While the Colorado Avalanche went with their stars to start overtime, the Winnipeg Jets countered with Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton and Neal Pionk. The Jets trio got things done at both ends of the ice for a dramatic win. (WiebesWorld)
With Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar sending the high-powered trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar over the boards to start the extra period, Arniel countered with Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton and Neal Pionk.
“You have to do a job against those guys. That’s what we’re out there to do. We did that,” said Appleton. “We scored twice even man against those guys. First and foremost, you shut them down. If you get a chance, take advantage of it.” “We were just looking for somebody who is real responsible,” said Arniel. “We knew that the 29 line was probably coming out over the boards, so we just wanted to make sure there was somebody there who could do a little bit of the grunt work, making sure he had good detail coming back and helping with the D coverage. He did a great job with it.”
“I was going far side. I got a little lucky, but it was a good shot,” said Pionk. “We got off to a great start. They’re the defending Stanley Cup champions, so they’re going to push back, right? They scored a couple goals, we broke down a few times, but overall in the third I thought we responded well.
Playing alongside Josh Morrissey as the Jets made modifications to all three of their defence pairings, Pionk played an assertive game and was involved in all three zones.