Nieuwendyk First to 70, Nabokov Collects Tenth Win

 

The Winnipeg Jets head into the All Star Break on a winning note as Evgeni Nabokov stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced to improve his Calder Trophy caliber season to 10-2-1.  The Russian goaltender is one of four rookies that are playing significant minutes this season and he looks like the hand down leader to be the goalie for the All-Rookie Team. The question is whether or not he is doing enough to earn Calder Trophy momentum.

 

Thanks to his 17 saves, the Jets walked away with a 5-1 victory, led by Joe Nieuwendyk, who finished the night with a goal and three assists. The four points made him the first player in the NFHL to reach 70 on the season as he and teammate Kirk Muller continue to flip flop as the top scorers in the league.

 

As the league now heads into the All Star Break, there will no doubt be a substantial amount of Jets headed to the festivities thanks to Bobby Orr selecting the reserves.  Unfortunately, fans won’t get to see Allan Bester, who is in the hunt for the Vezina Trophy.  There is a lot of information that came out that Bester was left off due to every team needing a representative.