Tanev's first career hat trick helps Jets to shootout win over Bruins

The first two came at even strength, while the third was shorthanded. What perhaps makes the first two so special was who they came against.
Tanev, along with Lowry and Copp, were tasked with shutting down Boston's prolific line of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron.
Tanev, Lowry, and Copp combined for five points at even strength, while Boston's trio was held off the score sheet at five-on-five.
"One of the things that is unusual about them in a checking line, is they play with the puck," said Maurice. "It's not great sticks, be above the puck all the time, and give the other team nothing. What they're good at is controlling the puck, either off the rush or taking it to the net.
"When you work that hard, every once in a while something great is going to happen for you."

Tanev's fifth of the season would open the scoring, when he pounced on a rebound resulting from a Copp wrist shot from the high slot. The puck barely got over the line, despite Anton Khudobin's best efforts to keep his pad on the post.
The play would be reviewed, but the goal would stand.
"I saw the puck cross the line," Tanev said. "I guess it was just a matter of getting that angle when the (review) happened to see if the puck fully crossed the line. I knew the puck crossed the line, and I think the refs made a good call."
The Bruins (47-17-11) would tie the game before the end of the opening frame, when Ryan Donato intercepted a Mark Scheifele backhand pass in the Jets zone. The former Harvard University centre then made a move to his backhand around Joe Morrow, and beat Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand into the top corner.

Tanev got back to work early in the second. Off the opening draw, he pestered Brad Marchand with stick checks into the Jets zone, and the ensuing turnover was quickly moved up ice by Adam Lowry. Tanev jumped on it, and flew up the right wing, beating a back checking Marchand wide, before cutting to the middle, and beating Khudobin on the glove side.
"I think five-on-five for the most part, I think we did a pretty good job limiting their second and third opportunities," Lowry said of the line's match-up against the Bruins top line. "Guys of that skill and that calibre, they're going to get chances. But it's about limiting those second and third opportunities, those chances from the slot. It was a lot of one and done for them.
"They had good chances off the rush, and we did a good job of getting our second guy in quick and turning the puck back."

The Jets would make it 3-1 six minutes later, when Blake Wheeler picked up a dump in on the right wing half wall, flipped a quick pass to Scheifele, who found Joe Morrow at the point on the left side. Morrow's blast beat Khudobin for the defenceman's first goal as a member of the Jets.

The assist was also Wheeler's 600th career NHL point. It also extended Wheeler's point streak to seven games, and moved him into top spot in the NHL in assists with 66.
Late in the second, Josh Morrissey received a five-minute boarding penalty for his check on Boston's Matt Grzelcyk. It led to some tempers flaring before the teams left the ice.
With the Jets on the penalty kill to start the third, Danton Heinen scored his 14th of the season on a wrist shot from the high slot.
The Jets would challenge for offside, but would be unsuccessful, putting them at a 5-on-3 disadvantage for two minutes (with 3:25 left in Morrissey's major).

It took 1:51 of that advantage, but the Bruins would tie the game, as David Pastrnak wired a one-timer from the slot that Hellebuyck did well to get a piece of, but it found a way in for Pastrnak's 31st of the campaign.
Cue Tanev.
The 26-year-old turned the momentum back in the Jets favour when he stole the puck in the Bruins end when Nick Holden couldn't corral it on the half wall. Tanev circled the zone, then tucked a wraparound between Khudobin's left skate and the post for his first career hat trick.
"You're so happy for him. That line doesn't really have a glamorous job. They're supposed to go out there and basically shut down the other team's best players," said Wheeler.
"To see a guy like (him) come in, and have a big night, I'm sure he's going to remember this for a long time. That was as excited as I've seen our bench all year. That was awesome."

But the lead wouldn't last, as Torey Krug - who took a cross-check from Scheifele just 1:21 earlier, got the Bruins back on level terms with a slap shot from the left point that beat a screened Hellebuyck up high.
The game would stay tied through the end of regulation and overtime. In the shootout, Scheifele and Laine would score for the Jets, while Donato was the only Bruin to beat Hellebuyck.
"The reason they're where they're at is they're not an easy team to play against. There's not a lot of easy plays to be made," said Maurice.
"If you're not interested in playing that game, they just beat you…. I thought we were pretty good."
The Jets now head on the road for a four-game road trip that begins Thursday night in Chicago against the Blackhawks.