Jets can’t keep up in 6-2 loss to Canucks

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This article was published 19/03/2025 (230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel was asked prior to puck drop Tuesday night for his thoughts on facing a team that was fighting for its playoff life.

“I like it,” he began. “It keeps us sharp, too, that we’re going against a team like this that’s going to be putting everything on the line.”

Sharp, you say? His club was anything but, failing to match the desperation of the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-2 stinker that easily ranks as one of the worst outings of the season.

“It’s a tough, tough loss tonight. We knew they were going to come blazing, so we weren’t ready in some situations,” said forward Alex Iafallo.

“We’re gonna get everything’s best from here on out and we have to be ready for that.”

Go up and down the lineup of the NHL’s No. 1 club and you’ll find plenty of rough performances.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck fought the puck all night long and stopped just 16 of 21 shots. Captain Adam Lowry’s usually reliable shutdown line got shredded and was broken up after an ugly opening frame. Even Winnipeg’s potent power play looked out of sorts, whiffing on two opportunities which included a brief 5-on-3 where they didn’t even record a shot.

In summary, the Jets looked like a team that began the night feeling comfortable thanks to a huge lead on top of both the Central Division and Western Conference and weren’t able to match the energy and execution of a Canucks team essentially treating this as a must-win.

“I think you look at pretty much all of their goals, they were first to pucks, they beat us back to the net. It’s not a recipe for success from our group,” said defenceman Dylan DeMelo.

“It’s very unlike our group. It’s going to happen over an 82 game season and we’ll move on to the next one.”

Ultimately no real harm if it’s just a blip. A bigger concern if it morphs into something more.

Winnipeg saw its three-game winning streak snapped and drop to 47-18-4. They are now nine points up on the Dallas Stars, who rallied from a third-period deficit to beat the Anaheim Ducks in overtime.

Vancouver improves to 32-25-11 which keeps them tied with the St. Louis Blues for the final wildcard spot, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames and four up on Utah HC.

Let’s dig into this one a little deeper:

FIRST WAS THE WORST

First, the good news: The Jets had gone 68 games this year without surrendering more than two goals in the opening period. That is remarkable, really, and a sign of a team ready to play.

The bad news? They couldn’t extend that streak to 69. A sloppy and, at times, sleepy first resulted in a 3-1 deficit

“We certainly made some early mistakes, gave up a lot more rush opportunities than we ever have, I think, in a game, and they capitalized,” is how Arniel described the first 20 minutes.

“We got caught at times maybe being a little over-aggressive, got in situations where we didn’t have our numbers against their numbers and they got up the ice in a hurry. They were desperate, and you know what, we just made some mistakes and they capitalized.”

Drew O’Connor beat Hellebuyck with a one-timer at 4:55, Brock Boeser snapped a 12-game scoring drought with his power-play tally at 18:29 and then Nils Hoglander buried a feed from Boeser with just three seconds left after Vancouver took advantage of a Nino Niederreiter turnover in the neutral zone.

“That late goal at the end of the first was a bit of a back breaker,” said Arniel.

Nikolaj Ehlers had scored his 22nd of the year with just over five minutes left in the first to tie it 1-1, but the momentum would be short-lived.

SECOND CHANCES

To be fair, the Jets started the middle frame with a better effort as some line tweaks made by Arniel seemed to light a spark.

Lowry and fourth-line centre Morgan Barron were switched, and the new-look trio of Lowry, Iafallo and Brandon Tanev brought the visitors within a goal at 7:07.

Luke Schenn’s point shot was tipped by Tanev, and Iafallo pounced on the rebound given up by Kevin Lankinen to score his 11th.

“Have to do something,” Arniel said of the swap. “They went out and scored a goal. Sometimes you just want to get a spark. I loved the other two lines. (Mark Scheifele’s) line had great zone time, (Cole) Perfetti’s line was outstanding. There was a lot of looks and a lot of chances. And their goaltender made some big stops as well.”

Winnipeg came within an inch or two of tying it moments later, with Scheifele robbed by Lankinen and then Ehlers rattling a shot off the crossbar.

However, the Canucks got back to their speed game and burned Winnipeg twice more. Boeser scored his second at 13:57, beating Hellebuyck to a loose puck before he could freeze it — and the Pius Suter put it to bed with a relatively easy tap-in that once again came off the rush.

“Diving in, D are joining, we get caught at the end of a long shift, we go East/West, can’t get enough guys off, they’re fresh and coming on guns a’blazing and they just kind of beat us to areas,” was DeMelo’s summary.

Added Arniel: “Every time we made a mistake, it went in the back of our net.”

WHAT THE HELLY?

You have to go all the way back to Nov. 16 to find the last time Hellebuyck had given up a season-high five goals in a game. And you wondered if Arniel might give his No. 1 netminder — who was making his NHL-leading 52nd start — the rest of the night off when the Jets came out to start the third.

“This isn’t on him. You know what, at the end of the day, if it’s 50, 60 shots coming at him, it’s a little different thing,” Arniel said of letting Hellebuyck see this one through to the painful finish.

“But like I said, a lot of (the goals), they were off mistakes that we made that ended up in the back of the net, whether that was coverage or off the rush. We know what he’s done for us all year long. Let’s get right on the horse and he’ll go back (against) Edmonton.”

Hellebuyck was seeking his 40th win of the year and remains the runaway favourite to win a third Vezina Trophy.

“He’s had an unbelievable season. And every (game) it’s not gonna be perfect completely every time. So with that, we’ve got to back him up and help him out,” said Iafallo.

The Jets actually dominated the third period, no doubt aided by the fact the Canucks were in full control. Shot attempts ended up a whopping 31-9 in the final frame (after being 41-35 in favour of Vancouver through the first two periods). But the Jets couldn’t get anything else past Lankinen, who finished with 19 saves.

Suter scored into an empty net with three seconds left to round out the scoring.

INJURY SCARES

There were a couple of hold-your-breath moments for the Jets, who are already without defenceman Neal Pionk (lower-body, week-to-week).

First, Josh Morrissey blocked a shot in the second period and hobbled off the ice, limping down the tunnel to try and walk it off. Then top-pairing defence partner DeMelo crashed face-first into the boards during an awkward collision and looked to be hurt. He was eventually helped off the ice but remained on the bench and never missed a shift.

“I’m good. Neck’s sore. Boys were saying it looked as bad as it probably felt but I’m doing alright,” said DeMelo.

Arniel and company were breathing a sigh of relief having dodged a potential disaster.

“They want to do everything they can to keep pucks out of the net, do whatever it takes to not give up scoring chances. And that’s just our group,” said Arniel. “They’re determined to play hard and you don’t like to see those guys leave, obviously. But I’m glad to see both of them come back.”

KEY PLAY: Hoglander’s buzzer beat at the end of the first period left a mark.

THREE STARS:

1. VAN RW Brock Boeser: 2 goals, 1 assist

2. VAN D Quinn Hughes: 2 assists

3. VAN LW Nils Hoglander: 1 goal, 1 assist

EXTRA, EXTRA

There were a combined 55 hits in the game — 28 by Vancouver and 27 by Winnipeg — but a pair of players might need some extra ice bags. Schenn and Canucks forward Dakota Joshua each had eight to lead their teams.

Winnipeg went 0-for-2 on the power play, while Vancouver scored on its only opportunity.

Kyle Connor played in his 600th career game.

Winnipeg’s healthy scratches were defencemen Logan Stanley and Ville Heinola and forwards David Gustafsson and Rasmus Kupari.

The Jets stay overnight in Vancouver and are flying to Edmonton on Wednesday where they will wrap up this three-game road trip against the Oilers. After that it’s home for four straight games beginning Sunday afternoon against Buffalo.

“We’ll soak this one in, look at the video and use what we need to use. And then we’ve got to go against an Edmonton team that, our opening game against them we know what we did, they know what we did,” said Arniel, a reference to the 6-0 victory by the Jets way back in October.

“So we have to make sure that we’re at our best.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg