More than puck luck for Ducks

This was a letdown at a time the Winnipeg Jets simply couldn’t afford one.

And while the chances of the Jets simply running the table during the final 20 games were already highly unlikely, this second-period hiccup proved to be costly, whether you were looking at the short or long-term ramifications.

A 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre leaves the Jets at 26-27-10 for the season and five points behind the Seattle Kraken for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Allowing three goals in a span of 104 seconds is rarely a recipe for success, but the frustrating part for the Jets is that it included two goals in 14 seconds for the Ducks after Winnipeg had opened the scoring.

“We laid a big, fat egg,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We didn’t execute, we didn’t compete for pucks and chased the game, chased the whole game. They had the puck for most of the night and when we did have it, we turned it over.”

The Jets had done a good job of keeping lapses to a minimum during a three-game winning streak and six-game point streak (4-0-2), but the attention to detail wasn’t nearly as crisp against an offensively-gifted Ducks team that swept them in the three-game season series and continue to hold down top spot in the Pacific Division standings.

“It’s not lost on us,” said Jets forward Morgan Barron. “There are obviously going to be nights where you’re not going to have it, but regardless, it calls for a better effort than that, straight from the top to the bottom of our lineup.”

The lack of urgency was troubling and the lack of scoring chances prompted the crowd to break into a “shoot the puck” chant at one point during the third period.

And while much of the chatter following the morning skate was about how the Ducks were still a bit loose defensively, they didn’t give up a whole lot in this one.

“We were disjointed and you know what, it’s a disappointing result,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “Obviously, we know where we’re at. It was an important game. The only thing we can do now is learn from it.”

The Jets continue an eight-game homestand on Thursday against the New York Rangers.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired:

DOUBLE DIGITS

Barron became the sixth player on the Jets’ roster to hit double digits in goals when he tipped home a point shot from Elias Salomonsson.

It’s the second time in the past three NHL seasons that Barron reached 10 goals and he’s now one shy of his career high of 11, set in 2023-24.

Barron’s offensive numbers are even more impressive when you consider most of his ice time has come as the fourth-line centre.

“Yeah. There’s definitely been some good stretches,” Barron, who is up to 20 points in 54 games this season, said earlier this week. “It’s kind of an internal chase, right? You always feel like you can do more. That’s, I guess, part of the beauty of our game. You’re kind of always chasing to take that next step.”

Barron also plays a key role on the penalty kill, but you get the sense he could be in line for enhanced responsibility moving forward, based on his skill set and ability to play a power forward game.

THE MILESTONE

After becoming the franchise leader for points by a defenceman on Saturday, Josh Morrissey added another milestone to his growing list of accomplishments. By suiting up on Tuesday, Morrissey passed Toby Enstrom to become the franchise leader in games played by a defenceman with 720.

“Yeah, just an incredible player and person,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor. “He means so much to this team. He’s been a great teammate, one of my favourite teammates of all time. He’s come back and he’s looked great. He’s the best player on the ice for us a lot of nights.”

THE KEY PLAY

A wrister from Alex Killorn capped a stretch of three goals in 104 seconds for the Ducks, turning a one-goal deficit into a two-goal cushion.

THE THREE STARS

1. Ryan Poehling, Ducks: Scored the GWG, set up another.
2. Alex Killorn, Ducks: Scored a goal, set up the game-winner.
3. Jackson LaCombe, Ducks: One assist, while logging more than 27 minutes of ice time.

THE WORKLOAD

Given the nature of the Jets’ playoff chances, it’s not a surprise to see head coach Scott Arniel leaning heavily on goalie Connor Hellebuyck during the stretch run.

Tuesday marked a sixth consecutive start for Hellebuyck after Eric Comrie was between the pipes for the first game coming out of the Olympic break.

Hellebuyck, who missed a month of action with a knee injury, is up to 42 starts this season and figures to get at least three more before the homestand is complete.

Despite missing an extended period, Hellebuyck should comfortably eclipse 50 games for the eighth time in his career — and he would have done it a ninth time were it not for the shortened 2020-21 season where he started 45 games.

With games on consecutive days on Saturday and Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues, Comrie is expected to start one of those.

THE UPDATES

Arniel made it clear Tuesday that none of the injured Jets were on the verge of returning to the lineup.

Defencemen Neal Pionk (lower body) and Colin Miller (lower body) aren’t quite back into a regular routine after suffering separate setbacks last week and remain “a ways away” while forwards Vladislav Namestnikov (lower body) and Nino Niederreiter (lower body) got back onto the ice on Tuesday morning but they “were just pushing pucks around and getting a feel for the puck and are still a ways away too.”

EXTRA, EXTRA

The Jets finished zero-for-4 on the power play, but were two-for-two on the penalty kill in the contest.

The Jets lone healthy scratch was defenceman Ville Heinola.

Former Jets D-man Jacob Trouba chipped in an assist and is up to 10 goals and 31 points in 63 games this season, while former Jets winger Jansen Harkins chipped in an assist on the goal from Tim Washe and is up to three goals and seven points in 37 games this season.

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe