Single goal against Preds shows offence still sputtering

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This article was published 21/01/2016 (3527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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It won’t matter how many spectacular performances goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has left in him this season, how many game-breaking saves he will make from now until the end of April.

His dominance in the Jets’ net won’t mean a thing if the team in front of him doesn’t find a way to put pucks in the mesh at the other end.

The Jets once again pulled up lame in the scoring department, scoring just a single goal in a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators at the MTS Centre Thursday night.

“It definitely hurts. We played a pretty good game for 60 minutes,” said forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who scored the Jets’ lone goal, his ninth. “We got a lot of shots, a lot of good chances, we just got to be able to put them in.”

Scoring hasn’t been a strong point for the Jets all season, but the picture of late is particularly gloomy. Thursday was the Jets’ fifth game in their last seven they have been limited to just one goal.

During that span, the Jets have just one win — a 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild Jan. 15 — and a shootout loss to the Dallas Stars — not exactly the kind of streak you want to boast about when you’re dead last in the Central Division, now two games below .500 with a record of 21-23-3.

“It definitely hurts in the sense that we thought we were the better team for a lot of that game,” said defenceman Tyler Myers. “You look at the opportunities we had in the second (period) especially, a lot of Grade A scoring chances, just weren’t able to bury them, and it hurts to lose, but that one hurts for sure.”

It’s clear that the absence of Mark Scheifele, Drew Stafford, Adam Lowry and, most recently Alexander Burmistrov, who was a game-time scratch, is beginning to take its toll. But Maurice refused to use that as a crutch.

Perhaps most painful for the Jets — and just as common as their inability to score — is the impact special teams is having each night.

The Jets were once again unable to shut down their opponent’s power play, allowing an early 1-0 lead to be erased on the Predators’ very first man advantage.

The Jets have now allowed a power-play goal in five of their last six games. It doesn’t help that their power play has also returned to its early ugliness.

After scoring a power-play goal in three straight games, Thursday night marked the third straight game without a power-play goal for the Jets — a stretch of 0-for-8, including four failed trips against the Preds.

“We’ve been talking about our power play for a while now, how it needs to get better, and it didn’t get the job done for us tonight,” said Myers.

“It’s something we’ve been addressing, but it’s something we’ll just have to continue to work hard at. It’s not going well for us, but you can survive a bad power play, but we’ve been giving too much on the PK.”

Ironically, Thursday wasn’t the best the Jets have seen from Hellebuyck, who entering the game was atop the league in both save percentage and goals-against average.

He allowed three goals on 28 shots. But if anything is for sure, you can expect him to be back between the pipes when the Jets take on the New Jersey Devils Saturday night.

“I don’t think so,” said coach Paul Maurice when asked if Hellebuyck may be in need of a break after his eighth consecutive start and 12th in the last 13 games. “It’s the big-boy league. Lots of time off.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton