WINNIPEG, MB. – Charlie McAvoy, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, scored the winning goal in a shootout as the Boston Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Boston on Thursday night

However, the Jets did steal a greasy road point in a rink that has not been kind to the Jets over the years. In fact, the Jets played a terrific hockey game as they outshot the Bruins 38-33 and had clearly the best chances in the three-on-three overtime.

However, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck couldn’t stop McAvoy and only Bryan Little was the only Jet to score in the four-round shootout.

After two scoreless periods, Torey Krug gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead 8:16 of the third. The Bruins defenseman intercepted an errant pass, glided into the top of the left circle and beat Hellebuyck with a wrist shot through a screen from Noel Acciari.

However, less than a minute later Patrik Laine, with his 18th of the season, tied it at 1-1 with a bullet wrist shot from the left circle. Nikolaj Ehlers, who played another strong game, picked up the primary assist with a great pass.

Goaltender Tuukka Rask was the star for the Bruins, making 37 saves to get the win. The Jets are 2-0-1 in their last three and are now tied with Nashville and St. Louis (Nashville has two games in hand) for first in the Central Division. All three teams have 46 points as the Jets improved to 20-10-6 on the season.

Although the scoreboard was much different than the one in Nashville when the Jets won 6-4 on Tuesday night, it was still a terrific hockey game. There were all sorts of great chances on both sides but the two goaltenders dominated play.

The Jets will now head to Brooklyn to take on the New York Islanders at 12 Noon on Saturday.

Scott Taylor, Manitoba Post

Photo by James Carey Lauder