A loss the Jets can live with

Dominant third against Sens consolation for Jets in shootout loss

By: Tim Campbell Posted: 2:07 AM CST Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015 Last Modified: 9:35 PM CST Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015 | Updates

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OTTAWA — Flawless? No. Forceful? Yes.

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OTTAWA — Flawless? No. Forceful? Yes.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/11/2015 (3617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Flawless? No. Forceful? Yes.

And that’s the reason the Winnipeg Jets could take some satisfaction from Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

The Jets kicked it into gear for the third period, running the show for most of the period to tie the game on a Dustin Byfuglien goal.

Fred Chartrand / The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) collides with Ottawa Senators' Curtis Lazar during the second period Thursday. The Jets erased a 2-0 deficit in the game, but fell 3-2 in a shootout. — Fred Chartrand / The Canadian Press Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) collides with Ottawa Senators' Curtis Lazar during the second period Thursday. The Jets erased a 2-0 deficit in the game, but fell 3-2 in a shootout.

Then they controlled the puck for the majority of the overtime but couldn’t beat Craig Anderson, who made 20 saves between the third period and five-minute three-on-three.

The Sens scored on all three of their shootout attempts to take the extra point and their second home win of the season.

The Jets settled for the loser point, finishing their road trip 2-1-1 to get to 8-4-2 for the season.

Apart from Byfuglien’s large game, the three-on-three was again the topic of the night for the Jets.

“You enjoy it half the time,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “We had good control of the puck. So I enjoyed it for half the time.

“I get it, I get the excitement of it. For me, how much cotton candy do you give your kids? At some point you have to say, ‘enough.’ I think I could have walked out of that game as a fan after the three-on-three and said, ‘Tie it up boys, everybody goes home happy.’ And you’d talk about that game all the way home.

“Clearly the shootout wasn’t that exciting for us. But I thought there was enough cotton candy there for everybody tonight that we didn’t need that toffee after.”

The rally: The Jets didn’t look great for two periods and fell behind 2-0 on goals by Cody Ceci and Bobby Ryan.

They were far from poor and really seemed to get a spark from Andrew Ladd’s goal with 2:41 left in the second, and then it was the Jets in control for much of the rest of the way… until the penalty shots.

The point gives the Jets a mark of 0-2-2 when trailing after two periods this season.

Schedule stress: The Jets are now well on the road into one tough November.

They scurried home after Thursday’s game to get ready for a brief stop in Winnipeg — Saturday’s contest at the MTS Centre against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Then it’s back to the road for four more through the Central Division, part of the team’s 10-road-game month.

One thing to be said about what’s already in the books — the Jets have already knocked off half of their road games this season against the Eastern Conference.

Back to Hutch: Maurice went back to Michael Hutchinson Thursday night, and aside from losing Ceci’s high first-period shot, Hutchinson brought his ‘A’ game back after being yanked after four goals on nine shots Sunday in Montreal.

His record fell to 4-1-1 on the season with 29 saves, but he had way more of a fighting chance against the Sens than he did in Montreal, where most everything went wrong.

Hutchinson bailed his team out several times during the actual hockey part of the evening, including excellence against Curtis Lazar and Kyle Turris late in regulation time and an Erik Karlsson breakaway in overtime.

More points: Blake Wheeler collected an assist on Ladd’s second-period marker, giving him 17 points in 14 games this season, leading the Jets.

Wheeler has earned scoring points in 12 of the team’s 14 games this season.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

Buff shines brighest…again

OTTAWA — It’s been a big week for Dustin Byfuglien.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman was again the most powerful force on the ice Thursday night, scoring for a second straight night to help the Jets rally from a 2-0 deficit and earn a point out of their 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators.

“We got behind the eight ball but we stuck to our game plan pretty well,” the big man said after the team’s fourth back-to-back road sequence of the season. “I didn’t feel like we were ever really out of it.

“We got a point out of it on a back-to-back. It’s a tough road trip. And we’ve got a hard schedule, and I think we’ve done pretty well as a team and played pretty good hockey.”

Byfuglien’s fourth goal of the season, 26 seconds into the third period during a four-on-four, was a display of his unique skills. He stepped up in the neutral zone and cut off a play, then took the puck the other way.

He had Nikolaj Ehlers as his decoy for a two-on-one and decided to lean into a 30-foot shot that was just a breeze going by Sens goalie Craig Anderson.

“That’s a typical Dustin Byfuglien play there,” said Jets centre Bryan Little. “He overpowers someone, somehow comes out of a tight situation with the puck on his stick and when he tees it up like that, it’s a pretty heavy shot. We’ve seen that goal a couple of times from him.”

Little just nodded when asked about Byfuglien’s impact in recent games.

“He’s been real good for us,” Little said. “Like I said, when he’s on his game and playing the way he wants to out there, he can do a lot of things. There’s not a lot of people that can get in his way and stop him. He’s just a huge combination of size and skill.

“You’ve seen him this year, where he’s had a couple of goals where he really showed off his hands. You don’t often see that from a big guy like that.”

Jets coach Paul Maurice tried to play the politically correct game when asked about Byfuglien.

“I’m trying to be respectful… Anderson played a really good game, and when you win a game at home in a shootout like that, and we put up 40 shots, your goalie should get first star.

“Past that, he’s the best player on the ice tonight, the most dominant force. And he’s been like that for a while. Right after the Ranger game, that Calgary game back at home when we got back from that first trip, he’s been as good as I’ve ever seen him play.”

And not just this week.

“I think he’s been good for a while,” Maurice said. “It’s harder to see one player dominating a game when we had a run of Tampa, St. Louis, L.A., Chicago, so it’s hard for a guy to elevate the way he has, nothing to do with Ottawa.

“When you play big, strong, physical teams, you notice Buff, and he’s at both ends of the rink now. He’s just moving faster, moving quicker. And we now have more options for him to play with on the back end, not just Toby (Enstrom).”

The Jets trailed on the shot clock 21-19 after two periods but really turned it up on the Sens after that, ending the overtime ahead 40-31 in shots.

The tally was 7-2 in the scoreless three-on-three, but having not converted a second time in that scenario, Byfuglien remains unconvinced it’s a good thing.

“No. It’s terrible,” he said. “It’s not hockey. It’s for the fans, not the hockey players.”

– Tim Campbell