Jets fall to Capitals 5-2 in Lowry’s debut behind bench

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This article was published 17/12/2021 (1360 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets produced the intended response Friday night but weren’t rewarded.

Hours after bidding adieu to its longtime head coach, a galvanized Jets squad rallied from a two-goal deficit to pull even with the powerhouse Washington Capitals in the third period.

But Conor Sheary’s garbage goal with just under 11 minutes left in the game and a pair of empty-netters propelled the Capitals to a 5-2 victory in front of 14,039 spectators at Canada Life Centre. 

It was the organization’s first game of 1 A.P. (After Paul). Earlier in the day, Paul Maurice announced his resignation after more than eight years at the helm.

Winnipeg, with interim head coach Dave Lowry behind the bench, dropped to 13-11-5 and has lost three straight. 

The man with the keys was duly impressed with his squad’s effort against the Capitals, who improved to 18-5-7 and moved into sole possession of top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

“I thought we did play a fast game. I thought, you know, when you put up 40 shots you’re doing something right,” said Lowry. “I thought it might have taken us a little while to get it going, but the second period I thought we did a good job of playing fast, managing the puck, creating opportunities.”

The Jets were markedly quicker to pucks than they’d been in several recent defeats and actually won the special-teams battle, snuffing out a pair of Washington power plays while capitalizing once in three tries with the man advantage.

Caps’ goalie Vitek Vanecek had a splendid night, turning aside 40 shots, including 19 of 20 in the middle frame.

“It is frustrating. But I think the big thing is you look at it that there are bounces, but you try to learn from those,” said Lowry. “You know, you put pucks at the net, you put bodies at the net and usually good things happen. If that puck doesn’t hit the skate it’s probably not a goal.”

Sheary picked up scraps in the crease after a point shot by defenceman Dennis Cholowski smacked goalie Connor Hellebuyck and then bounced off Justin Schultz and the post.

Ex-Jets farmhand Michael Sgarbossa and Alex Ovechkin, with his 22nd goal of the year, each registered empty-netters to seal the deal.

The Jets blue line produced the offensive punch in a losing effort, with Brenden Dillon and Josh Morrissey scoring on hard point drives. Nikolaj Ehlers picked up primary assists on both scoring plays.

“I think we definitely played better than we did against Buffalo,” said Ehlers, referencing a listless performance Tuesday in a 4-2 loss to the visiting Sabres. “We had a lot of chances that we just weren’t able to bury. Those are the ones we have to start putting into the back of the net. We’re going to keep working on our game. There’s not excuses out there, we just got to put pucks in the back of the net, it’s that easy, and play well as a team, and I believe this team can do that.”

Dillon’s first goal with Winnipeg at 14:32 of the second period sliced the lead in half. The rugged defenceman, who played parts of two seasons with the Capitals before being swapped to the Jets in late July for a pair of second-round draft picks, grabbed a pass from Ehlers and fired a high shot behind Vanecek.

Morrissey’s power-play goal 2:03 into the third period, his fifth tally of the year, evened the game 2-2. 

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff spoke to the group earlier in the day, a conversation that seemed to strike a chord.

“It was just that, being accountable,” said Dillon. “First and foremost you gotta look at yourself. ‘How’s my start been? How have I been lately? How have I been helping the team? The piece of the puzzle that I am.’ Around the room, we’ve gotta look at that. With Chevy, the expectation has been set.”

The Jets showed some unease playing in front of their new boss in the opening period, losing puck battles in their own end, getting crossed up in the neutral zone and failing to generate much of an offensive push.

Winnipeg was fortunate to escape with a scoreless tie after 20 minutes, thanks in large part to Hellebuyck’s stellar, 14-save effort and a near miss by Ovechkin.

The 36-year-old Russian winger hit the crossbar late in the period with Dominic Toninato in the penalty box for Winnipeg, just one of a number of solid looks he was afforded to break the NHL record (274) for career power-play goals. For now, he remains tied with Hall-of-Famer Dave Andreychuk.

The Caps finally broke the shutout on their second shot of the middle period. Left unattended in the slot, Brett Leason converted a pass from Sgarbossa at the 3:11 mark. Off a meteoric transition, Daniel Sprong beat Hellebuyck with a low drive to boost Washington’s lead to 2-0 — on a play when Washington appeared to have too many men on the ice.

“It was obviously a pretty emotional day, just for everybody. A lot of guys here, guys like (Mark Scheifele) and (Blake Wheeler), have spent eight years with Paul,” said Dillon. “For us, trying to get going for tonight, that first period, we were maybe a little bit just kind of in the moment of everything going on, but as the game went on, we got better.”

Young centre David Gustafsson, making his season debut, was injured (lower body) early in the second period during a drive to the net, while Evgeny Svechnikov was hurt in the third. Neither forward returned, and an update should come today.

The Jets host the division rival St. Louis Blues on Sunday at 2 p.m., the first of five consecutive contests against teams from the Central.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell