Stingy Kraken stymie Jets

It’s a tale as old as time: Tired, slumping hockey team limps into town and, facing a rested, streaking opponent, finds a way to gut out a victory.

For the latest in a long line of examples, see what transpired Thursday night at Canada Life Centre.

The Winnipeg Jets were basically beaten at their own game — stymied by stellar goaltending, strong special teams and a committed to defensive structure on full display by the Seattle Kraken, who ultimately skated away with a 3-0 win.

“You know what, they’re good. They’re a good defensive team and their goaltender stood tall,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel.

“They kept us to the outside, their five guys were packing it in pretty tight. It was going to take a greasy one, a deflection or a rebound and like I said, their goaltender was real good and they played a pretty stingy game.”

It’s the end of a five-game winning streak for Winnipeg, who fall to 5-2-0. It’s also the end of a two-game losing streak for Seattle — by a combined score of 9-3 — as they wrap up a six-game road trip and improve to 4-2-2.

The Jets couldn’t find a way to beat Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord. He stopped all 32 shots he faced, including 13 in the third period as the Jets mounted a late push for the equalizer only to get burned by a pair of late empty-netters.

“In the second period we got a little discombobulated, we were not on the same page a lot of times,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor.

“Great push in the third. Tip your cap sometimes to the other team with the way they play and their goalie. Hopefully we can be a mature group here and take what we can from that game and not get too down on ourselves for not getting on there.”

Winnipeg didn’t get blanked at all on home ice last season. The last time that occurred was Jan. 13, 2024 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Connor Hellebuyck took the hard-luck loss after stopping 25 of 26 pucks that came his way.

Let’s break this one down further:

THE GAME-WINNER: In a tight-checking game with not a lot of easy ice, a little mistake can go a long way.

Winnipeg’s third-pairing of Haydn Fleury and Luke Schenn would probably want a do-over on what ultimately became the game-winning goal early in the second period.

Fleury strayed too far from his own net, creating an open lane that led to Shane Wright’s initial shot that was stopped by Hellebuyck. Schenn was then too slow on the read as Jaden Schwartz beat him to the rebound and buried it.

THE CHANCES: The Jets had plenty of them, including a sequence right in the waning seconds of the first period which included a near-miss by Mark Scheifele, a Josh Morrissey shot off the crossbar and the subsequent rebound which bounced in the crease and hopped over the stick of Gabe Vilardi, who is still looking for his first goal of the young season.

Jonathan Toews had a quality opportunity at the start of the final frame, but his wrister just went a bit high and wide. Morgan Barron also came close as a puck deflected on him just wide of the far post. Logan Stanley had a great chance in the third, getting a point-blank shot from the slot after a nifty dangle to evade a Kraken checker.

This marked the second game in a row the Jets entered the third period down 1-0. Unlike Monday night in Calgary, when Toews and Scheifele scored to complete the comeback, a similar rally wasn’t in the cards.

“I liked a lot of what happened in the first, I liked a lot of what happened in the third. The second was loose,” said Arniel.

“We didn’t get any zone time. We got cute, kind of trying to stickhandle our way through the neutral zone.”

UNDER THE HOOD: The Jets have won plenty of games, including a few already this season, when the underlying numbers suggest they got lucky.

Thursday night would be the opposite. According to the website Natural Stat Trick, the Jets generated plenty of offence — including 10 high-danger chances — and had an “expected goals” total of 3.19.

Meanwhile, they continued to defend well and only gave Seattle five high-dangers and 2.11 expected goals.

In that sense, the Kraken gave the Jets a taste of their own medicine.

“We had a lot of first opportunities. And, the rebounds just weren’t there tonight. We didn’t get a few bounces,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk.

GOOD BEHAVIOUR: One area of improvement Arniel was looking for involved discipline for his club.

The Jets entered play having been shorthanded 27 times over their first six games, a rate of 4.5 per game which trailed only the Chicago Blackhawks for most in the NHL.

The Jets were on their best behaviour in this one, with just one trip to the sin bin. That was an extremely dubious one, with Kyle Connor whistled for slashing. Put it this way: The referee’s motion on his own arm to signal the call to the crowd was far more vicious than the love-tap Connor had issued.

The Jets killed the minor and are now 27-for-28 on the kill so far this year.

“It was a lot better, obviously. We didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Arniel. “We were able to be rolling our lines and getting five-man units out there. If you stay out of the box, it certainly helps.”

KEY PLAY: With the Jets pressing for the equalizer and Hellebuyck on the bench for an extra attacker, a bobbled puck just inside the Seattle blue-line quickly ended up in the back of the empty net as Schwartz made it 2-0 with 100 seconds to play. Jordan Eberle then scored another freebie a short time later.

THREE STARS:

1. Kraken G Joey Daccord: 32 save shutout

2. Kraken LW Jaden Schwartz: 2 goals

3. Kraken D Adam Larsson: 1 assist, +3

SCOUT IN THE HOUSE: It’s worth noting that St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was among those taking in the game from the press box. He was here on official Team Canada duties, as he’s in charge of the squad which will compete for gold in Italy.

No doubt Scheifele — who has very much played his way into contention with a sizzling start to his year — and Josh Morrissey — who was on the 4 Nations squad that won it all last February — were on his radar.

EXTRA, EXTRA: A crowd of 13,690 took in the game, which is the smallest so far of the four home dates.

Winnipeg went 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Jets outhit the Kraken by a considerable margin (30-13). They were also in a giving mood, with 24 giveaways on the night compared to 14 for the visitors. The Jets also dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 32 of 57 draws.

Forwards Parker Ford and Nikita Chibrikov and defenceman Colin Miller were the healthy scratches for the Jets.

Winnipeg gets right back on the ice as they host Calgary on Friday night. Backup goaltender Eric Comrie is expected to make his second start of the year.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg