Sloppy play costly for Jets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/01/2025 (309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

File this one under the category of “missed opportunities.”

The Winnipeg Jets were far from their best on Thursday night at Canada Life Centre but still looked poised to grab a couple points from an Anaheim Ducks team that is in the early stages of rebuilding.

However, some sloppy breakdowns proved costly as the Jets surrendered the game-tying goal with just under two minutes left in regulation, then allowed the Ducks a two-on-one break in overtime which led to Troy Terry’s snipe to give the visitors a 4-3 triumph.

Not exactly a banner way to kick off 2025 and an eight-game homestand — especially with goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on the cusp of a major milestone that will now have to wait for at least one more game.

“A little bit of the mental side of things,” is where head coach Scott Arniel pointed the post-game finger of blame.

“With four (games) in six (days), I’m not using that as an excuse but when you start seeing those kinds of mistakes, it has to drop into there somehow.”

Winnipeg — which was coming off a New Year’s Eve loss in Colorado which snapped a four-game winning streak — falls to 27-11-2 on the year. Anaheim improves to 16-17-4.

Let’s break this one down a bit further.

HOT START

Winnipeg wanted to get this prolonged stretch of home hockey off on the right foot, and that certainly was the case as the top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi took all of 33 seconds to open the scoring.

Vilardi, as he often does, won a puck battle in the offensive zone, then got it to Connor who patiently waited to find a wide open Scheifele who slid home his team-leading 23rd of the year.

Adam Lowry then doubled the lead with just under three minutes left in the opening frame as Alex Iafallo made a great pass on a two-on-one rush which ended with the captain’s 10th of the year.

Lowry is already the sixth skater to hit double-digits, joining Scheifele, Connor, Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers and and Nino Niederreiter.

“We came out really well in the first, obviously a great start,” said defenceman Josh Morrissey, who had two assists in the game.

Given a 21-point difference in the standings to start the game, it looked like this could be an easy night at the office for the Jets. But the Ducks are a pesky bunch who were coming off consecutive wins over the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils and ultimately battled back to win a third straight outing against a quality opponent.

They play hard, finish every check and are now 2-0 against the Jets this season, with one final meeting set for Apr. 16.

“They’re a young group that’s got a lot of speed. They transition really well,” said Arniel.

“If you’re going to make mistakes, they’re going to capitalize. They’re a young team that’s added some veterans and they’re trying to play a certain way and tonight, we fed them with some of the mistakes we made and gave them some opportunities.”

HISTORY ON HOLD

Hellebuyck began the night needing a win to become just the 30th masked man in NHL history with at least 300 victories and 40 shutouts.

His final stat line — four goals on 24 shots — tells the story. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner seemed to be fighting the puck for much of the outing, starting with the first period when he was caught out of position but made a pair of sliding stops against Anaheim’s Ross Johnston and then Mason McTavish.

Sophomore phenom Leo Carlsson got the Ducks on the board with 62 seconds left in the first period as he tipped a Radko Gudas point shot off the post, then off the back of Hellebuyck’s legs and across the goal line.

Terry then tied it up at 6:52 of the middle frame when he one-timed a Ryan Strome pass through the five-hole of Hellebuyck, who seemed to be caught by surprise.

Hellebuyck probably wasn’t a big fan of the third or fourth goals, either. After Iafallo had given the Jets a 3-2 lead with a nifty wraparound at 17:16 of the third period, Gudas tied the game 54 seconds later as his point shot found an opening.

Then, in the three-on-three overtime session, Terry came down on a two-on-one rush and beat Hellebuyck clean with a wrister.

“I just think we didn’t have enough pressure moving forward,” Iafallo said of what went wrong. “It was kind of a roller coaster of a game. At that point we just have to grind it out, get pucks deep and keep pressuring them.”

Plenty of fans were up in arms, believing officials should have blown the play dead after Lowry took out the Anaheim net a few seconds earlier on an offensive chance. But since the Ducks had the puck, play was allowed to continue. The whistle would have gone if Winnipeg regained possession, but they did not.

The winner came shortly after Ehlers was stopped by veteran Ducks goalie John Gibson on a breakaway.

HOME COOKING

These next few weeks represent a big chance for a Jets team that is already in great shape. With the next seven all in their own backyard and now a 14-3-2 record so far this year at Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg can really create a cushion in the standings.

Just don’t tell any of the players that.

“I think it’s important that you don’t get too far ahead of yourself,” Lowry said following the morning skate.

Arniel had a similar response when asked if there’s a danger in straying from the “one game at a time” mindset.

“That’s why we don’t talk about it,” he said. “This group has done a fantastic job, whether it’s a win or a loss, to move onto the next game. Just because of the schedule itself and it’s no different right now.”

Thursday’s game was another sellout of 15,225, making it two in a row, three in the past four games and seven overall. That’s a promising development for a team that didn’t get its first until after Christmas last year (but ended up with 10).

With all this home cooking now on the horizon and the holidays now in the rear-view mirror, we’ll see if attendance continues to surge.

KEY PLAY: Troy Terry’s overtime snipe was the difference.

THREE STARS:

1. Anaheim RW Troy Terry: 2 goals.

2. Winnipeg RW Alex Iafallo: 1 goal, 1 assist.

3. Anaheim G John Gibson: 27 saves.

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Jets made one lineup change with defenceman Ville Heinola – a healthy scratch for the past two games – replacing Dylan Coghlan on the third pairing beside Colin Miller.

Injured defenceman Dylan Samberg participated in morning skate in a yellow non-contact jersey and was moving around well as he works his way back from a broken foot suffered in November.

Samberg “has some work to do” in terms of conditioning and isn’t ready to take on any live fire during practice, but Arniel admitted his return is now “on the horizon.” It should happen at some point during this homestand, perhaps as early as next week.

The Jets will practice on Friday and get ready to host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg