Philly grounds high-flying Jets

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This article was published 13/01/2024 (634 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Turns out you really can’t win ‘em all.

The Winnipeg Jets sure challenged that mantra over the past few weeks, stringing together a scorching, record-setting streak that seemed like it might just go on forever.

Enter the Philadelphia Flyers, who slayed the dragon on Saturday night and skated away with an impressive 2-0 victory over hockey’s hottest team.

“We just didn’t score. It’s as simple as that,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said in the aftermath at Canada Life Centre. “We had some really good looks early. Their goalie made some big saves early. We had some really good looks in the third. The puck just didn’t go in the net for us.”

Winnipeg had won a franchise-record eight straight games to surge to the top spot in the NHL standings. The Jets also hadn’t lost in regulation since Dec. 12, going 12-0-2 over the last 14.

Give credit to Flyers rookie goaltender Samuel Ersson, who stopped all 35 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season. He was dialled in early and often and made life miserable for Winnipeg shooters all night long.

“Obviously we knew they were hot coming in and they had not let in a lot of goals this season so we knew we had to play a good road game and maybe not give up so much,” said Ersson, a 24-year-old from Sweden. “Great game for the guys and a huge two points for us.”

It’s just the second time the Jets have been blanked this year.

The Jets are now 28-10-4 on the year and still own the best winning percentage in the NHL, although the sizzling Vancouver Canucks have climbed one point ahead of them. The Jets have a game in hand in the race for the Presidents Trophy.

Philadelphia improves to 23-14-6 as they battle with the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes for top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

“Whenever you play against Philly, you know it’s going to be a hard-fought game. They fought harder than we did,” said forward Nino Niederreiter.

Here’s a closer look at what went down:

STAR POWER OUTAGE: The Jets were already without top goal scorer Kyle Connor, as they have been for the past five weeks, although he’s getting closer to a return. Then they lost top point producer Mark Scheifele, who missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Advantage, Philadelphia? Not so fast, as shutdown centre Sean Couturier (undisclosed injury) and top defenceman Jamie Drysdale (illness) were both MIA for the visitors. Both had played the night before in St. Paul, when Philadelphia rallied to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime.

No surprise, then, that this was a low-scoring, fairly low-event game, with both clubs looking to try and grind out a victory.

“They capitalized on the couple mistakes that we (made),” said Niederreiter.

“They play a very structured, hard game, and they work extremely hard. You can’t just outwork Philadelphia. They are known, especially under that coaching staff, they work every single night. You’ve got to outwork them to be successful, and we can’t give them chances like we did.”

Cam Atkinson, who had eight goals in his first 15 games, entered the game on a 26-game drought. The streaky veteran winger opened the scoring at 15:41 of the first period — he mimed tossing a monkey off his back during an animated celebration — then doubled down with his second of the night, this time on the power play at 2:52 of the middle frame.

That would be more than enough.

“Poor puck management,” said Bowness. “Most of their chances were coming off the rush because we were just managing the puck really poorly. And we did. We turned it over and they were coming at us and they were catching us on our heels.”

SNAKE-BITTEN SNIPER: Nobody had more looks than Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi, including a pair of first-period breakaways and another Grade A chance in the middle frame.

Ersson had his number.

“I don’t tip my hat to anybody,” said Vilardi. “It’s just we didn’t score. You gotta find ways. You gotta get in front of the goalie, you gotta jab at pucks in front and keep battling. Win your stick battles in front. Yeah we had a lot of good looks and that’s a tough one.”

Vilardi finished with five shots on goal, plus three other attempts that were blocked. Only Nikolaj Ehlers, who was a game-time decision with an upper-body injury, had more with six on Ersson.

“We definitely had some Grade-A”s early on, and then I think late in the second we found our legs and gave them a little push,” said Niederreiter.

“But we still could have been way more direct to the net and got more traffic and get a little greedier there. But overall, hats off to their goalie, he played very well. They just play a well-structured game.”

With Scheifele unable to go — he’s considered day-to-day and his absence is believed to be precautionary — captain Adam Lowry stepped up to centre the top line with Vilardi and Ehlers, fresh off setting those two players up for the tying an game-winning goals against the Blackhawks.

STATUS OF THE STREAKS: In addition to losing for the first time in any fashion in nine games (now 8-1-0) and the first time in regulation in 15 games (now 12-1-2), this was also Winnipeg’s first regulation defeat of the year to a team from the Eastern Conference.

The Jets had gone 11-0-3 in the first 14 games against their distant rivals.

Winnipeg plays those 16 non-conference clubs twice per year, once at home and once on the road, and went just 15-17-0 against the East last year.

“Obviously, we are very proud of what we did, but at the same time it is a long season,” said Niederreiter. “It’s in the past.”

Saturday was the start of nine straight games against Eastern opponents. Winnipeg won’t see a Western Conference club until Feb. 14 when the San Jose Sharks come to town.

Not everything came to a screeching halt, however. The Jets have now gone 32 straight games without allowing more than three goals, which is the second-longest streak in the NHL’s modern era (since 1967). The all-time record of 35 games, held by the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild, is now in sight.

Winnipeg has also gone 12 straight not allowing more than two goals.

“If you win eight games in a row, it’s a sign of a good team when you lose one of nine,” said Vilardi, before quickly stopping himself.

“We’re not happy here. I’m not happy. That was a game we feel we could have and should have won. Obviously, they got the better of us (Saturday) and that’s the way it goes.”

EXTRA, EXTRA: Connor Hellebuyck took the hard-luck loss, stopping 34 of 36 shots he faced. It’s his first regulation defeat in the last 14 games (11-1-2 in that time).

Forward Rasmus Kupari took Scheifele’s spot on the roster, playing for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury on Nov. 14. He began the night on the third line between Niederreiter and Morgan Barron. Coach Rick Bowness moved him to the fourth line later in the game, skating between Morgan Barron and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who had also been a game-time decision with illness. Dominic Toninato moved up to his spot.

Defencemen Logan Stanley (who took the pre-game warmup in case a forward couldn’t go) and Declan Chisholm were the two healthy scratches.

Attendance was 14,540.

Philadelphia went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Winnipeg went 0-for-3.

The Jets, having played nine games in the past 15 days (and going 8-1-0) will take a well-deserved day off Sunday, then return to practice Monday ahead of the finale of the four-game homestand on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

“Obviously, we’re at the end of it. There was a period there where we had five (games) in seven (days). That’s when it’s really grinding,” said Vilardi.

Winnipeg has just five games now over a 23-day span, with both the player break and All-Star break mixed in.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg