Jets’ hopes sinking like a stone

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This article was published 08/01/2015 (4258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GLENDALE, ARIZ. — Funny thing about treading water: If the legs and arms are moving, a swimmer can stay above the surface for a long spell.

Funny thing about treading water, Part II: It’s a lot more difficult when the swimmer is wearing concrete flippers and toting an anvil.

Case in point, we give you the Winnipeg Jets, Thursday night in Arizona. Ravaged by injuries, especially to their defensive corps, the Jets managed to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff discussion, going 9-1-4 during a stretch from Nov. 25 to Dec. 27.

But, following a stink bomb 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes — once again in front of a healthy crew of their faithful at Gila River Arena — they are now officially sinking like a stone. The Jets have now lost four of their last five to fall to 20-14-7 and, silver lining here, are still clinging to the final wildcard spot.

‘Clinging’ being the key word here.

Worth noting: The loss came at the hands of a Coyotes team that is 26th overall in the NHL, was missing two of its top players in Zbynek Michalek and Martin Hanzal, was 0-8-3 against the Central Division — until last night — and had been blown out 6-0 by St. Louis on Tuesday.

THE NOT-SO SPECIAL TEAMS

Bryan Little was hit with a tripping penalty 23 seconds into the game and it was a harbinger of things to come for the Jets. Mikkel Boedker scored 47 seconds later and, following a Ben Chiarot penalty two minutes after that, Winnipeg was down two-zip when Oliver Ekman-Larsson beat Ondrej Pavelec, who could have sued his teammates for abandonment.

The Coyotes added a third power-play goal in the second when Shane Doan cashed in on a rebound, marking the first time this season the Jets penalty-kill unit had surrendered three goals in a single game.

That penalty-kill crew, so dominant earlier this season, has yielded six power-play goals in the last four games.

The Jets had their own opportunities on the power play, including a pair of two-man advantages totalling 1:43, but were a woeful 0-for-8 at night’s end.

“Our discipline is not where it needs to be,” said a frustrated Blake Wheeler afterward. “We’re taking some penalties that we deserve, some we don’t deserve. That’s the way it goes. Taking those penalties is a killer. We’re definitely a marked team. These refs, they’re on us… I’m not going to say we don’t deserve some of the calls we’ve been getting but we’re not getting the calls.”

Wheeler was also part of what could have been a turning point for the Jets near the end of the first when a goal was disallowed because it was ruled he had interfered with Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith. Asked what explanation he got from the officials, Wheeler said:

“I didn’t get much. They pretty much told me early to stay away from him, so I stayed away from him. That’s tough. My feeling was that (shot) hits off me, it goes in the net… it’s a good goal. Then I get tackled over top of the goalie. As a net-front guy, I’m allowed to stand outside the crease, that’s my ice. And when the goalie comes out to me, that’s still my ice and to get pushed back to him, that’s part of the game. That was a huge point in the game. If that goes 2-1, different ball game. That’s frustrating.”

“It was a good goal,” added Paul Maurice, “but that has nothing to do with (the loss). I’m not going to sit here and say it… it’s 2-1, it changes the game. We’re responsible for our play. We weren’t good enough to win a hockey game tonight.”

D DEVELOPMENTS

The Jets have nine defencemen on this trip, including Mark Stuart, Toby Enstrom and Keaton Ellerby — all of whom are working their way out of sick bay. But two other developments unfolded to muddy an already murky defensive picture: Zach Bogosian returned from his broken foot to suit up for the first time after missing 14 games due to an injury. Paired with Jay Harrison he played 18:56.

Meanwhile, Grant Clitsome — Paul Maurice announced earlier in the day — underwent back surgery in Los Angeles on Thursday and will, most likely, be lost for the season. The club also reassigned defenceman Julien Brouillette to St. John’s.

“It went well, so it’s a positive outcome,” said Maurice of Clitsome’s surgery. “He’s going to be out for an extended period of time… we’re talking about months, not weeks. This is going to be a long-term rehab.

The good news is when they go in there (for surgery), things can be bad, too. And it was actually positive news on a very difficult situation so we’re quite hopeful he’s going to be return to being an NHL player.”

 

GOING TO CALI

The Jets exited after the game Thursday for California, where they’ll meet the Stanley-Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

 

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

 

 

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