Injury-ravaged Jets closer to conference basement than wild-card playoff spot

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This article was published 19/01/2016 (3643 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It jumped out, like a desert oasis beckoning for a hockey team parched for comfort, for sustenance and, most importantly, for wins. 

The Winnipeg Jets bopped all over the NHL map through the first chunk of the 2015-16 season, and a healthy stretch of games at home — nine of 10 at the MTS Centre from Jan. 10 to Feb. 5 — was to be the refuelling/re-engergizing/rejuvenating portion of their schedule many hoped would launch them back into a playoff position.

Yeah, well… about that.

The Jets are now 1-3 to open this critical stretch after Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. And while the slide hasn’t seen them plummet in the Western Conference standings, they haven’t exactly gained any traction, either.

In fact, the Jets entered Tuesday’s NHL action still closer to the conference cellar — two points ahead of Edmonton and Calgary — than the four points that separates them from Colorado and the second wild-card spot.

And that, in a nutshell, has been the Jets’ season since the start of November. After a 7-3-1 start that had them in the second wild-card spot — three points ahead of Chicago — the Jets have gone 14-19-2

“Each game is different, right?” said Jets captain Andrew Ladd after Tuesday morning’s optional skate, when asked to assess this homestand. “Obviously the first two (losses to Buffalo and San Jose)… you’d like to have had better efforts. And then we bounce back with two tough games against Nashville and (on the road) Minnesota and were able to come back with big wins. And (Monday) night could have gone either way.

“You’ve got to find a way to stay positive and stay excited about these games.”

The Jets have three more games before the NHL All-Star break, Thursday against Nashville, Saturday versus New Jersey and Tuesday with Arizona in town, and two more at home before another gruelling stretch away from home next month. They’ll then play eight of 10 on the road from Feb. 6 to Feb 27 — two days before the trade deadline.

And so the focus can’t be looking in the rear-view mirror, but what is ahead.

“You can’t look back,” said Ladd. “I mean, there’s so many teams that are in the same position as we’re in (six points separate seven teams from Colorado in the second wild-card hole to Calgary and Edmonton in the basement). You’re not doing yourself any favours if you’re dwelling on the losses, especially the tough ones.

“We’re at the point of the season where you need to let it go and get excited about the next game.”

The Jets could also use some good news from sick bay, although that doesn’t seem imminent. Coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday forwards Adam Lowry, Drew Stafford and Mark Scheifele, along with goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, will be on the ice today, but not with the main group.

Pavelec will be on at the end of practice to work more with shooters, while Scheifele, Stafford and possibly Lowry will skate on their own.

Taking those three forwards out of the Jets’ top nine has had a dramatic impact on their finish. Winnipeg had 37 shots on goal in Monday’s loss — an additional 21 shots were blocked while 14 missed the target — and in the 1-0 victory over Minnesota Friday they had 26 shots, 10 blocked and another nine misses.

That’s 63 shots, 31 blocked and 23 misses in two games… and exactly two goals to show for it. That said, over the same stretch they’ve only surrendered two goals.

“That’s how the game is going to look,” said Maurice. “It’s got to be a tight game. There’s a fair chunk of offence out of your lineup. We still generated things. Maybe there’s a finishing play that we’re not going to get, another pass maybe and instead we had a lot of shots blocked.

“But we’re going to have enough good players in our lineup that we’re going to have an expectation.”

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And that expectation is to continue to trade punches and try and stay in this playoff scrap.

“There’s a big chunk of (teams) in this block and you’re almost in a playoff series now,” said Maurice. “You’re going to have losses that you’re going to have to shake off and get ready for the next game and if there are big chunks of your game that you don’t like, you have to deal with that so that you give yourself a chance to win the next night.

“But, I like the intensity of all the games we’ve seen and because of the number of teams, there’s nobody out of it and there’s not going to be any soft spot at any point in your schedule this year.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait