Defensive letdowns costly

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This article was published 19/10/2023 (719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It turns out that sour taste is going to linger a little bit longer.

Winnipeg Jets right-winger Mason Appleton referenced the disappointing playoff ending to the Vegas Golden Knights after the morning skate and a disheartening 5-3 defeat on Thursday night did nothing to alleaviate any of those unresolved emotions.

The Jets put forth a much better effort than the one they had against the L.A. Kings, but had nothing to show for it as they slipped to 1-3 on the season.

“The end result stings. That was a great third period, give their goalie a lot of credit. He made all those key saves,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “That being said we just can’t keep giving up four, five goals a game. We’re not going to win until we stop that. Which means we’ve got to clean up our zone. Our turnovers in our zone are really costing us. We’re spending too much unnecessary time in our zone, and we’re giving up chances. Until we stop this four, five goals every game, I know one was an empty -netter… we’ll create the offence we did tonight, but until we’re better defensively…”

Bowness didn’t finish his thought, but the point was well taken.

The Jets’ offence is finding it’s rhythm, but the D-zone play and puck management isn’t close to where it’s going to need to be if this group wants to be a playoff team.

“It’s everyone. Soft plays at the wrong time. We’re playing the Stanley Cup champions. They’re big, they’re strong they’re aggressive and we’re making soft plays. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Bowness. “Yeah, it’s a mental thing. There’s no question. When you want to get the puck out of your zone you make high percentage plays. You make hard plays. We’re making poor percentage plays and we’re making soft plays. It’s a bad combination.”

To find the winning combination with more regularity, the Jets will need to sharpen up in the D-zone while building on the things they’ve been doing well in the offensive zone.

“You try to do everything right and you look around the room and everybody is giving it their all,” said Jets winger Alex Iafallo, who had two goals and finished with seven shots on goal. “Sometimes it’s just lucky bounces and it doesn’t go your way. You’ve got to stick with it and stay together.

“It’s frustrating to lose, obviously. You want to win every game, but we are just going to stay positive. I feel like we are doing a lot of good things. We need to clean up some mistakes but at the same time we are just going to keep climbing, climbing that mountain.”

The Golden Knights were expecting a battle from the Jets and that’s exactly what they got.

“The team that ends your season is usually the one you’re circling on your calendar a little bit. That’s human nature,” Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said prior to the contest. “We’re getting that from everybody early on. That’s just kind of the product of being the last team standing. I don’t think that will change much.”

1. Iafallo wants more games vs. Golden Knights — As someone who spent the first six seasons of his career in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings, it’s no surprise that Jets winger Alex Iafallo has played more games (30) against the Golden Knights than any other team during his time in the NHL. Iafallo also has more goals (eight), assists (15) and points (23) against Vegas during that time after notching a pair on Thursday night. The first of those two goals was the result of a smart play by Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, who carefully crafted a shot off the left pad of Logan Thompson that kicked right out onto the stick of Iafallo, who scored his second goal of the campaign. Iafallo had two great chances to inflate his success rate, but he was thwarted on consecutive scoring chances by Thompson early in the third period. However, Iafallo added a power-play marker to tie the game, burying a one-timer in the slot after a perfect pass from Mark Scheifele. The tic-tack-toe sequence was started by Nikolaj Ehlers. Unfortunately for Iafallo, he was sitting in the penalty box serving a penalty for slashing when Jack Eichel scored the game-winning goal for the Golden Knights.

2. Save of the year? — It’s obviously early and it’s easy for recency bias to kick in, but it’s tough to imagine there will be many more impressive or athletic saves this season than the one Golden Knights goalie Thompson made on Cole Perfetti late in the first period. Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon took a slapper from the left point and the rebound was a juicy one, forcing Thompson to show off his athletic ability. As the former Brandon Wheat Kings netminder pushed across the crease in desperation, he lunged with his stick and used the paddle to knock the puck out of the air as Perfetti attempted to fire home the loose puck. It was one of 36 saves that Thompson made in his second start of the season.

3. Perfetti notches first — Much was made about the Jets moving Perfetti from centre to the wing, but the skilled forward was able to convert a nifty pass from Vladislav Namestnikov to score his first goal of the season in the second period, making it a one-goal game. There’s no denying the Jets needed more offensive production from the second line and that’s a big reason the move was made. With Gabriel Vilardi on the shelf for four-to-six weeks with a sprained MCL, the Jets are counting on the second line to chip in offensively. On the goal from Perfetti, Ehlers was able to contribute his first point of the campaign, garnering the second assist by taking advantage of a rare offensive zone turnover by Golden Knights captain Mark Stone. Ehlers had two points and is going to be counted on to help drive the offence. Perfetti finished with four shots on goal and five shot attempts in the game, Ehlers had two shots on goal and seven shot attempts and Namestnikov had two shots on goal and three attempts, so the group was able to generate a considerable amount of opportunities.

4. The change on defence — The Jets made a change on defence, inserting Logan Stanley for Nate Schmidt on the third pairing. It was Stanley’s first regular season game of the season and he didn’t make much of an impact, finishing the contest with a minor penalty for high-sticking Nic Roy while taking 20 shifts for 14:30 of ice time. Bowness said after the morning skate that Stanley’s size would be beneficial while facing a Golden Knights squad that plays a big and heavy game. Stanley finished with one hit, one blocked shot and four giveaways. By making Schmidt a healthy scratch in the fourth game of the season, Bowness has made it clear there will be competition for the sixth spot on the depth chart. Until Ville Heinola is back up to speed after recovering from a fractured ankle, it will be Schmidt, Stanley and Declan Chisholm competiting for ice time. With the Jets ready to face the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, it will be interesting to see who gets the call on the third pairing.

5. The second coming of Brossoit — Jets backup goalie Laurent Brossoit made his first start of the season and finished with 22 saves against his former team. By no means was Brossoit was the weak link in this contest, as he didn’t allow a softie in the four goals he allowed.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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