Soft goal sinks Jets

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This article was published 30/11/2023 (679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The lead was gone in the blink of an eye and quickly turned into a deficit not long after that.

On a night where the Winnipeg Jets were mostly sound defensively and did an excellent job keeping the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl mostly quiet at even strength, it was a late penalty that opened the door for the lethal Edmonton Oilers power play to go to work.

McDavid cruised into the slot and found Draisaitl for a one-timer with 2:13 to go in regulation time, propelling the Oilers to a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at Canada Life Centre.

“Obviously, you never want to give up a late lead and give up that extra point late in the game,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “They pushed pretty hard in the third period to tie it up and I felt they had momentum and kept it into that power play. It’s a lethal power play over there and it’s just starting to heat up. It’s a disappointing one for us. We did a lot of good things to try to at least earn a point. But it’s frustrating.”

Jets head coach Rick Bowness made it clear he didn’t think his team sat back in the third period.

“Our biggest problem tonight was faceoffs. They killed us in the faceoff circle, so you’re chasing them all the time,” said Bowness. “We’re not trying to sit back, but they’re winning so many faceoffs we end up chasing them. We won 29 per cent, they won 71, I mean, that’s pretty much the whole game we’re chasing them. So that’s an issue. But look at the first shift in that third period, we went right after them. And that was a Grade A, we had a good opportunity there but just couldn’t get that second goal.”

Just like that, a little adversity has arrived on the doorstep of the Jets, who have dropped three consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season.

Before the ‘I-told-you-so’ folks have time to chime in from the peanut gallery, this isn’t a matter of history repeating itself or the Jets slipping into old habits.

They’re not abandoning the structure that has been the foundation of the opening quarter.

They just haven’t been quite as sharp as they were when they put together a five-game winning streak that preceded these three losses.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck was cruising along in this one, turning aside the 31 shots he faced until Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse snuck a shot from just inside the blue line through him with 5:12 to go in regulation time.

Hellebuyck was in pure disbelief when he turned to see the puck cross the goal line.

Since a pedestrian start to the campaign, Hellebuyck has been excellent for the Jets and the one soft goal against didn’t change the fact he finished with 36 saves in the contest.

However, that’s a shot Hellebuyck needs to handle and there’s no doubt that goal changed the complexion of the entire contest.

Although the Jets didn’t fall apart, Gabriel Vilardi was whistled for a holding minor on McDavid and the Jets were unable to kill that penalty off.

So instead of the Jets potentially talking about a solid response and the 33rd shutout of Hellebuyck’s career, the focus quickly shifts to trying to ensure this losing skid doesn’t reach four games.

Every team goes through a stretch like this and we’re about to find out how the Jets are going to handle it.

Much like good teams sometimes find ways to win when they’re not at their best, good teams also find a way to battle through adversity when it arrives.

THE PP GOAL – After all of the talk about the inability to cash in on four power-play chances against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, including two lengthy five-on-threes that totalled nearly two full minutes, the Jets struck with the man-advantage in their first opportunity Thursday. Kyle Connor found Mark Scheifele with a cross-ice feed and Scheifele was able to thread the needle with a perfect pass to Cole Perfetti for a nifty redirection. For Perfetti, it was his eighth goal of the season, which moves him to sole possession of second place in that category. Perfetti’s consistency has been impressive, as he’s up to 18 points in 22 games – and he’s collected at least a point in 12 of the past 14 games.

THE RETURN – After sitting out the previous 17 games with a sprained right knee he sustained in the opening period of a tilt with the Los Angeles Kings, Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi was back in action. He was eased back into action in an effort to help get his timing and conditioning back, as he was slotted in on the fourth line. He did return to the top power-play unit and looked extremely comfortable there, generating a couple of quality scoring chances – including one from the high slot that was stopped by the blocker of Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner. Vilardi finished the contest with 15 shifts for 13:05 of ice time with one shot on goal. Whether it’s in a game or two, don’t be surprised to see Vilardi move quickly back into the top-six.

“Obviously he can see the ice so well,” said Perfetti. “Good to get his feet wet at five on five obviously that’s a tough team to play against at five on five. They’re fast, they’re quick and on the power play he was making a lot of really good plays. It’s nice to have him back and a huge morale boost for the guys and the team and I think for him to. He only got to play two and a bit games before the injury, so I think he was really excited. It’s just a really good boost for us to have a guy like that come back into the lineup.”

THE HEAD SHOT – Just before the midway point of the second period, Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey was defending in the D-zone when Oilers forward Mattias Janmark ran into him, catching him in the head in the process. Surprisingly, nothing was called on the play – and nothing was added after the men in stripes huddled together to discuss what had happened. Even giving Janmark the benefit of the doubt that it wasn’t intentional, at the bare minimum this should have been an interference minor. Morrissey went down the tunnel for further evaluation, forcing the Jets to play with five D-men for a couple of shifts. Morrissey returned for a power play with 6:37 to go in the second period and was able to finish the game, which is good news for the Jets.

“It’s an obvious pick to me. It’s interference. I don’t know how that’s not a penalty,” said Morrissey. “Guys run into each other sometimes out there for sure. But Connor (McDavid) had the puck for a number of seconds by then, and I was playing against him. Players at this level have the ability to realize that there is a one-on-one going on there. It’s one thing to have a standing pick, where you’re standing still and try to get away with that, maybe. But, to skate right into it, it’s a blatant interference penalty to me.

“Maybe they didn’t see it. It happens. I was told that we just ran into each other. I completely disagree with that. I don’t think he was targeting me or trying to make a dirty play, but I do think he was trying to run a pick and to me that’s interference all day.”

THE INJURY – Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov left the game late in the third period after taking what appeared to be an accidental knee to the head from Nurse, shortly before he scored the game-winner. Namestnikov finished the game with just under 12 minutes of ice time. He’s done a solid job holding down the second-line centre job since his promotion early in the season.

EXTRA, EXTRA – With Vilardi’s return, the Jets needed to scratch a forward and the odd-man out ended up being David Gustafsson, who has two goals in 21 games this season. Bowness ended up keeping Axel Jonsson-Fjallby in the lineup on the fourth line and moved Morgan Barron to centre. Jonsson-Fjallby was in the lineup for his speed and used on the penalty kill. The other healthy scratches for the Jets were defencemen Declan Chisholm and Logan Stanley. The crowd of 13,611 represents the largest of the season at Canada Life Centre. The Jets continue a four-game homestand on Saturday afternoon against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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