanted to know if I had interest, because they were interested in me. He told me to speak to [girlfriend Josee Fournier] and would call back tomorrow. Then he hangs up. Bang. Vincent was convinced some friend had called, pretending to be Noel as a practical joke. But, the next day, Noel called back. The first conversation was on a Thursday. He flew to Winnipeg the next Tuesday. Vincent was back in Montreal two days later, driving, when the Jets called again to offer an assistant coaching job. It was an emotional moment. I cried like a baby I really did. (He credits Rangers coach Alain Vigneault for promoting him to a team he did not know.) They lasted two-and-half seasons before Paul Maurice replaced Noel. That was a tough moment. You felt it was coming, but didn t know exactly when. They told us Claude and Perry Pearn were out, me and Charlie Huddy were in, for the time being. But they didn t tell us the new coach was Paul Maurice, because it wasn t a done deal yet. They just said the new guy will call you. When he did, he was very professional, asking a million questions with purpose Knowing what information he needed to get things going. You don t know how your relationship will be, but eventually he told us, Don t worry about next year. 28. Vincent stayed two more seasons on the Jets bench, moving to the AHL Moose lead job before last season. I wanted the experience to be an assistant coach. There are people I can learn from, and I tried to be a guy I would hire as a head coach. But I found it hard, because I knew inside I wanted to be a head coach. Being in the same organization is a real blessing. How much of a difference is there between being an NHL assistant and an AHL head in the same organization?

19 When I got the job, there was a three-hour conversation. They told me, We know you, you re passionate, you want to win really bad, in the NHL you have a mindset that you must win every day. Not in the AHL. Here you develop, whether these players will impact the Jets for five or 20 minutes, your job is to get them ready for that. We use the same systems, same language, do the same type of practises. It s like big brother. The younger brother does what big brother does. Vincent is like all AHL coaches, wanting the top opportunity. But he s patient. If you do the right thing, opportunities will come. (VIDEO LINK) WITH JACOB TROUBA OUT ARE JETS SHOPPING FOR DEFENCE? NHL insider Elliotte Friedman joins David Amber to discuss the injury to Winnipeg Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba, the injury to San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton and the controversy surrounding Seth Jones playing despite missing the NHL All-Star Game TSN.ca (VIDEO LINK) Jets' depth on display in statement win Missing a number of key players due to injury, the Jets' depth was on full display against the NHL-leading Lightning. Jamie McLennan discusses the statement win and talks about how important Winnipeg's depth will be during the postseason. TSN 1290 (AUDIO LINKS) Morrissey: Speed a main focus for Jets Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey joined the Big Show to talk about the club moving on from their tough loss against the Blue Jackets and why pushing the pace of play is key area the team looks to improve on Hamilton: Wheeler drives every line he plays on Winnipeg Free Press Sports writer Jeff Hamilton joined host Kevin Olszewski to recap Tuesday night's Jets win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.