Jets fall in 3-2 OT loss to Rangers

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This article was published 30/10/2023 (707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not the kind of habit a hockey team wants to develop. But for the second straight outing, the Winnipeg Jets allowed a winnable game to slip away.

On Saturday it was a 4-3 shootout loss in Montreal against the Canadiens. On Monday, a 3-2 overtime defeat to the New York Rangers at Canada Life Centre.

Both nights had plenty in common. The Jets played a mostly solid game, controlled play for large stretches, held leads in the third period yet ultimately had to settle for just one point rather than a pair.

Mika Zibanejad scored with 26 seconds left in the three-on-three session, blasting a one-timer past Connor Hellebuyck. Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider had the regulation goals. David Gustafsson and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Winnipeg, while Cole Perfetti had the primary assists on both.

The Jets are now 4-3-2 on the year, although they have gone five games without a regulation defeat (3-0-2) if you want to look at the glass being half-full. The Rangers improve to 7-2-0 on the season, including a perfect 5-0-0 on a lengthy road trip which has now come to an end.

Let’s break down what went right, and what went wrong, on this night:

1) Not so special teams – Let’s be blunt: The power play is costing Winnipeg games at this point. They went 0-for-3 on Monday, including 102 seconds of a man advantage in overtime which included plenty of pretty passes and perimeter play but very little in the way of scoring chances.

The Jets have now gone 13 straight man advantages without a goal spread over four games, and are a ghastly 4-for-34 on the year.

Given how much talent this team has, that’s stupefying.

Winnipeg made one change prior to puck drop against the Rangers, with Cole Perfetti moving up to the top unit and Ehlers going down to the second unit.

“We didn’t score, so no,” Ehlers said when asked if he liked what he saw.

It’s even more jarring when you consider that the Jets have given up at least one power play goal in eight of the nine games. That included Kreider’s tying tally with just over seven minutes left in the third period and Brenden Dillon in the box at the time for a reckless boarding penalty.

“Their power play scored, ours didn’t, and that’s the difference in the game. It really was,” said associate coach Scott Arniel.

“I thought we played a heck of a hockey game five-on-five against one of the top teams right now. We gave up one scoring chance five-on-five in the second, one scoring chance five-on-five in the third against that team and, like I said, special teams were the difference.”

2) Blake’s return – He didn’t factor into the scoring and has now gone pointless in his first nine games with the Rangers, but you could tell former Jets captain Blake Wheeler was fired up for this one.

He tied a season-high with four shots on goal, all of them coming in the opening period, and his 13:32 of ice time is his most since opening night.

Wheeler, 37, was clearly emotional during a video tribute and this truly felt like the closing of a chapter for all parties involved.

3) Nik’s big night — After Panarin and Gustafsson traded first-period goals, it looked like Ehlers might have potted the winner when he scored on a nifty wraparound just over five minutes into the final frame.

It was a milestone marker, representing the 400th point of his career.

“I’m trying to shoot more. It’s the only way you’re going to score. I’m going to continue doing that,” said Ehlers, who is now up to two goals on the year, which have come in the past three games.

Ehlers was coming off an admittedly rough outing in Montreal.

“For a guy that missed all of training camp, he’s starting to get his game going. The biggest thing him and I talk about is holding on to pucks. When he holds on to pucks, he’s hard to play against,” said Arniel.

“People can’t get it away from him and he utilizes his speed, which is his best asset.”

4) How the Helly did he do that? – Winnipeg’s three-time Vezina Trophy finalist added another highlight to his personal reel when he got a piece of a Vincent Trocheck shot from point-blank range, only to have the puck go off the post and trickle on to the goal line. Hellebuyck then used his glove hand to prevent Zibanejad from tapping it in, and got an assist from Dillon when he swatted it out of harm’s way.

5) The crowd – Like or not, attendance continues to be a big story around here. Monday’s head count was 11,898, which is actually the second largest of the young season (over five home games). Still, the organization won’t be doing a victory lap.

Chairman Mark Chipman spoke with the broadcast rightsholders last week in response to the sparse crowds which have made headlines around the hockey world. Despite Wheeler’s highly-anticipated return, an Original Six team making its only visit of the year and a family-friendly start time of 6:30 p.m., there were still nearly 3,500 empty seats.

6) Extra, extra – Hellebuyck made 23 saves on 26 shots, while Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 of 29 pucks that came his way.

Forward Dominic Toninato and defencemen Declan Chisholm and Logan Stanley were once again the healthy scratches.

The Jets will practice at the downtown rink on Tuesday morning, then board a charter later in the day headed to Las Vegas. They’ll practice again on Wednesday in Sin City, then begin a three-game road trip on Thursday night against the Golden Knights.

After that, they’ll make stops in Arizona (Saturday) and St. Louis (Tuesday) before returning home.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg