Jets fall flat in showdown with Canucks

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This article was published 10/03/2024 (575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — To say that Rick Bowness was direct and to the point may go down as a dramatic understatement.

As the Winnipeg Jets head coach was sifting through the wreckage of a 5-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at Rogers Arena that was as lopsided as the score would suggest, he managed to speak for only 90 seconds during his post-game scrum.

But he was sure to get his point across to his team after what was an incredibly rare no-show in this marquee matchup.

“Listen, the bottom line is that’s the worst game we have played in my two years here — by far,,” said Bowness, whose frustration was evident even as his answers were barely audible. “Because we didn’t have one player play a good game. Not one. It starts there. And it ends there. It’s as simple as that.”

Not one player for the Jets was on his game in this one.

The Jets were simply outplayed in every facet of the game.

Every.

Single.

One.

The Canucks played a smothering game on the defensive side of the puck and peppered Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck with 37 shots on goal and 61 shot attempts.

The Jets lost most of the races, most of the battles and came up short on special teams.

“I don’t know if there was really one thing,” said right-winger Mason Appleton, who led the Jets with five shots on goal. “I thought was a very poor start by us. Huge game, obviously. Two top teams in the West going, percentage-wise, going at it. And then to kind of lay an egg like that is unacceptable. We will go home and look in the mirror, try and turn the page. But we’re a lot better hockey club than we showed.”

As a result, the three-game season series between these two teams duking it out for Western Conference supremacy are all knotted up — with one meeting still to come on April 18 in the final game of the regular season for both teams.

“I don’t think we got to our game,” said Jets defenceman Nate Schmidt. “They had the majority of the scoring chances, the majority of the chances to start the game and that put us on our heels and we never really recovered.”

The Jets, who fell to 40-18-5 on the season, open a three-game homestand on Monday against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

THE TURNOVER:The Canucks opened the scoring just 2:05 into the contest, thanks in part to a failed zone exit from Jets left-winger Kyle Connor.

Instead of getting the puck into the neutral zone, the Canucks turned it over just inside the offensive blue line and J.T. Miller got to the blue paint and found a loose puck after the initial shot by Nils Hoglander.

Connor is having an excellent season offensively and continues to lead the Jets in goals (26) despite missing 16 games with a knee injury. But this was an example of the need for further improvement in the defensive zone.

THE TURNING POINT: After Hoglander scored a strange goal that made it 2-0, the Jets were pressuring in the offensive zone and captain Adam Lowry found Appleton on the doorstep for a glorious chance, but his shot was stopped by the pad of Thatcher Demko before the Canucks went on the offensive.

Teddy Blueger made a perfect feed through the skates of Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo to find Phil Di Giusepppe, who buried his shot on the 2-on-1 rush. Instead of potentially being within a goal, the Jets faced a three-goal deficit.

Appleton still seemed to be in disbelief as he discussed the save by Demko, who left the game in the second period and didn’t return.

“I just didn’t get it up,” said Appleton. “Good save, but I had half of the net to work with. If I elevated that puck. That’s just what it was. Five seconds later, it’s in the back of our net and we’re down 3-rip. That was kind of tough to swallow there.”

THE SHOWDOWN: This was one of those nights when a pair of Norris Trophy candidates were under the microscope.

While Canucks captain Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche are the front-runners for the top defenceman award, Morrissey’s strong play of late has forced his way into the conversation.

Hughes had his fingerprints all over this one, chipping in a pair of helpers while accumulating eight shot attempts. He also showcased his improved defensive zone play with a smart play down low against Mark Scheifele in the first period, winning a puck battle along the boards.

Morrissey wasn’t quite as impactful as he’s been recently, finishing with two shots on goal in just over 20 minutes of ice time. He was on the ice for all four even-strength goals against and was given a minor penalty for high-sticking Elias Lindholm.

THE FULL BLENDER TREATMENT: With the Jets falling behind 3-0 after 20 minutes of play, Bowness tested out a few different line combinations in this one, shuffling each of the top three lines in an effort to spark the offence.

Nothing fully materialized on that front. Not even when he put Nikolaj Ehlers back with Scheifele and Connor for the third period.

The Jets also mixed up the defence pairs, rolling through a number of different pairings during the second and third periods.

“Listen, the line blending (was) nothing,” said Bowness. “We had nobody going. It’s that simple. Don’t over analyze anything other than that. Again, it’s the worst game we’ve played in the two years I’ve been here, and we didn’t have one player play well. So line blending had absolutely nothing to do with anything.”

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Jets made one lineup change on Saturday, inserting David Gustafsson for Cole Perfetti. It was the second time in four games that Perfetti found himself in the press box. Logan Stanley was the other healthy scratch, while Gabriel Vilardi missed his fifth consecutive game with a back injury.

After scoring twice, including the game-winner, in the Big10 tournament series opener against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Jets forward prospect Rutger McGroarty chipped in three assists in a 4-3 victory for the University of Michigan Wolverines Saturday. The Wolverines advanced to the second round and their next opponent will be determined on Sunday.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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