Jets give up hat trick in loss to Islanders

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This article was published 23/12/2017 (2820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — The Winnipeg Jets were looking for a knockout punch in their final game before the Christmas break but got a dose of their own medicine Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center.

Anders Lee scored his 22nd goal of the season on New York’s lethal power play 91 seconds into the game and super rookie Mathew Barzal added another 49 seconds later to give the Islanders a quick start the Jets never recovered from.

Winnipeg goaltender Steve Mason, making only his second appearance since Nov. 25, allowed two goals in first three shots he faced.

Barzal, a top candidate for Calder Trophy honours this season, went on to complete his first career hat trick to spark the Islanders to a 5-2 triumph.

“It’s tough to come back from two goals down,” said Jets centre Adam Lowry. “They’re one of the highest scoring teams in the league and they have one of the best home records and you dig yourselves a hole like that early, it’s tough to come back.

“We were able to answer and get that one goal and it seemed like we were getting our legs under us but they got a bit of a lucky break on that third one and they go into the room feeling good up 3-1. I thought we did a good job in the second period, generated some good chances. That being said, you come out and give up that fourth goal and right away they get that fifth one.”

After the stumbling start, the Jets began to push back by the middle of the period, culminating in Tucker Poolman’s first career goal. The rookie defenceman, who has shown a knack for getting pucks through to the net, wristed a shot that found its way past Islanders’ goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

Barzal pushed the lead to 3-1 with his 11th of the season with 36 seconds left in the opening period, banking a shot from below the goal line off Jets blue-liner Tyler Myers and behind Mason. It proved to be a fatal blow.

Midway through the third, the 20-year-old centre from Coquitlam, B.C., was back at it, sniping his 12th of the season. Anthony Beauvillier added another insurance goal for the Isles late in regulation. Lowry, with his seventh of the season, finally got Winnipeg on the board again with 1:36 left in the game.

It was the second straight loss for the Jets, who finished a pre-Christmas road trip with a 1-1-1 record and fell to 20-11-6 overall.

“We were just behind it for the entire way,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “When you get down two you’ve got a problem.

“We didn’t get enough pucks to the net easily or cleanly to give ourselves a chance to get back into the game. We were relying on the knockout punch to score a goal and it caused us a few problems for sure.”

Maurice attempted to spark his offence by promoting left-winger Mathieu Perreault to the top line with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler while sending Kyle Connor briefly to the fourth unit. The No. 1 line generated offensive zone time but was unable to beat Halak. Scheifele has gone especially dry with only one goal and three points in his last 10 games.

“Yeah, we’re hitting goalies with the puck,” said Wheeler. “So when it’s not going in, that’s just the way it goes. I think we still have a lot of confidence in the sticks in our room. You can’t blow the doors off every team every night. It’s not going to happen. You’ve gotta find different ways to manufacture goals when its going tough and we couldn’t do it tonight.”

Perreault was effective to a point, adding three shots to a Winnipeg attack that had a 61-44 edge in attempts, but to no real effect. Later, Maurice also broke up the regular trio of Lowry, Andrew Copp and Brandon Tanev.

“(I was) looking for something,” said Maurice. “I thought the game was played in the corners for the most part and that’s where Matty Perreault excels. That’s why he got an opportunity and guys who have the fewest miles on them, trying to give them a bit more ice.

“I liked (Joel) Armia and (Kyle) Connor with Lowry. Not saying we’re going to stick with that going forward, because Lowry’s line has been pretty darn good, especially in the (checking) role we give them when we’re at home.”

The Jets have seen a lot of the road lately, playing 12 of their last 18 games away from Bell MTS Place.

Wheeler, one of several Jets suffering from illness, was asked if his team should benefit from a three-day break.

“I would hope so,” he told reporters. “I mean, you guys have been following us. You can’t be well rested. We’ve been on the road and I’ve seen my family for about a week in the last two months, so it’s been challenging but that’s the way it goes. And I don’t think we’ve used it as an excuse but this will be a nice way for us to get away from each other, get away from the game and get a little rest and hopefully come back after the break and hit the ground running.”

The Jets are now off for the Christmas break and won’t return to the ice until a Wednesday home date with the Edmonton Oilers. Game time is 7 p.m.

NOTEWORTHY: Jarolav Halak finished with 35 saves for the Islanders. Steve Mason stopped 24 of 29 shots and saw his record drop to 2-6-1 with a 3.47 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage… Shawn Matthias, Marko Dano and Julian Melchiori were healthy scratches for Winnipeg. Steve Bernier, Alan Quine and Dennis Seidenberg were scratched for the home side… Entering the game, Steve Mason was 9-3-3 with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage in career games against the Islanders… The Jets were scoreless in three power-play chances while the Islanders went 1-for-3.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14