Jets drop second straight game in 5-2 loss to Utah

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This article was published 21/01/2025 (287 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SALT LAKE CITY — Scott Arniel had seen enough. And, at the same time, not nearly enough from a group that many believe can be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender provided they play the right way.

An ugly 5-2 loss on Monday night to a struggling, rebuilding Utah team had the rookie head coach of the Winnipeg Jets spitting fire in a brief but newsworthy media session with the Free Press.

“That was embarrassing,” Arniel said outside the team’s dressing room at Delta Center.

“That was, of all the games this year, that was the most embarrassing game. For me, for all our players — I take full credit, I’ve got to be the one that holds these guys accountable and make sure we’re better. That was embarrassing. From top to bottom, we did a horseshit job.”

At 31-14-3, there have been plenty of nights already this season where the Jets have failed to collect two points, including their last home game on Saturday in which they fell 3-1 to the Calgary Flames. So what was it about this particular outing — the team’s first-ever in Salt Lake City — that clearly rubbed Arniel the wrong way?

“We didn’t win a whole lot of battles,” Arniel continued.

“They got in on the forecheck, created the turnovers. Even though it was 0-0 for a long stretch there, we still didn’t get enough opportunities and didn’t do enough to win that hockey game. Our execution, a lot of those things, not good enough. That’s on me. I’ve got to push these guys to be a heck of a lot better than that.”

Indeed, this defeat was nothing like Saturday’s, where the Jets dominated zone time, possession and simply couldn’t find a way to beat a red-hot goaltender.

“We had lots of time in their end. Didn’t execute. D couldn’t get the pucks down to the front of the net. Our forwards didn’t work hard enough to get to the front of the net,” said Arniel.

You’ll notice not all of Arniel’s barbs were aimed at his players, who to be frank were pretty lousy across the board. He also threw himself under the same bus. No doubt the post-game flight to Denver, where the Jets will practice Tuesday before facing the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, would have been a rather quiet one.

This may have been an even more costly loss, as Jets captain Adam Lowry didn’t play beyond the first period due to an unspecified injury. He lost an edge and crashed into the boards early in the game but played a few more shifts after. However, he didn’t come out following the intermission.

“I don’t know yet. Don’t know anything that way,” Arniel said when asked for a post-game update. At that point, he walked away from the backdrop, abruptly ending the chat.

Yeah, it was that kind of night.

BUT WHAT DID THE PLAYERS THINK?

To be clear, Arniel had plenty of company when it came to pointing fingers. Forward Nikolaj Ehlers and defenceman Dylan DeMelo were the two requested to speak after the game, and both were extremely candid in their assessment.

“It is pretty simple. We don’t play the right way,” is how Ehlers put it. “Long shifts and turnovers. They are a good team and don’t take anything away from them, they are a good team, and they dominated us today and it is as simple as that. We are not winning the Stanley Cup with the way we are playing today.”

Ehlers, who never pulls his punches, was just getting warmed up.

“Look yourself in the mirror. That is not Winnipeg Jets hockey,” he continued.

“It is not the first time this year we have played this way. When you don’t play the right way in this league, it doesn’t matter who you are playing against, you are not winning that game. You’re letting our goalies down. We have the team in here to do something great, and when we play the right way, we are dominant. We are great. And it is pretty simple.”

DeMelo was also blunt.

“First and foremost, we’ve got to look in the mirror, and we know deep down and in that room that we got a lot more to give on that front,” he said.

TURNOVERS AND GIVEAWAYS GALORE

You’d never know this Jets team was among the stingiest in the NHL given the way they played in this one.

After an opening 20 minutes where neither team could find the back of the net and play was fairly even — the shots were 11-10 in favour of Winnipeg — the roof began to cave in.

Olli Maatta opened the scoring with four minutes left in the middle frame, as his point shot may have hit DeMelo on the way to beating Connor Hellebuyck. Then came a costly pinch by the normally-reliable Dylan Samberg in the dying seconds of the period which led to a Utah 2-on-1 rush and a Logan Cooley goal at 19:42.

That’s a play Samberg can’t make at that juncture, especially without any forward support filling in. Mark Scheifele was the closest, but he was out of a gas at the end of a long shift. Next up was Neal Pionk’s turn to make a costly mistake, as he coughed up a puck that led to Barrett Hayton being left all alone in front of Hellebuyck to make it 3-0 just 4:53 into the third period.

Samberg’s miserable night continued as another puck blunder led to another Utah odd-man rush and a Matias Maccelli goal at 8:04.

“Plays that we usually make,” is how DeMelo described all of the above. He suggested the ice inside the NHL’s newest rink led to some bouncing puck which Winnipeg had trouble controlling. Of course, it must be noted Utah played on the very seem ice and didn’t seem to have the same issues.

“A couple of bad bounces, but there were opportunities there where we could have done a little better job with our execution, and not maybe given our partner kind of a bad puck, so that stuff is easy to clean up for our group. So that’s the encouraging part of that,” said DeMelo.

ANOTHER INJURY SCARE, A LINE BLENDER ON MAX SETTING

With Lowry already out, forward Gabe Vilardi and Utah forward Alex Kerfoot ran into each other early in the second period, and the Jets winger left the game for a good chunk of the frame.

With Winnipeg down to just 10 forwards, Arniel was pretty much rolling out a completely different line every shift. Did that play a role in Winnipeg’s struggles?

“No, not at all,” said Ehlers.

Once Vilardi was back, Arniel changed some more things up. Ehlers was put with Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele, and that new trio combined for Winnipeg’s two goals once the game was essentially out of reach. Scheifele and Ehlers set up Niederreiter for his 13th of the year at 8:32 of the third, while Samberg and Ehlers set up DeMelo for his third at 11:48.

Clayton Keller sealed the victory with an empty-netter.

NO POWER TO THEIR PLAY

This may be as much of an indictment as anything: The Jets did not earn a single power play on Monday night. That’s actually the third time that’s happened this year — with all of the instances coming in the last 10 games.

No doubt some of this is on other teams being on their best behaviour, not wanting to give the NHL’s N0. 1 unit a chance to feast. But some of it is on Jets players to force the other team to take penalties.

“Could they have called one, absolutely, but, overall, when it is happening as much as it is happening right now, it is on us,” said Ehlers.

“Obviously we are not playing the right way, getting inside and creating the penalties against. It is on us.”

KEY PLAY

The Samberg whoopsie that led to Utah’s second goal at 19:42 of the second period felt like the dagger.

THREE STARS

1. Utah C Barrett Hayton: 1 goal, 2 assists.

2. Utah RW Josh Doan: 2 assists.

3. Utah RW Clayton Keller: 1 goal, 1 assist

EXTRA, EXTRA

Hellebuyck finished with 23 saves on 27 shots. Utah goaltender Connor Ingram stopped 23 of 25 shots he faced.

The Jets did go 2-for-2 on the penalty kill if you’re searching for any positives.

Winnipeg made one lineup change, with forward Vlad Namestnikov returning after a four-game injury absence and Dominic Toninato coming out as a healthy scratch, joining defencemen Haydn Fleury and Ville Heinola in the press box. Forward Mason Appleton remains the only injured player, and he could be available as early as Wednesday.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg