Hutchinson shakes off rust, but still can’t buy a win for the Jets

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This article was published 23/12/2015 (3607 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With more than two weeks between games, Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson showed no real signs of rustiness this week but still wasn’t able to help his team earn a win.

Hutchinson relieved Connor Hellebuyck at 3-0 in Edmonton, and the Jets lost 3-1. He started Tuesday in Calgary and absorbed a 4-1 defeat after allowing three goals on 32 shots.

He’s now 5-8-1 on the season.

“I felt fine, same as I felt all year,” Hutchinson said. “It’s one of those things that I’ve been working hard in practice and staying sharp, and tonight I felt just as good as I have in any other game this year.”

He was unable to stop two shots that got past him in the first period, one a deflection by teammate Toby Enstrom and the other by Calgary’s Joe Colborne.

“It’s a little bit frustrating when those happen, especially with the way bounces have been going this season,” Hutchinson said. “But it’s just a mental battle from there and just push past it.

“You have to focus on making the next save.”

Hutchinson’s goaltending seemed to cause Jets coach Paul Maurice little stress Tuesday.

“He made some saves,” Maurice said. “I’ll give him that he did. He made some good saves. But you know what, I’m going to have to watch it, see what was going on with some of those pucks that were close, if he got a piece of them or not.

“Because you can really misjudge a goaltender sometimes on shot tips and things like that that you don’t pick up from the bench, and he can play a whole lot better than you think he did.

“You can’t put a better tip in on that first goal that we did. I have a hard time fighting him on that. Because if you put… I don’t think (Johnny) Gaudreau makes that tip, to be honest with you, as good as he was.

“So I’m not going to be upset with my goaltender tonight. I know that when I watch it. But he might be a whole lot better than you feel from the bench.”

Maurice’s mood

The coach was on the prickly side for some of his press conference Tuesday.

He clearly didn’t appreciate a couple of non-question questions from a local and then seemed to be showing some signs of wear after three losses in the last four games.

“Rest,” he replied to a question about the Christmas break that lasts until Dec. 27 for the Jets. “We’ll deal with what we’re doing coming out of the break, but this team needs the rest.

“The coach has been in a bad mood for a long time. We need some rest. And some separation.”

Defensive woes

Winnipeg, 8-4-2 after 14 games, stands at 15-17-2 at the break, the low-water mark of the season. The Jets are losers of three of the last four and 11 of the last 12 on the road (1-10-1).

One of the root problems continues to be defending, in that the Jets have simply not been able to lock down a stretch of games to help them build momentum.

At the break, only the Jets, Oilers and Flames have yet to record a shutout this season.

The Jets are one of the NHL’s five weakest defensive teams — a long way down from last season’s top-10 standing — and the first team in the Central Division to roll over 100 goals against, now at 103. The Jets are seventh and last in the Central, eight points below the playoff line.

Praise for Joel

Apart from some mild praise for Hutchinson, one of the items that did seem to encourage Maurice was the play of rookie Joel Armia.

He bumped Armia to the third line with Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Burmistrov during Tuesday’s second period.

“I liked him,” the coach said. “I liked him before and after. And what, his third game in the NHL (for the Jets) and it looks like he’s got some pace to his game that we maybe didn’t see early on so there’s some development there.

“We saw it in the AHL and he’s played well for the Moose. He gets that puck across his body pretty good and makes a play with it. We’ve got a lot of youth on that line the way I left it, but maybe he can keep fighting for more ice time.

“I’m happy with him. Because I like what he’s done since he’s been here and there’s some hope there. He looks like a pretty good young player.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca