Jets’ Neal Pionk scores one day after funeral for best friend Adam Johnson

Winnipeg Jets defenceman Neal Pionk scored his first goal of the season Tuesday, one day after saying goodbye to his best friend.

Pionk was one of the many people who spoke at Adam Johnson’s funeral on Monday. Johnson, a former Penguins player, died when his neck was cut by a skate in a professional game in England on Oct. 28.

“That was big,” Jets interim head coach Scott Arniel said after the Jets beat the Blues 5-2, according to Mike McIntyre of The Winnipeg Free Press. “I know it hit him on the bench there after he did it. Everybody felt it a little bit. It’s probably been a bit of a release for him to get on the ice and just play and maybe not think about those things.”

“It was a hell of a feeling, to see him smile and get that goal,” added teammate Alex Iaffalo, who also attended the funeral. “Just the stuff we’ve been through the past couple of days, for him to get that, it was pretty special.”

Pionk and Johnson spent two seasons as teammates with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers and two more with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In a recent interview with McIntyre, Pionk said Johnson “was like one of my brothers.”

“I’m thankful I have good family, friends and teammates,” Pionk told The Free Press. “It’s been tough. It’s so tragic, so sudden and you don’t know it’s going to happen. You don’t prepare for anything like that in life, and that goes with all of his friends and family that are grieving. So, it’s been hard.”