The Race Tightens

Thursday night, the Colorado Rockies had the night off while they watched both the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets in action. And just like the Jets the night before, they had to watch their competitors come out victorious.

Going into the night, the Rockies had a two-point lead on the Canucks and a three-point lead on their expansion cousins.  In British Columbia, the Canucks hosted the Detroit Red Wings and jumped out to a 4-1 lead by the midway point of the second period. However, after a couple powerplay goals, the Michigan men got the game within a goal, but couldn’t completely come back and Vancouver came out with a 4-3 win.

In Manitoba, the Jets jumped out to a 2-0 lead. However, they saw it erased by the end of the second period. But, Brendan Shanahan, who is making a late charge at the Rocket Richard Trophy, scored a pair of goals in the final period to lead Winnipeg to a 4-2 win.

The victory was Allan Bester’s 40th win of the season and marks the tenth time a Jets goalie has reached that mark with him doing it three times and Mike Palmateer leading the way with seven 40-win seasons and holds the single season record of 45 that was set in 1980.

Shanahan’s two goals had him reach 44 on the season, which ties him for the franchise record with Dennis Maruk and Gerard Gallant, meaning his next goal will be a franchise record.