Jets record start slowed by second loss of season

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This article was published 14/11/2024 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA – Earlier in the day, Jon Cooper was holding court and providing some insight about the Winnipeg Jets and their fast start.

The head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning provided the type of compliment that carries some additional weight, given that he knows a thing or two about what is required to reach the top of the mountain on two different occasions.

“Probably their biggest attribute is that they don’t beat themselves,” Cooper said after the morning skate. “They are really good at not doing that. If you have the discipline not to do that, you’ll win a lot of games in this league.”

No team in NHL history has won more often than the Jets have won in the first 16 games of this season, so this wasn’t just an opposing coach blowing smoke.

Cooper’s assessment was an apt one, though the Jets didn’t execute that part of their identity as often as they would have liked as they met the Lightning for the second time in 11 days.

The Lightning capitalized on some uncharacteristic mistakes and played with the urgency of a team that wasn’t interested in losing five consecutive games, earning a 4-1 victory over the Jets on Thursday at Amalie Arena.

“I thought they defended really well. They didn’t let us enter through the neutral zone with possession much,” said Jets right-winger Mason Appleton. “There were times we were stubborn and didn’t get it behind them, but that seemed to be the recipe. They did a really good job just bottling our speed up and creating turnovers.”

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Jets, who are now 15-2 and will close out a three-game road trip on Saturday night against Paul Maurice and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“I think there’s a lot of resilience in this group,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry, when asked what his group learned about responding after the previous loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs back on Oct. 28. “We’ve gotten off to such a great start that we haven’t faced a ton. Any time you lose in this league you kind of want to put it behind you.

“We’ve got a really positive mindset. We’re still in a great spot. We didn’t love the whole 60 minutes but parts of our game we liked. The rest is something we’ll need to improve on.”

Let’s take a closer look at this one:

THE TURNOVER: One of the signs that the Jets were not as sharp as usual came just past the seven minute-mark of the first period when defenceman Colin Miller made a good read to join what was developing into a four-on-two rush that went awry.

Just before the offensive blue line, as Miller was trying to get his backhand pass out wide, the play was intercepted by Lightning defenceman Ryan McDonagh, who got the puck going the other direction and onto the tape of Nick Paul.

Paul made a slick pass through his legs to Jake Guentzel, who ripped home his shot to open the scoring.

Miller hustled to get back into the play, but there seemed to be a communication breakdown with partner Haydn Fleury when it came to who was going to check Paul and who was picking up the trailer (Guentzel).

With the benefit of hindsight, it probably would have made the most sense for Fleury to stay with Paul and for Miller to pick up Guentzel.

Miller regrouped to earn an assist on the lone goal by the Jets, blasting a slapshot that went in off of Lowry as he was falling to the ice.

POWER OUTAGE: The power play has been a potent weapon for the Jets this season and they continue to lead the NHL in efficiency, even after going zero-for-five on Thursday.

The number is a bit deceiving as the fifth power play lasted less than two seconds as former Jets forward Michael Eyssimont was called for slashing Morgan Barron.

What can’t be denied was that the puck movement on the Jets’ power play wasn’t nearly as crisp as we’re used to seeing on the other four man-advantages.

“They were extremely aggressive. They weren’t going to give us time to stand still and make easy plays,” said Arniel. “They were after us in a hurry. We didn’t get enough. We only had one shot on the four power plays. So for us, our mindset is always to attack. Create the shot that creates the scramble and other opportunities. We’ll reset that as well.”

THE HIT: Lightning defenceman Emil Lilleberg caught Jets centre Mark Scheifele with a heavy hit just inside the offensive blue line in the first period.

Scheifele had carried the puck in and passed it over toward Kyle Connor when Lilleberg stepped up and delivered the hard check that caught the Jets’ centre by surprise.

With the benefit of replay, the hit was probably a touch late and could have been called interference.

It was also the type of play that a young player looking to establish himself as an NHL regular has to make in order to catch the attention of the coaching staff, whether it results in a penalty or not.

Scheifele responded in the second period by catching Lightning D-man Erik Cernak on the numbers and was lucky to not be called for boarding.

But the willingness to stand up for himself was something his teammates surely noticed.

THE START: For the fourth time this season, Jets goalie Eric Comrie did the job of the backup, keeping his team in the contest.

Although he suffered his first loss of the campaign, Comrie finished with 25 saves, including several of the highlight-reel variety – robbing Anthony Cirelli from point-blank range on the power play late in the second period and pushing across to prevent a one-timer from Nikita Kucherov from going in during a power play in the third.

“He’s been good all year for us,” said Appleton. “He made some great saves. Early in the game, late in the game, he kept us in that one.”

Comrie is likely to start again next Saturday against the Nashville Predators on the back end of playing on consecutive days.

AFTERBURNER:

The key play – Anthony Cirelli tipped home a Victor Hedman shot for a power play goal to make it 3-0, giving the Lightning two goals in 57 seconds to extend a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The three stars:

Lightning, Anthony Cirelli – 1G, 1P

Lightning, Nikita Kucherov – 1A, 1P, 10 shot attempts

Lightning, Ryan McDonagh – 1A, 1P

EXTRA, EXTRA: Jets winger Nino Niederreiter was held off the scoresheet, but he finished with three shots on goal and seven shot attempts to go with one hit and two blocked shots. Scheifele and right-winger Gabe Vilardi each saw their eight-game point streaks snapped in this one. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves and became the fastest goalie to record 300 wins in his NHL career (491 NHL games).

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld