Learning experience

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/12/2016 (3204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Heading into Thursday’s set of NHL games, no team had scored as often as the New York Rangers, who were averaging 3.56 goals through the first 27 games of the 2016-17 season.

The Winnipeg Jets, the Rangers’ opponent Thursday, had already witnessed New York’s offensive dominance once this season, losing to the Blueshirts 5-2 at Madison Square Garden Nov. 6 in a game that featured five different goal scorers for New York.

But it wasn’t their penchant for scoring goals Jets head coach Paul Maurice lamented most about having to play the Rangers. Instead, it was their defensive side of the game he felt would give the Jets the most trouble.

Not too mention, they would be without two scoring threats (injured forwards Rick Nash and rookie Jimmy Vesey).

“I think when you talk about a team like that, and the goals that they’ve scored, and the rush chances they generate in a game, you get fooled into thinking it’s not built upon a solid defensive foundation, and I think it is,” Maurice said after the morning skate.

“They block more shots than anybody in the league, they have five under the puck whenever it’s in doubt — they’re conscientious in that department — and they’ve got some pretty fine goaltending.”

Maurice and his Jets would get a healthy dose of that hours later, as New York struck late in the third period to edge Winnipeg 2-1 at the MTS Centre.

The Jets, who had started to find their groove of late, collecting points in five of their last six games and seven of their last eight games at home, were just 69 seconds away from forcing the game to overtime and earning at least a point.

But after Drew Stafford was called for high-sticking with less than three minutes to go in the third period, the Jets needed their penalty kill to add one final push in order to force the extra period.

The Rangers eventually delivered the knockout punch when forward Kevin Hayes benefitted from some puck luck after a Ryan McDonagh shot deflected off the stick of Jets forward Adam Lowry and to Hayes for an easy tap-in goal.

It was the second power-play goal of the game and the first two against a Jets unit that had gone a perfect 9-for-9 in its last three games.

“As soon as (McDonagh) went to release it, there was a bunch of traffic in my eyesight, so as a goalie you wait that fraction of a second where the puck should either hit you or hit the boards,” said Michael Hutchinson, who earned his second start in the last four games, finishing with 22 saves. “I didn’t hear anything and with my peripheral vision caught the puck to my right. I tried to push over and get there, but I just couldn’t get there in time.”

With the loss, the Jets fall to 13-14-3 and now head off on a two-game road trip through Western Canada with games against the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The Rangers, who wrap up a three-game road trip in Chicago tonight, improved to 18-9-1. The Rangers, who fell to the New York Islanders 4-2 Tuesday, are now 9-0-1 in games following a defeat. They also haven’t gone more than two games this season without recording at least a point.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Rangers went at least 27 games into a season without being held pointless in two or more consecutive games was during the 1971-72 season.

“Obviously, they’re a great team,” said Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who missed a glorious breakaway chance in the second period to extend his goalless drought to 15 games. “It was 1-1 until the last minute, so I think that what we can learn from this game is that we can play with these types of teams, we can play with the best teams in this league, and we want to be one of those teams. We got to shake this one off and keep building.”

The Jets have preached fast starts all season, but once again came out flat in the opening 20 minutes.

The Rangers dictated play for much of the first period, moving the puck in transition for a number of quality scoring chances. They would capitalize on a power play midway through the frame, as Chris Kreider capped off a tic-tac-toe play for his seventh of the season and a 1-0 lead for the visitors.

In a twist of irony, Winnipeg would find its footing in the second period — a frame it had been outscored in 39-19 through the first 29 games.

Mark Scheifele, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with a hamstring injury, scored his 14th goal of the season (team-leading 27th point) to tie the game 1-1.

It was the only puck that would beat Antti Raanta, subbing for starter Henrik Lundqvist, as he improved to 6-1-0 with a 17-save performance.

“You don’t realize how quickly the game can get away from you,” Scheifele said of his brief absence from the team. “You miss three games, and the first few shifts are pretty fast, but as the game went on I felt better and better.”

Scheifele’s goal seemed to spark the Jets, who continued to keep pace with the Rangers for the final 20 minutes.

Had it not been for an unfortunate bounce at the end, most in the Jets locker room felt, it would have been the ideal game against one of the NHL’s top teams.

“That was one where we felt like two points were taken away from,” said Stafford. “Just unfortunate for it to end like that. We’ll take what we can from it here and get ready for a good road trip.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jeffkhamilton