Jets’ skid hits six games

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This article was published 30/03/2024 (553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Slip, sliding away.

Not long ago, the Winnipeg Jets had a lofty view atop the Central Division.

Sure, they were battling with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, but they had games in hand and were well positioned to finish on top.

Winning percentage was working in the Jets’ favour.

But on a night where the Avalanche joined the Stars in qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Jets fell 3-2 to the Ottawa Senators as their season-long losing skid stretched to six games (0-5-1).

As the Jets finished off their busiest month of the campaign (16 games in 30 days), the games in hand have vanished and they currently find themselves six points behind the Avalanche and nine behind the Stars, but they’ve got far more pressing concerns than where they’re going to end up in the standings.

“I think we see glimpses of guys playing well. I think it’s about three periods of it,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “The second period we got loose and we kind of let their transition game …we know they’ve got some really skilled forwards. We talked about it before the game, they’re great in transition. You don’t manage the puck, letting guys get in behind us and giving up a lot of odd man rushes. I think once we got back to our forechecking game, that’s when we’re at our best. Third period, we got back to that kind of extended O-zone time.

“Our power play was moving the puck really well and scored a big goal for us. You can’t give teams multiple opportunities and keep falling behind. Whether it’s the stubbornness, I think we’ve really got to work on that. No one’s going to help us get out of this. We’ve got to help ourselves.”

After the Jets power play finally snapped a zero-for-19 drought with the man-advantage Mark Scheifele banked a pass attempt off the skate of Senators defenceman Artem Zub to even the score midway through the third period.

Only to see Senators captain Brady Tkachuk deliver a dagger with a power-play marker with 1:45 to go in regulation time after a pair of failed clearing attempts.

“I think that makes it worse, honestly. The power play did a great job. They got us back in the game. The penalty kill didn’t do its job. Disappointing loss, disappointing end of the game there. Even with the goalie pulled we had some great looks. I thought those guys were generating some chances. We’ve got to find a way to get a kill there.”

With just eight games left in the regular season, the tension is mounting and the Jets are looking for a way to snap this skid.

“We certainly need more from certain players, we do. Every team does,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “When you’re going through a (slide) like this, you just need more from everybody and we’re going to get that. We’re going to have to (have) a little bit more desperation from the start of the game and on. Again, we’re just finding ways (to lose). You take a late penalty, those things hurt you. We’re finding ways to lose games. We’ll get going again. We’ll find ways to win games. We’ll get going again.”

The Jets, who fell to 44-24-6 on the season, continue this five-game homestand on Monday against Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Los Angeles Kings.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired:

THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: For the second time in as many games, the Jets had a glorious chance to even the score on the power play.

On Thursday, it was Nikolaj Ehlers’ shot that sailed wide and on Saturday, Ehlers made a quick pass in front to Sean Monahan, whose off-side one-timer ended up missing the net.

Scheifele also had a great chance for the equalizer a few minutes earlier when Joonas Korpisalo was caught out of his crease while trying to get the puck to Jakob Chychrun.

Korpisalo hustled back in time from behind the goal to make the desperation save.

“Yeah. I think my shot was missing the net, to be honest,” said Scheifele. “I just tried to hit it. It was a wobbly puck. I just tried to get it on net.”

THE GO-AHEAD MARKER: The series of events that led to the Senators go-ahead goal as a bizarre one.

Jets forward Nino Niederreiter lost his balance along the left-ing boards and fell to the ice, allowing Drake Batherson to dig out the puck. Then on a passing attempt, the puck bounced off the skate of Scheifele and landed on the stick of former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Ridly Greig, who was in alone and jammed the puck home.

THE RETURN: The Jets made one change up front, welcoming winger Gabriel Vilardi back for his first game since Feb. 29.

Vilardi was back on the top line with Scheifele and Kyle Connor and he made his presence felt early, drawing a penalty and finishing with two shots on goal, four shot attempts and two hits.

“I thought he was good. He was on the puck, had a good stick, good on the forecheck. He made some good plays,” said Scheifele. “It’s obviously always tough coming in and playing a lot of minutes but I think he did a great job.”

Even with the return of Vilardi, the Jets’ top line is going through a rough patch, as they were on the ice for both even-strength goals against during the second period – including a 4-on-1 rush that resulted in a goal by Boris Katchouk.

Bowness reunited Scheifele, Vilardi and Ehlers for much of the third period, which left Connor with Monahan and Tyler Toffoli.

It remains to be seen if those lines will stay together next game.

“Well, we lost the game,” said Bowness. “We were just trying to generate a little bit more offence.”

THE MILESTONE: Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck joined the 500 games played club on Saturday as he made his 55th start of the season.

Hellebuyck hit the major milestone in his ninth NHL season.

“It’s a big deal in the goalie world. I know the three big accolades are 500 games played, 300 wins and 40 shutouts. I’m very close to all three of them, so it would be very cool to achieve those three,” said Hellebuyck, who is making his 55th start of the campaign. “It’s a (testament) to the guys in front of me, and I’ve been at the same club this entire time. I feel very grateful that I’ve been able to build a legacy here in Winnipeg. And I’ve been around a lot of the same guys for most of it, so it’s been, I don’t want to say a dream come true, but definitely a milestone that I’m going to cherish.”

A fifth-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, Hellebuyck has developed into one of the premier goalies around the league and inked a seven-year contract extension just before this season got underway.

Hellebuyck’s first NHL game came on Nov. 27 of 2015 against the Minnesota Wild.

“Yes. I do remember the first one. It feels just like yesterday, too. I had butterflies the entire night. I woke up with butterflies and they never really went away,” said Hellebuyck. “Thankfully, it was a pretty easy win in Minnesota. I want to say it was 2-1, maybe it ended up 3-1 with an empty-netter. But I just remember how fast it’s gone and now looking at my future, contractually it’s shorter than what I’ve gone through, but you never know how the future unfolds. I really better cherish these last remaining years and give it all I’ve got.”

Hellebuyck, who started his fifth consecutive game, made 24 saves and received a standing ovation when the milestone was recognized on the scoreboard during a stoppage in play during the first period.

“He’s done it so quickly, That milestone for goalies is a big one. He’s been the backbone of our team ever since he’s come in,” said Lowry. “He’s a future Hall of Famer. I don’t think we can say enough about what he means to this team, what he means to the community. He’s such a great teammate, he comes to the rink every day and is having such a great time. He embraces the outdoors he, he embraces the community.

“Very fortunate to have been his teammate for this long. Playing in front of him, he gives us a chance to win every night. He battles so hard, I think he’s the best goalie in the league. He’s so important to our team. It’s a big milestone, it’s too bad we couldn’t play better in front of him and get him the win.”

EXTRA, EXTRA: Ehlers finished the game with a team-high five shots on goal and 10 shot attempts. Bowness said after the game that it would be Laurent Brossoit in goal on Monday night against the Kings. “He’s been wonderful. He’s going to play fewer games this year than he has in the past,” said Bowness. “We’ve given him lots of rest. LB will be in the net on Monday night, that’s been the plan from day 1. Helly is the least of our worries. Goaltending is the least of our worries. We’ve got other issues that we have to fix.” In addition to the move up front, the Jets made another change on defence, as Nate Schmidt replaced Dylan Samberg on the third pairing with Logan Stanley. Jets forward prospect Rutger McGroarty helped the University of Michigan Wolverines reach the Elite 8 on Friday night in a 4-3 win over the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. With the win, the Wolverines will get a BIG10 tournament championship rematch with the Michigan State Spartans.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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