Sleepy start, special teams stymie Jets in 2-1 loss to Sharks

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2023 (664 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN JOSE — Life without injured top scorer Kyle Connor is off to a shaky start for the Winnipeg Jets.

A 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks — who came into Tuesday night’s game at SAP Center last in the NHL standings — could certainly be filed under the category of “unexpected developments” for a Jets club that had been flying high. They had won four straight games, and a victory would have shot them back on top of the Central Division.

Instead, a few warts were exposed in this one, especially on a power play that went a putrid 0-for-5. Add in the fact the home team scored the game-winning goal with 4:51 left in regulation while on their own man advantage and it felt a bit like salt in the fresh wound.

“The specialty teams were the difference in the game tonight,” coach Rick Bowness told the Free Press. “They did a good job of blocking the shots and their goalie made the big saves when he had to and we missed the opportunities when they were there. So, clearly in this game, you need a power play goal.”

Winnipeg falls to 16-9-2 on the year, leaving them two points back of the Colorado Avalanche and one behind the Dallas Stars. San Jose, which began the year on a 0-10-1 run, improves to 9-17-3 overall.

Laurent Brossoit was the hard-luck loser in this one, stopping 30 of 32 shots. Mackenzie Blackwood was sensational in the Sharks net, with 36 saves.

Let’s break this one down further:

1) WHERE HAS THE OFFENCE GONE?: For all the good things the Jets have done lately, they aren’t exactly lighting the lamp. Tuesday marked the 10th straight outing in which they failed to beat a goaltender more than three times. They do have two games with four goals in that span, the previous two wins to start this road trip in Colorado and Anaheim in which the final tally those nights was into an empty-net.

But with Connor shelved for perhaps the next couple months, or longer, after suffering a knee injury on Sunday against the Ducks, they’re going to have to figure out how to replace his team-leading offensive numbers (17 goals, 11 assists, 28 points).

“Obviously it sucks losing KC, who is as elite of a shooter and goal-scorer as they come, even on the power play he’s pretty legit,” said Perfetti.

“We’ve got a next-man-up mentality. We really shouldn’t be putting up any excuses here. We’ve got to be better, we’ve got to score. The work ethic is there, I think. The right idea, it’s just executing it. I think we can be better. KC is out for a bit now. We can’t use that excuse, we just need to put our heads down and work. Hopefully we can turn this thing around.”

Winnipeg’s power play is now 0-for-11 on this road trip, and at 16.7 per cent overall ranks 23rd out of 32 teams.

“I thought they were moving the puck okay, but it was getting those second and third opportunities there and burying the ones where we had the good looks at,” said Bowness.

Josh Morrissey came the closest, ringing one of the post. Perfetti, who was on the top unit with Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Gabe Vilardi and Morrissey, admitted there was too much passing and perimeter play, at times.

“They packed it in pretty good, so it was tough to get to the middle of the ice,” said Perfetti.

“Being the bumper guy, I kind of noticed it a little bit more. The ice wasn’t really there. They made a good emphasis on that, and obviously, their goalie played well. They blocked a lot of shots and it was hard to get pucks through. I think we would like to get more to the net. They clogged the middle up, so it was tough to get anything there. But we’ve got to be better.”

2) WAKEY, WAKEY: Perhaps it was a little too much time in the California sun. Whatever the reason, the Jets came out with one of their sloppiest, most sluggish starts in quite some time.

Brossoit was the only reason the visitors weren’t blown out of the building in the opening minutes.

“Felt like they had six guys out there I think for the first ten minutes,” said defenceman Brenden Dillon. “We just didn’t get to our game. You know it’s little things, we were getting hemmed in our zone, whatever it was getting pucks out or blocking a shot or getting a stick on it.”

Sure, the Sharks were throwing anything and everything on net, so the 12-1 advantage of the shot clock in the opening minutes might be a bit misleading. But there was both quantity and quality, and Brossoit was forced to make several stellar stops.

He couldn’t stop the 13th shot, however, which came off the stick of Justin Bailey at 9:17 and beat him through a partial screen.

“Give them credit. They came out hard. We survived,” said Bowness. “We bent a little bit, but we survived and then we took over the second half of that period.”

3) A BLAST FROM THE PAST: Dillon spent parts of six seasons in San Jose, the longest stay he’s had with any franchise. So you know his fifth goal of the year, and the 34th of his career, felt extra special.

A wrister from the point went through a crowd — Vladislav Namestnikov definitely waved his stick at it but missed — and ultimately went off the glove of Blackwood and into the net at 16:09 of the opening frame.

Dillon, 33, is now just one goal off the career-high of six he set way back in his sophomore season with the Dallas Stars in 2013-14, a feat that happened over 80 games.

“I loved my time here. I’m one of the proudest Shark alumni ever. I have nothing but great things to say, the community, the organization, the teammates. Some awesome memories,” he said.

“A really tight-knit group for those six years and I’ll always remember. Still bring lots of memories with me so nice to score in this building.”

The Jets kept coming in waves, clearly recognizing they were rather lucky to now be in a tie game, and by the time they headed to the room for the first intermission the shots were all square at 15-15.

“Once that goal went in we definitely started to find ourselves, find our game,” said Dillon. “We had a great second period where again we could have had two or three. But that’s something where we just have to stay disciplined with our system.”

4) HEARTBREAK HOTEL: Unable to capitalize on all those chances, a hooking penalty to Dylan DeMelo with 6:26 left in the third period would prove costly.

The Jets were unable to get a clear, and William Eklund came through with the dagger, less than a minute after Winnipeg had a glorious shorthanded chance on a two-on-one rush.

DeMelo had some words for the referee as he left the sin bin, clearly unhappy with the call.

“We had our chances to win the game. Blackwood made a lot of saves at the right time. And we just couldn’t get that second goal,” said Bowness.

“Both goalies played outstanding. Great game from LB, again. Their goalie was huge. It was probably more chances than the score would indicate. It goes back to the special teams making a difference in a tight game like that.”

5) ON TO THE NEXT ONE: The Jets opted to go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, with winger Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and blue-liner Declan Chisholm the two healthy scratches. Bowness indicated they’ll go back to the traditional 12/6 on Wednesday night as they wrap the four-game road trip in Los Angeles.

“Get this one out of the way and not think about it,” Perfetti said of the mindset.

“L.A. is a great team, a top team in the conference, so it’s going to be tough sledding. We are really going to have to put our work boots on and work really hard. It’s all about getting good recovery. We’ll look at the good from tonight, what we can take from it, clean up our mistakes. It’s going to be a different game (Wednesday) night, it’ll be a different style; they play a little different. So it’s going to be fun. The effort is there, but now the puck just has to go in the net.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg