Pionk powers Jets to overtime win in Colorado

Scott Arniel was happy with how his defencemen were getting involved in the play, but he said the next step was finding ways to get pucks through.
Neal Pionk must have been listening.
The defenceman scored twice, including his first career overtime winner, as the Winnipeg Jets earned a 4-3 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Wednesday night.
"I got a little lucky," said Pionk. "But it was a good shot."
Arniel, the associate coach of the Jets, was a little more complimentary.
"He was locked and loaded," Arniel said. "He pounded that. That was a heck of a shot."
Was it ever. Once Mason Appleton made a great defensive play to separate Nathan MacKinnon from the puck in the Jets zone, he poked up to Pionk who was on a two-on-one rush with Adam Lowry barely 30 seconds into the overtime period.
Pionk flew down the right side and - to steal Arniel's word - pounded the puck off the far post past Alexandar Georgiev.

It was just the opportunity Pionk, Lowry, and Appleton were looking for when they started the three-on-three overtime against MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar.
"I'd say shut them down first, play defence first, but if we get an opportunity let's put it in the net and let's end it," said Pionk. "It's a lot of faith and a lot of trust the coaches have to put us out there, and we did the job."
Sam Gagner and Cole Perfetti had the other two goals for the Jets in the victory, which improved Winnipeg's record to 2-1-0.

Appleton also had two assists, as he played on the wing with Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele with Nikolaj Ehlers unable to play due to injury.
"I think it's just a next guy up mindset," Appleton said. "I thought we did a good job early. They picked their game up and they had some sustained O-zone time later in the game, but I thought we did some good things. It's obviously fun playing with two very elite guys."
A tripping call on Colorado's Samuel Girard 5:23 into the first gave the Jets an early opportunity, and they took full advantage. Gagner flipped a loose puck past Georgiev with 31 seconds left on the power play to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
It was Gagner's second of the young season, and a big goal after the Jets went 0-for-5 on the power play on Monday in Dallas.

Pionk made it 2-0 at four-on-four, when he joined a rush and pounded a drop pass from Appleton from the slot for his first of the campaign. With all the emphasis on getting more offence from the back end, Pionk getting his first of the season - while joining a rush - is exactly what the coaching staff wants to see.
"Go back and look at how many times our D got the puck to the net front, and created second and third chances, just by getting it to the net," Arniel said. "If we didn't get it to the net, we were shooting short side and it kept it in the O-zone and kept the cycle moving. To get a goal from the back end is always a bonus."
That two-goal lead was cut in half 2:14 into the second. The Jets weren't able to clear their zone, and eventually Rantanen finished off a centering pass from MacKinnon for his second of the season to make it 2-1.
The Jets answered back near the midway mark of the second, as Pierre-Luc Dubois won a puck battle along the boards below the Colorado goal line, finding Blake Wheeler in the left circle. Wheeler spotted Perfetti across the ice, and put it on the tape, and Perfetti made no mistake on his first of the season.

"That line went a little under the radar," said Arniel. "When they do get the puck, manhandle guys down low. That's what Wheels does well, that's what Dubie does well. Cole, he has to get to those areas. That was probably the best game I've seen Cole play just through exhibition and the first couple. He was real good, real smart with the puck, and real good decisions."
But in a span of 2:01 late in the second, Colorado pulled even, and it was thanks to some relentless offensive zone pressure. First, Pionk's broken stick left the Jets hemmed in their own zone leading Rantanen to a near carbon copy of his goal from earlier in the game, from just outside Connor Hellebuyck's crease.
Then, on a power play with Appleton off for slashing, Valeri Nichushkin potted his fifth of the season, finishing a pass from Rantanen into the slot.

After a busy 40 minutes, it was tied at three.
Colorado kept the pressure up in the third, outshooting the Jets 9-5, but Hellebuyck stood tall finishing the night with 30 saves.
That set the stage for Pionk in overtime, but he gave credit to Appleton for his key play on MacKinnon to set it up.
"It's a simple play," Pionk said. "But it doesn't go unnoticed."
The way Appleton sees it, angling MacKinnon in that situation was more about positioning than pure strength.
"A guy like that, you have to go through his hands more than his body. He can shimmy and shake," said Appleton. "He was tight along the wall, so I didn't really have to get much into him, just take away his hands and the hips, then use my reach to poke one out for Neal."
Pionk made no mistake from there.
Next, the Jets take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
"You never want to look at standings early, or whatever it is, but you don't want to dip below .500," said Appleton. "To be 2-1-0 heading into Vegas tomorrow night, it's a good spot."