News » It gave a great momentum push going into halftime

Hockey teams are always looking to improve their defensive game. Dustin Brown Jersey . They constantly work on it at practice, talk about improvements publically and strive for flawless execution in games. Obviously in the National Hockey League sound defensive play is a perpetual work in progress with the chance of actually attaining perfection a fallacy. Those teams that do push the closest to that line though are usually rewarded with a better record and thus a coveted spot in the standings. But periodically defensive excellence is achieved in a game. And that result is illustrated in the form of a shutout. For the Winnipeg Jets, a team striving to improve its defensive play under head coach Paul Maurice, this measure of defensive precision happened twice on a recent road trip and then carried into the start of a short two-game home stand. After posting back-to-back shutout wins in New York (1-0 SO) and Chicago (1-0), the Jets returned home poised to rewrite a chapter in the franchises record book. And it didnt take long for the club to put pen to paper. Entering Tuesdays tilt with Nashville, the Jets needed just a little more than a full period to establish a new franchise record for consecutive scoreless minutes. The previous mark of 155:55 was set in 2005 when the club was based in Atlanta. On Tuesday, when the Jets held the Predators off the scoresheet for the first period and a portion of the second, the club bested the old mark by nearly six minutes to 161:17. The scoreless streak did come to an end when Predators rookie sensation Filip Forsberg ended the stretch with a second period goal. Its been a big focus, said Maurice of his teams defensive philosophy this season. But its not defence first; its defence at the right time. Were not playing perfect hockey by any means. We have lots of room to improve. But our reaction to bad things that happen is much better right now than it was. (The new scoreless streak) is really a goaltender record. They were that good. In all, the Jets used both goaltenders during the shutout streak, including Michael Hutchinson, who recorded his first career NHL shutout against the Blackhawks with a 33-save performance. (The shutout) is definitely something really special (in my career), said Hutchinson, 24, whose numbers dramatically improved after the performance from a 4.50 GAA and .864 save percentage to 1.80 and .945, respectively. It will be something Ill remember for the rest of my playing career. Just being in Chicago makes it special (too) and something Im going to look back on. Meanwhile, Ondrej Pavelec was equally impressive a night earlier in New York when he turned aside all 38 Rangers shots. It was the third time in franchise history that back-to-back shutouts were recorded, but a first for the Winnipeg Jets. Previously, Michael Garnett posted consecutive shutouts in 2005 and then Kari Lehtonen did it again the following season. Both were members of the Atlanta Thrashers at the time. Last year, the Jets recorded just three shutouts all season. Former netminder Al Montoya (now with Florida) had two of them and Pavelec the other. But now already with two as a team, it might suggest the Jets are a more committed group to team defence and scoring against them and their goalies is getting tougher. That may be true. Time will tell. And so will more shutouts. -- On a personal note, Im thrilled to have been able to visit Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island last month for the final time. As you may know the New York Islanders are playing their final season in their original home this year before moving to Brooklyn for 2015-16 and the new Barclays Center. Last month during the Jets final visit to the building, I couldnt help but walk around the arena before the teams 4-3 win over the Islanders and wonder with amazement about the historical importance the building possesses for hockey in the area. For obvious reasons like age (it opened in 1972), lack of luxury suites, in-house revenue streams and overall building amenities, the Coliseum can no long be considered an NHL arena. I understand that. But seeing all the championship banners and retired numbers from that dynastic Islanders era of the early 1980s hanging in the rafters was special for me and likely for any hockey fan that was alive to experience that run. In all, the building oozes history and tradition and the electricity inside it generates a great atmosphere, even though the Islanders only drew 11,508 when the Jets started a four-game trip there at the end of October. Next year its on to Brooklyn and a new age for Islanders hockey, although I wonder how many true Islanders fans will make the 40-minute train ride and incur the additional travel cost of public transportation to support the team in the now-trendy New York City borough? NOTES: Entering Saturdays game in Ottawa, the Jets have killed off 18 straight penalties, including five on Thursday night against the vaunted power play of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The teams PK is third-best in the league at 89.3 percent, including a league-best mark of 92.6 percent on the road...Veteran centre Bryan Little played his 500th game on Thursday against Pittsburgh. So far, he is the only Jets player to record a power-play, shorthanded and game-winning goal this season...Until their win on Long Island, the Jets had played before eight straight sellout crowds to start the season. Winnipeg has sold out each of its seven games at home...Did you know the Islanders are still paying salaries to goaltender Rick DiPietro and forward Alexei Yashin? Both players have been bought out of their contracts, but are still owed money from the team in deferred monies. However, those payments no longer apply to the Islanders salary cap. DiPietro officially retired after the 2012-13 season, while Yashin hasnt been seen with an NHL team since 2006-07. Rob Blake Jersey . Before that, Rousey needed a total 23 minutes and 26 seconds to take care of her last eight opponents - and one of those fights lasted 10 minutes and 58 seconds. Derek Forbort Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. http://www.nhlkingsauthority.com/ . -- Stacy Lewis shot 7-under 65 to lead the LPGA Tour team to the championship of the 3Tour Challenge on Tuesday.WACO, Texas -- Kansas coach Bill Self knows most people look at how Andrew Wiggins plays as a barometer for what to expect from the eighth-ranked Jayhawks. Dont make the mistake of overlooking the other players around the Big 12s top-scoring freshman. Naadir Tharpe scored 22 points, nine in a go-ahead run before halftime, and the Big 12-leading Jayhawks rebounded from their first league loss with a 69-52 victory at Baylor on Tuesday night. "Weve just got to be a team that its going to be a different guy most every night," Self said. "And (Tharpe) stepped up when we needed him to step up." Early on, there were three ties and nine lead changes. Tharpes short jumper with 3 1/2 minutes left in the half broke a 25-all tie and put the Jayhawks (17-5, 8-1 Big 12) ahead to stay. The tiebreaking shot was Tharpes third basket in a 14-3 spurt over the final 5 minutes of the first half, and he added a 3-pointer with a minute left. He then made another 3 on Kansas opening possession after halftime. Wiggins, a native of Vaughan, Ont., finished 4-of-13 shooting and didnt make his first basket until a half-court shot to beat the buzzer going into halftime for a 35-27 lead. "Well, we ran that play for him at the end of the first half to get him going," Self joked of Wiggins, who finished two points off his season average. "It was big. It gave a great momentum push going into halftime," said Perry Ellis, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. "It was great that he knocked that down. It got him going." Cory Jefferson had 14 points to lead Baylor (14-8, 2-7), which lost its fourth consecutive game at the Ferrell Center after a 13-game home winning streak. Its the longest home drought since dropping six straight in 2005. The Bears, coming off a win at then-No. 8 Oklahoma State that snapped their overall five-game losing streak, was trying to set up for a final shot before halftime when Kenny Chery threw an errant pass that Wiggins intercepted. "Round 1 is over in the league. We have to do betteer in Round 2," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. Trevor Lewis Jersey. "The good thing is I believe we can win every game, but with the Big 12 being like it is we can lose every game. We have to make sure we play well to have a chance to win." Baylor has never won consecutive games over Top 25 opponents. The Bears shot only 29 per cent from the field (16 of 55) -- Drew, looking for a positive, pointed out they did have assists on all but one of those made baskets. They were outrebounded 45-31. Kansas was coming off an 81-69 loss Saturday at surging Texas. "We just came out there without energy. I felt like even though Texas played that tremendous game out there, we kind of beat ourselves," said Tharpe, who sat the final 10 minutes of that game when had only three points on 1-of-4 shooting. "We didnt come out with any kind of energy, we had nothing. After they made a play, we had nothing coming back. So we knew coming into today in Waco, we had to come out with some fire right away. And thats what we did." In their regular season finale last March, the Jayhawks lost 81-58 at Baylor. They still had a share of their ninth consecutive Big 12 title, but that loss kept them from winning it outright. Baylor was within 49-44 midway through the second half and Wiggins had just shot and missed the rim. But the Bears missed three free throws on the same possession. Then, with Baylor students chanting "Air Ball!, Air Ball!", Wiggins swished a 3-pointer from the right wing. Wiggins scored again on the next possession to push the lead to 54-44, and had the next basket as well with a dunk with 7:49 left. Brady Heslip had 12 points on four 3-pointers, but didnt score again after his last gave Baylor a 22-21 lead with 6:34 left in the first half. "We were just playing him behind his numbers. We were running behind him," Tharpe said of second-half adjustments on Heslip. "We just knew that he got a lot of good looks off in the first half, and we couldnt let that happen again." 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