Afterburners all the time

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This article was published 14/10/2014 (4006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The lesson cost them two defeats on their season-opening road trip, but at least the Winnipeg Jets got a first-hand look at the primary reasons the NHL’s elite teams are elite teams.

Doing the right things and doing them quickly and crisply were the storylines for the San Jose Sharks, who prevailed 3-0 over the Jets on Saturday and the Los Angeles Kings, who dispatched the Jets 4-1 on Sunday, sending Winnipeg back home at 1-2.

The Jets returned home right after that game at Staples Center and have until Friday to prepare for their home opener against the Nashville Predators, the start of a five-game stay at the MTS Centre.

“I think it’s an early lesson for us,” said centre Bryan Little, who struck for his third goal in three games in Sunday’s loss in L.A. “I think that first game (a 6-2 win in Arizona), I don’t know… we thought maybe all our games were going to come that easy and the offence was going to come that easy.

“We found out pretty early when we went to San Jose that wasn’t the case and we were humbled pretty quickly.

“It’s only three games but we learned we’ve got to bring our best every night, come out with our best every night.”

The Jets fell behind early in both games in California and were unable to recover. In Los Angeles, the team was truer to its wish for a speedy and aggressive game plan but couldn’t bury the chances they created — and they created enough — discovering that time was short and Kings goalie Martin Jones was quick.

“For most of the game, we were right in it,” Little said. “We had our chances and it could have been a lot closer.

“They’re both great teams. They’ve proven over the last few seasons that they’re good teams. Especially the Kings, they’ve won the Cup twice in the last three or four years. You feel that playing against them, that they do everything right, they do everything quick and they’re big and strong.

“And that’s the difference. Those couple of mistakes and it could be a different game. Or we bury a couple, it could be a different game. I think we know we can play with these teams. It’s just a matter of getting it in our head.”

Jets coach Paul Maurice will put his team back on the ice today to start preparing for the homestand.

He had less complaint with his club’s start and its overall assertiveness on Sunday.

‘It’s only three games but we learned we’ve got to bring our best every night, come out with our best every night’

— Jets centre Bryan Little

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“It’s a tough road trip and we’ve got room to improve,” Maurice said. “But we knew that before the trip started and we’ll keep working on it.

“I thought we were better at the start (Sunday) than we were in San Jose. I thought the compete level was higher and looking at the chances, they were even but it was a harder-fought game for 50 minutes anyway.

“To give what we gave, we didn’t generate those chances without giving anything up. We should be able to do that. Clearly they’re going to get their chances. They have good players and they’re going to score goals.

“But we gave more than we had to, to get what we got.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca