Latest news with #Pionk
Fox News
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Jets' Cole Perfetti scores game-tying goal with 1.6 seconds left; Winnipeg knocks out Blues in double OT
There was yet again another Stanley Cup Playoffs classic on Sunday night, as the Winnipeg Jets are heading to the next round after defeating the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 in miraculous fashion. This game needed double overtime to determine the Jets as the 4–3 winners, but it was so close to the Blues walking out of the Canada Life Centre with the road victory. The Jets emptied their net and watched as the seconds ticked off the clock in the offensive zone, just hoping for a shot on net to give them a chance at the 3-3 tie and the game in overtime. Nikolaj Ehlers got that opportunity when the puck came to him at the blue line, and he sent a rocket toward the net, but he whiffed on the one-timer. However, the puck came right back his way, and instead of attempting another slap shot, he swung it over to Neal Pionk on the right wing. Pionk quickly sent the puck toward the net, and Perfetti was right there for the tip that made it past Blues netminder Jordan Binnington as the clock hit 1.6 seconds left. It beat the buzzer and the crowd went ballistic, knowing the Jets still had a chance to move on in the playoffs. It was a Game 7 moment professional athletes dream about, but it would not have meant much if they could not seal the deal. Almost two full overtime periods went by with both teams seeing chances to notch the golden goal. Who better than the captain of the Jets, Adam Lowry, coming away the hero with 3:50 left in double overtime? Pionk sent another shot toward the net, this time from the blue line and Lowry's stick was the first thing it touched, and the redirect could not have been better. Binnington did not see the puck hit the ice and slip past him, and the Jets immediately celebrated. The incredible finish came one night after Mikko Rantanen sent the Dallas Stars to the next round over his former Colorado Avalanche team with a third-period hat trick, including the empty-net goal to ice the win. Well, that is exactly who the Jets will be meeting in the second round, as they are set to face the Stars for another best-of-seven series to see who will be playing in the Western Conference Final. Looking more at the box score, Perfetti had a power-play goal for Winnipeg in the second period, which got the Jets on the board after falling 2-0 in the first. Jordan Kyrou and Mathieu Joseph were the goalscorers for St. Louis there. Radek Faksa scored his first of the playoffs with just 35 seconds left in the second period, which certainly put a damper on the home crowd heading into the third. However, Vladislav Namestnikov scored with just under two minutes to play in the third period, giving Winnipeg hope before Perfetti's heroics saved the season. Despite the losing efforts, Binnington made 43 saves across the nearly five full periods of work. His counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck had 26 saves. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Reuters
17-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Jets D Neal Pionk signs 6-year, $42M extension
April 17 - The Winnipeg Jets signed defenseman Neal Pionk to a six-year, $42 million contract extension on Thursday. Pionk, 29, tallied 39 points (10 goals, 29 assists) in 69 games this season for the Presidents' Trophy winners. The Omaha, Neb., native was second on the Jets in ice time (22:04) and tied for third in plus/minus (plus-21). The extension will begin with the 2025-26 season for Pionk, who earned a $6 million base salary this season. Pionk has recorded 256 points (44 goals, 212 assists) in 536 games with the New York Rangers (2017-19) and Jets. Top-seeded Winnipeg opens the Stanley Cup playoffs against the visiting St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
New York Times
17-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Neal Pionk signs extension to stay with Winnipeg Jets for six more years
Neal Pionk has signed a six year, $7.0 million AAV contract extension with the Winnipeg Jets. This is a substantial raise from the $5.875 million Pionk earned on his last contract and carries risk, but matches his previous cap hit percentage. It falls below our projections based on Pionk's production and role. Advertisement Pionk, 29, plays the second-most minutes per game among all Jets, playing a top-four role at five-on-five and featuring on the power play and penalty kill. He's scored 216 points in 435 games since being acquired for Jacob Trouba in the summer of 2019. That's a 41-point-per-82-game pace, but Pionk's knack for playing through injuries has occasionally limited his defensive impact. Pionk joins Alex Iafallo, Vladislav Namestnikov, Dylan DeMelo, Nino Niederreiter, Mark Scheifele, and Connor Hellebuyck as recent pending UFAs who have signed long-term contracts in Winnipeg prior to the expiration of their contracts. He's a part of Winnipeg's extended leadership group — a respected voice whose contributions to team culture are appreciated by his teammates. He's a popular mentor figure, particularly for his partner — and fellow Hermantown, Minn., product — Dylan Samberg. 'I used to go to high school games (in Hermantown) to watch Neal,' Samberg said recently. 'He's been great with me. If I ever need anything, whether I need help or have questions, he's an open book.' The two Minnesotans share a hometown, an agent, and a lake in the offseason. The Jets are expected to prioritize a long-term contract for Samberg this summer, keeping both members of their second defence pair in Winnipeg for the foreseeable future. Is Pionk's contract good value for the Jets? What does this mean for the cap? How does Samberg factor in? This story will be updated.
Reuters
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Jets D Neal Pionk week-to-week with lower-body injury
March 14 - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk is considered week-to-week because of a lower-body injury, head coach Scott Arniel announced on Friday. Pionk logged 16:18 of ice time in Winnipeg's 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday before exiting with the injury. "(He) tried to get through it," Arniel said. "We do need him for the long run here, so as much as he wants to play this is the right decision. ... If you have plans to play into June, you're going to need your roster. It's proven. There's injuries that happen, situations that happen, you're going to have to go deep (in the Stanley Cup Playoffs)." Pionk, 29, has 37 points (nine goals, 28 assists) and a plus-21 rating in 66 games this season. He averages 22:09 of ice time per game. Pionk has totaled 254 points (43 goals, 211 assists) in 533 career regular-season games with the Rangers (2017-19) and Jets. Defenseman Luke Schenn, who was acquired prior to the NHL trade deadline on March 7, is expected to assume more responsibility in the absence of Pionk. --Field Level Media
New York Times
14-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Jets defenceman Neal Pionk week-to-week with lower-body injury, will miss time
Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel confirmed on Friday that Neal Pionk will miss time with a lower body injury. Pionk's injury puts immediate strain on the Jets' defence and their depth given the heavy minutes he plays at even strength and on both special teams. Pionk appeared to twist his leg during a collision with Rangers forward Brennan Othmann in the third period of Tuesday's game. He left the game immediately, holding his foot off the ice, and sat on the Jets' bench in apparent pain without heading down the tunnel to the Jets room. He later returned to the game, finishing with a season low 16 minutes, 18 seconds of ice time, compared to an average of over 22 minutes per game this season. Advertisement Arniel said Pionk had played through the injury for some time prior to Tuesday's incident with Othmann, but they're shutting him down now with the playoffs in mind. Pionk has played through all manner of pains before — including a broken foot — and tried to get through this injury too. 'We're going to need him for the long run here. As much as he wants to play, this is the right decision,' Arniel said. Without Pionk, the Jets will expand the roles of depth defencemen Colin Miller and Luke Schenn, who they acquired at the 2024 and 2025 trade deadlines. Miller has played 48 games on the third pair this season but will take over for Pionk on the Jets' second unit power play. Tuesday was Schenn's first game for Winnipeg since being acquired from Pittsburgh last week; he started it on the third pair but played shutdown minutes with the Rangers' goalie pulled at the end of the game. Here's how Winnipeg's lines and pairings will look on Friday against Dallas: Winnipeg is in first place in the NHL and enters Friday's games with an eight point lead on Dallas for first place in the Central Division. It looks like a commanding lead, but Dallas has control of its destiny, too: Not only do the Stars have two games in hand, but the teams play on Friday and again on April 10. Dallas can tie Winnipeg by winning their head-to-head matchups as well as their extra two games. The Jets' focus is on finishing in first place, thereby avoiding the Stars and Avalanche in the first-round of a hotly contested Central Division. That's why Arniel declined to talk about keeping other Jets players out of game action. 'I'm not getting too far down the road here,' Arniel said. 'There's too much going on. We still have two big western trips to go here. We'll worry about that when we get around the end of the year, but the big picture is too big now.' Advertisement Schenn was always going to be an option for Arniel to use in key defensive moments. Schenn's size, strength, and the quality of his defence-first approach to defending makes him an ideal shutdown defenceman. He'll play with Dylan Samberg — a younger, more mobile version of the same shutdown defenceman — on the Jets second pair. One imagines a heavy dose of shifts starting in the defensive zone and soaring shot block totals; Schenn blocked five in 16 minutes of play during his Jets debut. The risk is that Schenn and Samberg struggle to move the puck up ice. Schenn was good in that regard on Tuesday, making several short passes that released pressure and helped Winnipeg get out of its zone. Samberg has had a lot of success in that regard this season, too. Both players may be underrated in terms of their puck movement but neither is elite in that regard. Miller will play on the third pair with Haydn Fleury, while taking over for Pionk on the Jets' second power play. The Fleury/Miller pairing has been outscored 6-1 at five-on-five in 116 minutes this season while controlling 57 percent of shot attempts and 56 percent of expected goals. In a bigger sample size, their goal numbers should improve in accordance with their control of the play. Winnipeg's coaches do a great job sheltering their third pairing all the same; whereas Schenn just graduated to a steady dose of Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston and company, Miller will spend more of his night playing against bottom six competition. Miller's shot is a rocket; it should be an asset on the second unit power play. He doesn't have as much subtlety to his offensive game as Pionk, though. Pionk can fire a hard one-timer, too, while also moving the puck well in the offensive zone and getting the puck to the net for deflections with a wide array of well-placed wrist shots that beat the first layer of defence. Advertisement 'We talked going into the deadline that depth was our No. 1 and whatever happened other than that would be a bonus,' Arniel said on Friday. 'If you have plans to play into June, you're going to need your (full) roster. It's been proven. Injuries happen. Situations happen. You have to go deep. It happened a little earlier than I hoped but, at the end of the day, I'm glad we have Luke for it.' Without Schenn, the Jets could be in a situation where Miller gets promoted to the second pair and some combination of Fleury, Logan Stanley, or Ville Heinola play on the third pairing. It doesn't inspire confidence — particularly against the West's top teams. With Schenn, you can see a way through the stretch run to Pionk's return wherein the Jets maintain their top seed. An alternative is also true: had the Jets been able to pick up Rasmus Ristolainen or Jamie Oleksiak, they'd be even better insulated than they are now. But Schenn has played up the lineup before, including two years ago alongside Morgan Rielly as the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got out of the first round. He's shown himself to be capable of the job Winnipeg will ask of him now. Dylan Samberg, on playing without Pionk. 'It's obviously unfortunate, but it is what it is. Schenner is a great guy and he's already taught me a lot here. He's got a lot of wisdom so I'm excited to play with him.'
