Goalies share spotlight in Jets 1-0 loss to Leafs

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This article was published 24/01/2024 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – About the only thing missing was a timely goal.

On a night where the Winnipeg Jets responded with an impressive performance, they ran into a hot goalie and left the Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews open for a brief moment in coverage in a 1-0 overtime loss on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Morgan Rielly found Matthews alone in front for a redirection on the doorstep with 46.2 seconds to go for the only goal in a highly-entertaining tilt.

“We let the guy with 38 goals get behind us. We were there. We just lost coverage,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who was otherwise impressed by the effort of his team on a night they were without forwards Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi to injury and then lost top defenceman Josh Morrissey late in the first period. “I thought that was, by far, our best game of the road trip. We played really, really well and give the five guys a lot of credit. And our forwards did a great job supporting them, backchecking, backpressure, getting the puck out of their hands, so it was a great team effort defensively.

“We didn’t give up very much five-on-five and the few chances we gave up, LB made some good saves but again, that’s the best game of the road trip.”

With the overtime loss, the Jets brought home three of a possible six points from the three-game road trip and now sit 30-11-5 on the season.

The two teams face off in a rematch on Saturday night at Canada Life Centre.

“Again, we’re playing great and all of a sudden we’re taking three penalties in the second and we lost our flow,” said Bowness. “But again, you’ve got guys sitting on the bench too long. So that was disappointing. We talked before the game: ‘Listen, let’s stay out of the box.’ We ended up taking five which is too many and that had an effect on our offensive side of the puck as well. But again, that was a great team effort tonight. (If) we play like that on Saturday, I like our chances.”

The Jets were thrilled by the way they regrouped after a mostly sluggish two periods in the 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday.

“You can’t come in against good teams as a visitor and play on your heels,” said Jets defenceman Nate Schmidt. “I liked the way our guys came out, attacked the game early and I don’t think we really let off the gas. We did a great job. Our goaltender played fantastic. He was phenomenal. Their goalie played well, too. Crazy that a long game comes down to one shot.”

Let’s take a look at what else transpired in the centre of the hockey universe on Wednesday night:

THE INJURY – The Jets lost Morrissey to a lower-body after he blocked a shot from Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies in an uncomfortable area.

Morrissey was having an excellent first period before the injury, very active in the offensive zone, showing his vision and creativity to create opportunities while also defending well in 7:17 of ice time.

The top-pairing blue-liner is having an exceptional season, with seven goals and 33 points in 46 games this season.

“Lower body, he will be reevaluated,” said Bowness.

The Jets are off on Thursday so there won’t be an update on his status until Friday at the earliest.

If Morrissey is unable to play on Saturday, it will be interesting to see if the Jets insert Declan Chisholm or Logan Stanley into the lineup or if they would consider recalling Ville Heinola from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and consider a roster move to make room for him.

STEPPING UP – With Morrisssey out for the final two periods and change, the remaining five blue-liners stepped up with a gutsy effort.

Neal Pionk finished with 26:50 of ice time, Dylan DeMelo had 25:41, Brenden Dillon had 25:30, Dylan Samberg had 20:48 and Nate Schmdit had 18:36.

“I think a lot of people had to elevate their game,” said Schmidt. “As a group, we didn’t give up a whole lot as the game went on. I like when our guys are skating, moving and not standing around. I thought we were, as a group, the whole five of us, were always moving and were always trying to get our feet up ice. One D-to-D, we were always going north with it, making sure we kept our feet moving. When we stand still, we get in trouble.”

One of the unheralded plays that won’t show up on the scoresheet came when Samberg dove to poke a pass that was headed toward Maple Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok for what would have been a backdoor tap-in.

“That’s awesome,” said Schmidt. “He’s just a guy that’s going to give everything he’s got. It saved a goal. It allows us to get a point, at least, in a game it gave us a chance to get into overtime and get one.”

THE SAVE(S) – The Jets found themselves with a rare two-on-zero rush early in the second period while shorthanded, but Adam Lowry and Morgan Barron were unable to convert, despite a couple of smart passes back and forth as they attacked from the offensive blue line.

Lowry was first robbed by the left pad of Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov and as Barron tried to bury the rebound, he was stopped by the outstretched right pad.

“You’ve got to tip your cap. He played really well,” said Brossoit. “I knew we were in trouble after he made the 2-on-0 save. The crowd got into it. You could tell he was starting to feel it. Gotta be happy for him after what he went through.”

It’s been a tough season for Samsonov, who was recently sent down to the minors in an effort to try and find his game after an incredibly difficult stretch.

He’s now won consecutive starts.

ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE – A struggling penalty kill has been one of the special teams’ sore spots for the Jets this season, but the penalty kill has gone on a remarkable run. By going five-for-five on Wednesday, they’ve killed off 26 of the past 27 minors to improve to 78.4 per cent on the season, an impressive turnaround when you consider they were near the bottom of the league for a lengthy stretch.

Jets associate coach Scott Arniel, who runs the penalty kill, recently asked his penalty killers to raise their level of play while shorthanded and the group responded.

“Four, five, six games ago, (Arniel) challenged our kill a ton about if we’re going to take the next step as a team, especially this time of the year, you have to really bear down on it,” said Schmidt. “That power play moves around a ton, there’s a lot of moving parts to it. The ability of our guys to adapt and read where those plays are coming from is something I think that has gotten much better as the year’s gone on. That just comes down to guys trusting each other and where they’re going to be. Some of the shared clears are fantastic. That kill, when you’re on the power play and the other team dinks it around and then throws it out, that really, especially when you have one extra guy out there, it kills a lot of momentum. I thought we took a lot of momentum away from them with our penalty kill tonight and we did a great job.”

THE AUDITION? – Laurent Brossoit made his 12th start of the campaign for the Jets and he came up with another stellar effort, making 29 saves – including 11 in the second period and another 13 in the third.

Brossoit did an excellent job of staying involved mentally despite seeing only four shots on goal in the first period.

“It’s something you’ve got to get used to. It’s not my first time, especially on this team this year, going through a first period without a lot of shots because we were playing so well,” said Brossoit. “I’ve seen it before this year and it wasn’t a problem.”

With the lights shining brightly in a nationally-televised game, Brossoit may have given the Maple Leafs brass some food for thought for the future.

Since both Samsonov and Martin Jones are pending unrestricted free agents, Brossoit might be a perfect guy to bring in for a 1A and 1B situation with Joseph Woll next season.

Brossoit is a pending UFA and is looking for a scenario where he can push to become a full-time starting goalie or at the very least increase the number of his starts substantially.

There isn’t a scenario where the Jets would seriously consider moving Brossoit before the NHL trade deadline, but it’s opportunities like this one that can help him raise his stock as the season moves along.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld