Jets running low on fuel

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This article was published 18/12/2022 (1036 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SEATTLE — Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness says there will be no excuses this year. Only solutions.

Fair enough. But allow us to make a big one for his team following a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday night at Climate Pledge Arena. Despite coming close to at least salvaging a point, if not two, the odds were seriously stacked against them.

Playing for the seventh time in 11 days, and second time in 22 hours, a Jets team that currently has six players making a combined $24 million in salary on the injured list was at a marked disadvantage against a rested opponent. One, we might add, that faced the Jets last month in this very building, under near identical circumstances. That time, Winnipeg managed to score with six seconds left in regulation to tie it, then escape with an overtime victory, after falling the previous night in Calgary.

The Kraken ought to be sending Christmas cards to the NHL’s schedule-makers.

“Obviously the schedule is tough right now. That’s two times we had to play a late game on a Saturday night and come in here and play an early five o’clock (local time) game against Seattle,” said defenceman Josh Morrissey.

“To have that happen twice against a fresh team is not ideal. We battled both games and found a way to get a point – got two points last time – we couldn’t hang on tonight. But I liked the battle we had considering that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Indeed, the Jets actually carried a one-goal lead into the third period on Sunday, but simply ran out of gas down the stretch. There was no late comeback in the cards.

“They were flying, we weren’t,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele. “That definitely wasn’t our best game and there are things we would have done differently if we could do it over. But we’ve got to park that one and get some rest.”

Winnipeg is still an impressive 20-10-1 on the season, which includes a dominant 5-1 victory on Saturday night in Vancouver. Seattle improves to 17-10-3 and sits third in the Pacific Division.

Here’s how we saw it from our press box perch:

1) At least the power play had plenty of life. Scheifele opened the scoring at 8:26 of the first period, converting a beautiful Morrissey slap-pass for his team-leading 19th of the year. It came just three seconds into an extended five-on-three After Jordan Eberle scored a highlight-reel spinning backhander midway through the second to tie it up, Pierre-Luc Dubois pounced on a loose puck created by a Kyle Connor shot for his 15th of the season. Once again, the Jets were enjoying a man advantage.

“Power play looked great, some great plays,” said Scheifele. “We would have liked to have a little more five-on-five. That’s something we’ve definitely got to look at.”

2) By the midway point of the game, the Jets seemed to be hanging on for dear life. But Dubois’ goal at 12:41 gave them a jolt of energy, and they came close to adding to the lead. Kevin Stenlund was sent in on a breakaway but couldn’t beat Philipp Grubauer, who was only tested 17 times on the night. Morrissey then rang one off the crossbar.

“We had a good push at the end of the second but couldn’t find a way to get one of those to put it up 3-1 and get a bit more breathing room, but that’s the game, especially on back-to-backs there is going to be a lot of momentum swings,” said Morrissey.

3) Any thought the Jets could try to nurse the slim lead in the final frame vanished quickly when Ryan Donato had a perfect deflection off a Yanni Gourde shot just 16 seconds into the third. Seattle, not surprisingly, saw blood in the water at that point, and finally grabbed the lead with 4:32 to play.

Some poor puck management by Winnipeg its own zone led to Jared McCann wiring a wicked wrister past Jets backup goalie David Rittich, who stopped 31 of 34 shots he faced.

“We were half a step behind physically and then mentally, we complicated the game a little bit. When you do that, you’re on your heels a little bit too much,” said Bowness. “That goal early in the third kind of hurt us a little bit, clearly. But we just couldn’t generate anything in the third period.”

4) A tip of the cap to Morrissey, who now has 31 assists in 31 games after his pair of helpers Sunday. There are just three players in the NHL right now with more apples than Morrissey. You may have heard of them: Nikita Kucherov. Connor McDavid. And Leon Draisaitl.

Morrissey has also set a new franchise record, recording at least one assist in nine straight games.

“It’s definitely something that I don’t take for granted. It’s a pretty cool achievement,” said Morrissey. “Like I’ve been saying all year, when you play with great players and give them the puck, assists, obviously you need to get them the puck and they need to score. It’s easy with the guys that we have on our team.”

5) The Jets went with the identical lineup on Sunday as they did Saturday, save for Rittich playing in place of Connor Hellebuyck. That meant Michael Eyssimont and Ville Heinola were healthy scratches, while Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Nate Schmidt, Mason Appleton, Logan Stanley and Saku Maenalanen remain sidelined with long-term injuries.

Bowness said he considered injecting “fresh legs” into the lineup, but decided against it following the impressive performance in Vancouver.

UP NEXT: Winnipeg returns home to face the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday at Canada Life Centre, then heads back on the road for back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday in Boston and Washington before a three-day Christmas break.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg