Jets still starving for results

Dylan DeMelo knows it’s a fine line and he did his best to straddle it.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman was smack dab in the middle of a controversial sequence of events in the final minute of Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.

DeMelo was on the ice when his defence partner, Josh Morrissey, was taken into the boards from behind by Wild centre Joel Eriksson Ek — when Morrissey didn’t have the puck.

Once things settled down on the same shift, DeMelo found Eriksson Ek in front and knocked him to the ice, leading officials to assess a cross-checking minor on the play.

DeMelo coming to the aid of a teammate is something to be encouraged and often applauded, though in this case, it had consequences attached to it as well.

Not only were the Wild able to score the equalizer during DeMelo’s penalty, they secured the bonus point in overtime in a game where the Jets really needed a clean two themselves.

“It stinks,” said DeMelo, answering a question about the helpless feeling of being in the sin bin when the Wild cashed in during the six-on-four power play.

DeMelo did his best to describe his point of view of the play in question, explaining that it was not a full cross-check but more of a push with his left hand on the shoulder of Eriksson Ek.

And while DeMelo didn’t come out and say the word dive, if you read between the lines, it was apparent he thought the sturdy Swedish pivot went down easier than usual.

“A little bit,” DeMelo offered.

When you look at the replay from the back camera angle, you can clearly see where DeMelo is coming from.

“Honestly, to me it looked like I gave him more of a push than a cross check.”

But the issue is that the officials don’t get all of those angles in real time and they don’t get access to the numerous slow-motion replays that were circulating on social media.

Which is part of the reason DeMelo showed accountability for his transgression, even if you could tell that he didn’t agree with the call.

“Although I don’t think I hit him very hard. I’ve definitely done a lot worse,” said DeMelo. “Honestly, to me it looked like I gave him more of a push than a cross check. I know it was kind of cross-checking motion, but it was more my left hand.

“Regardless, I don’t think I should put myself in that position. So I’ll take ownership for my actions in that regard.”

Jets head coach Scott Arniel was livid about the call in the corner that wasn’t made on Eriksson Ek for his hit on Morrissey, fully expressing his frustration during his post-game comments at the podium.

On Sunday, Arniel explained that Morrissey got banged up on the play and while he took a shift in overtime, he is officially listed as day-to-day as a result of the hit from Eriksson Ek.

“That had a lot to do with my anger,” said Arniel. “(Morrissey) was just sore when he woke up (Sunday) morning.”

Arniel believes that star players in the NHL need to be protected and this was an instance where that didn’t happen.

“It was a very, very questionable call that we felt, with us in a one-goal game with a minute to go, that was something that didn’t have to be done.”

That DeMelo was whistled for a questionable call moments later merely heightened his frustration, though Arniel stopped short of unloading with both barrels a day later.

“I’m not going down that road. It was just very questionable,” said Arniel. “It was a very, very questionable call that we felt, with us in a one-goal game with a minute to go, that was something that didn’t have to be done.”

The Jets, who have dropped five consecutive games (0-2-3), face the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night at Canada Life Centre before heading out for a three-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents.

Arniel also provided some context for why he chose to send Morgan Barron over the boards to take the defensive zone faceoff as the Jets were tasked with defending against the six-on-four advantage.

Since Jonathan Toews finished the game 10-of-13 in the dot and won a critical offensive-zone draw that led to Mark Scheifele’s goal with 2.1 seconds to go in the second period, some observers wondered why he wasn’t given the assignment in the defensive zone.

Arniel explained that his primary choices in this scenario were Barron and Scheifele and part of that had to do with the side of the ice the draw was taken, plus Barron and Alex Iafallo were the two penalty-killing forwards he wanted to use in that situation.

“(Barron is) pretty good at it, too. That’s why he’s been taking them,” said Arniel. “(Barron) had already won a couple on our PK and that was more of the reasoning with it. Him and (Iafallo) were starting all of our PK’s. They were the first two guys that go over the boards. We’ve been running with that for the last couple of games and it’s been having success, so that was more of the idea behind it.”

Eriksson Ek ended up winning the draw for the Wild and Barron was left at a disadvantage when his stick broke after he blocked a shot from Quinn Hughes, making defending a bit more of a challenge in what essentially became a six-on-three-and-a-half (rather than a six-on-four).

Arniel and DeMelo were both quick to point out that there were a lot of things the Jets liked about Saturday’s effort in the first game coming out of the holiday break.

Carrying those over while finding a way to change the final result is part of the latest challenge against an Oilers team that lost to the Calgary Flames on Saturday but have clearly been rounding into form after a sleepy start to the campaign.

“Probably 59 minutes of real good hockey,” said Arniel, noting that the Jets statistics showed them limiting the Wild to seven five-on-five scoring chances in the contest. “That’s the type of win we had against Washington. It was the game we had against Dallas. When we do those things, we’re a heck of a lot better team and we give ourselves a chance to win hockey games.”

“It’s not easy when you’re losing games and you’re feeling like you’re playing winning hockey. And I’m sure everyone in this locker room feels like that.”

Yet those wins have too been too few and too far in between for the Jets, who have just six wins during the past 24 games and slipped to 15-17-4 overall — which leaves them within striking distance of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference standings with 46 games left to go.

One of the encouraging things for the Jets is that goalie Connor Hellebuyck has shown no signs of anything physically bothering him while making six consecutive starts since coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery.

Hellebuyck could push that consecutive starts number as high as eight before backup Eric Comrie is likely between the pipes against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 1.

“I felt like I jumped right back in my game and picked up where I left off,” said Hellebuyck, noting he caught some pickerel on Lake Winnipeg that were part of the holiday meals that he enjoyed. “It’s not easy when you’re losing games and you’re feeling like you’re playing winning hockey. And I’m sure everyone in this locker room feels like that.

“All I can do is put my best foot forward and continue to build my game every single night and let the results just kind of fall into place. I’m just going to make sure I’m fine tuning every one of my details, and I’m making as (few) mistakes as I possibly can.”

ON THE MOVE: Jets forward prospect Kevin He was involved in a big Ontario Hockey League trade on Sunday, as he was dealt by the Niagara Ice Dogs to the Flint Firebirds.

He, who was chosen by the Jets in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, had 14 goals and 31 points in 28 games with the Ice Dogs this season.

Going into Sunday’s action, the Thunderbirds have a record of 24-7-2-2, which leaves them alone in top spot of the Western Conference of the OHL, so He is going to a strong team and could be involved in a playoff push during his fourth full junior season.

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe