Jets hit new low in 3-1 loss to Flyers

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This article was published 01/02/2022 (1321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PHILADELPHIA — Hoping to end on a high note before heading their separate ways for the NHL all-star break, the Winnipeg Jets instead hit a new low.

In desperate need of points to crawl back into the playoff picture, the Jets left Philadelphia empty-handed, falling to the lowly Flyers 3-1 in front of 13,433 at Wells Fargo Center Tuesday night. Deadlocked at 1-1 for much of the night, with chances coming on both sides, the Flyers broke the game open when James van Riemsdyk converted on a two-on-one with Scott Laughton.

The odd-man rush was created when Jets defenceman Ville Heinola pinched in the offensive zone, only to whiff on a shot in front, sending the puck the other way. With Jets defenceman Neal Pionk sprawled on his stomach in an attempt to break up a potential pass, Laughton opted to shoot and van Riemsdyk shovelled the rebound past Connor Hellebuyck for his 11th of the season.

Oskar Lindblom added an empty-net goal with 1:14 remaining to put the game out of reach, improving the Flyers to 15-22-8.

“We made a mistake at the wrong time. We’re looking to push, to score, to create the offence,” Jets head coach Dave Lowry said. “We take a risk, we turn the puck over and it’s coming back the other way. The big thing is you just have to manage the game and know how much time is left.”

The loss dropped the Jets to 18-17-7 on the season, keeping them in sixth place in the Central Division, with four teams ahead and seven points separating them from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The loss also suggests their convincing 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues was merely a mirage in another otherwise inconsistent season.

“You always want to go into (a break) on a positive. You don’t, so you’re going to have that sour taste in your mouth a little bit,” Jets veteran forward Paul Stastny said after the game. “We know we’ve got to refresh, refresh mentally more than anything. We know what we’ve got in there, and we know when we’re playing our game, we can compete with anyone. And I think it’s a matter of getting everyone on the same page.”

The Jets were unable to take advantage of a Flyers team that is mired in one of the club’s worst stretches in history. Philadelphia entered the game coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the L.A. Kings on Saturday, but it was their first victory in 14 games — a losing streak that lasted nearly the entire month of January.

What made the defeat even more disappointing is that the Flyers are also riddled with injuries, absent of several key contributors. They’ve been particularly hit hard at the centre position, with Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes and Derick Brassard all on the shelf. Ryan Ellis, one of the league’s premier puck-handling defenceman, has missed the last 40 games with a lower-body injury.

Asked if it was an example of the Jets being overconfident after a strong outing against St. Louis, a pattern that perhaps explains why they’ve been unable to string together stretches of solid play all season, defenceman Josh Morrissey claimed that wasn’t the case.

“Confidence is a great thing as a team. Teams that have a little bit of swagger are dangerous. That’s something we’re trying to have in our room,” Morrissey said. “It’s tough when we’ve been on the stretch that we have been, but no, I don’t think we went out there as an arrogant group or anything like that, thinking we were going to snap it around and come out of here with five goals, six goals and blow the doors off these guys. It’s a game where you got to try and get a point out of that one, at least. We’re going to need to be better to find a way to get those points.”

It looked as though the Jets might be in for an easy night, especially after wasting little time making their presence felt, with Kyle Connor scoring his team-leading 25th goal of the season just 48 seconds after the opening puck drop. Connor one-timed a cross-ice, no-look pass from rookie Cole Perfetti, with Pierre-Luc Dubois drawing the second assist.

But for the remaining 59 minutes and 12 seconds, the Jets had no answers for Flyers goalie Carter Hart. Hart made 32 saves to seal the win, standing tall when he had to, especially in parts of the second period when the Jets were their most dangerous offensively.

Despite being a battered group, Philadelphia still had some offensive punch in its lineup, including captain Claude Giroux. Giroux almost delivered the Jets a blow midway through the opening frame after a bit of puck luck led to a glorious chance in front.

The puck took a fortuitous bounce off the end boards, eventually landing onto the stick of Cam Atkinson, who slid a pass through the crease to Giroux. But Hellebuyck was there to shut the door, sliding post to post to preserve the 1-0 lead.

Hellebuyck, who returned to the crease after getting the day off against the Blues, made 33 saves in the loss.

The Jets opened the two-game road trip with the win over the Blues, a game they put together a strong defensive effort that was being heralded as the blueprint for the way they want to play in the second half of the season. But while it was one of the Jets stronger performances this year, it came after a dreadful six-game losing streak.

Some of that same sloppy play seen throughout their recent run of losses crept back into the Jets game against the Flyers. Hellebuyck was able to bail his teammates out in the opening frame, but it would prove costly in the second.

An uncharacteristic giveaway by Pionk, who blindly whipped a pass towards the middle of the ice while battling near Winnipeg’s blue line, was picked off by Travis Konecny. Konecny would make no mistake, ripping a shot past the stick of Heinola and over the glove of Hellebuyck for his 11th of the season.

The goal came at the midway mark of the period and after the Jets were unable to convert on a pair of Grade-A chances at the other end. Connor was robbed by Hart on the power play, on a chance similar to the one he scored on in the first. Then Blake Wheeler, who fired a shot over the net after he was sent in on a quick break, couldn’t lift the puck over the pad of Hart on a two-man breakaway with Mark Scheifele.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Lowry said. “We played a perfect road game a couple of days ago. We got rewarded, we were patient, the detail was there in our game. We made some mistakes tonight that we didn’t make on Saturday.”

The Jets will now head their separate ways, out of action for close to a week for the NHL all-star break. They’ll return to a game-heavy schedule, due to making up several postponed games owing to COVID-19, with 40 games in an 81-day span.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton