RickDixon69

Winnipeg, MB • Canada • 42 Years Old • Male

What a difference a Wheeler makes

So I'll be the first to admit that I have never been a huge fan of Blake Wheeler. He just never seemed to do anything that truly impressed me - until last night.

After missing a couple of games due to taking a puck in the throat Blake Wheeler returned to the line up against the Sabres. Boy did he return.

Wheeler was a force all night long and made not only the Sabres look slow but made players like Evander Kane look slow, which is terribly difficult to do as Kane has top-end speed.

Wheeler was the catalyst for what would turn out to be a 4-1 win for the Jets in what could be deemed a must-win game.

Andrew Ladd opened the scoring, tipping in a Ron Hainsey point shot midway through the opening frame. Stafford scored for the Sabres to tie it up before Toby Enstrom made it three straight games with a goal after pumping in a point shot on the power play.

Tim Stapleton popped another power-play marker and Antropov rounded out the scoring with a little over a minute left in the game.

The Jets played pretty well against a Buffalo team that looked every bit like a team that was playing on back-to-back nights. The loss was another franchise low for the Sabres as they posted a record 11th straight road loss.

I don't know what Blake Wheeler did during his couple of days off, but whatever it was he needs to keep doing it. He was a game changer last night and made me place my foot firmly into my mouth.

Here's to hoping I get athletes tongue.