Jets win a lot for being a bad team

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2020 (2067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By some accounts, the Winnipeg Jets should have limped back into town under the cover of darkness early Friday morning, licking their wounds after having just been throughly beaten down and demoralized following a fruitless four-game road trip.

After all, the advanced numbers don’t paint a very pretty picture, to say the least. 

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Jets registered just 13 high-danger chances generated during pit stops in Minnesota (2), Montreal (5), Toronto (3) and Boston (3). The Jets also surrendered a whopping 54 high-danger chances to the Wild (11), Canadiens (14), Leafs (13) and Bruins (16).

If these were boxing matches, Winnipeg’s corner man likely would have thrown in the towel.

But, true to form, these confusing, confounding Jets managed to defy the odds, dodge a barrage of punches, stay in the fight and somehow sneak away with five of a possible eight points.

A controversial overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. A tidy one-goal victory over the Montreal Canadiens. A thrilling shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. And a frustrating one-goal defeat to the Boston Bruins.

Go figure. Also, how in the heck?

I suppose that’s what solid goaltending and strong special teams will do for you (high-danger chances are for five-on-five play), plus a generous sprinkling of good luck and making the most of your limited chances with a group of slick, skilled forwards who can strike at any time. 

It also follows a familiar script for a Jets team that, as head coach Paul Maurice recently said, will never be an “analytics darling,” yet keeps finding ways to hang around in games they have no business being in.

Most teams would be sounding the alarm over such lopsided underlying numbers. But not Winnipeg, which seems to be living by a “they don’t ask how, just how many” mantra this season.

Just check out some of the post-game soundbites following Thursday night’s 5-4 loss to the Bruins, in which members of the club were asked to reflect on the week that was. 

“I think we did some good things. I feel like we’re peeling our way out of a little bit of a funk,”
– Jets forward Andrew Copp

“I think we did some good things. I feel like we’re peeling our way out of a little bit of a funk,” forward Andrew Copp told me.

“Obviously, we didn’t finish the way we wanted, but overall the road trip was a great effort by all the guys. We should be happy with this road trip,” said defenceman Dmitry Kulikov.

“Yeah, really good. Got some people back to make a difference. Got some confidence going. It was real good,” was Maurice’s overall assessment.

I don’t mean to sound like a downer, but getting out-chanced 54-13 at five-on-five doesn’t exactly scream “turning a corner.” Nor does it appear to be a recipe for sustained success.

There’s no question such a wide disparity means your special teams need to save the day from your woeful five-on-five play. That was certainly the case in these last four and a big reason why the Jets were able to pick up some points, with the power play going 4-10, and the penalty kill going 12-for-14 with a pair of short-handed goals. 

It’s also putting plenty of pressure on No. 1 goalie Connor Hellebuyck and, when called upon, backup Laurent Brossoit. Hellebuyck has typically been up to the task, while Brossoit has struggled in limited action. 

Sooner or later this is all going to come back and bite them in a big way, right?

You’d think. And yet, it’s somehow gotten the Jets this far, currently sitting in a playoff spot at 24-17-4 and just four points out of second place in the Western Conference.

“Obviously, we didn’t finish the way we wanted, but overall the road trip was a great effort by all the guys. We should be happy with this road trip.”
– Jets defenceman Dmitry Kulikov

The Jets are last in the NHL with 294 high-danger chances for, and also last in the NHL with 473 high-danger chances against.

They also have just nine wins in 20 games at Bell MTS Place and a penalty kill that is last in the league despite showing some recent signs of improvement.

I repeat: How in the heck?

The Jets were in tough coming out of the Christmas break with a stretch of eight games in 14 days, but managed to weather the storm by going 3-3-2. Six of those were on the road. 

Now comes the next key stretch, beginning with a three-game homestand that starts Sunday afternoon against the Nashville Predators. That’s followed by a visit on Tuesday by the Vancouver Canucks, and a Friday evening date with the Tampa  Bay Lightning.

“It felt like a fair amount of travel coming out of Christmas, with some time-zone changes and things like that. It’ll be good to come back home and (make) another push,” said Maurice.

The Jets haven’t been doing much pushing at home this season. Winnipeg has lost five straight games at Bell MTS Place and will now face the two teams that are directly behind them in the Predators and Canucks, followed by the NHL’s hottest team in the Lightning.

Then it’s back on the road for three more leading into the all-star break, with stops in Chicago, Carolina and Columbus. The Jets will have some special guests, as they host their first-ever “Mom’s Trip.”

“These next six games going into the break are going to be huge. We’ve got, obviously, Nashville, new coach, they’re going to be ready to go. They’re a great team. Then Tampa, Vancouver. All of these teams we’re coming up against are really good teams. We need to bunker down for these next six and then enjoy the break.”
– Andrew Copp

“These next six games going into the break are going to be huge. We’ve got, obviously, Nashville, new coach, they’re going to be ready to go. They’re a great team. Then Tampa, Vancouver. All of these teams we’re coming up against are really good teams. We need to bunker down for these next six and then enjoy the break,” said Copp.

If we’ve learned anything about the Jets this season, it’s that it’s probably not going to look very good. At times it may be downright ugly.

Regardless of what the fancy stats might say, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jets take a licking but keep on ticking. Somehow, that’s become the Winnipeg way.  

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg