‘We’ve got to flush it’

PITTSBURGH — There once was a time in the National Hockey League when a putrid performance like the one the Winnipeg Jets delivered Thursday night in Boston would have carried some painful consequences.

Namely, a next-day practice filled with skating, skating and more skating — and perhaps nary a puck in sight.

But those “old-school” days are long gone, which is why Friday was all about rest and recovery for the Jets. Only a handful of players took part in an optional skate, while the majority stayed back at the team hotel for workouts and video sessions.

“Just reset. That’s a big thing. Do what everybody feels like they need to do today in order to be ready for tomorrow,” said rookie forward Isak Rosen, who was one of the few to hit the ice.

Mike Keenan likely would have tossed his whiteboard in disgust, wondering why nobody was doubled over in agony trying not to vomit.

The Jets opened this critical three-game road trip with a stinker, falling 6-1 to the Bruins in a game where head coach Scott Arniel openly questioned his group’s “compete level.”

“We were a little bit inconsistent about what we were doing working within a structure of five at times. They capitalized on their opportunities and the game got away from us a little bit,” said forward Cole Koepke.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted. The standings are so close. We’ve got to flush it.”

Although their playoff hopes are swirling the drain, the lopsided loss wasn’t as damaging as it could have been. The Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks both lost in regulation, while the Los Angeles Kings fell in overtime to move into the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 72 points.

Winnipeg (28-29-11) is five points back, now with just 14 regular-season games remaining.

Up next are the Pittsburgh Penguins who sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division with a 34-18-16 record. They welcomed back Evgeni Malkin from a five-game suspension earlier this week, followed quickly by the return of captain Sidney Crosby from an injury he suffered during the Winter Olympics last month.

“Everything for their team kind of starts around (Crosby) and revolves around him. He’s obviously a world-class player,” said Koepke.

“They’re in the heat of it as well. They’re having a good season. We just need to make sure that we’re ready and come out with a game plan.”

Crosby, 38, may no longer be a “Kid,” but he’s showing no signs of slowing down. The sure-fire Hall of Famer leads the Penguins in scoring with 61 points (28 goals, 33 assists) in 57 games. But they have plenty of depth as well — 13 players have at least 27 points this season. Only four members of the Jets have eclipsed that mark.

The Jets hosted the Penguins back on Nov. 1, beating them 5-2 to improve to 9-3-0 on the year. The season really took a sharp turn from that point on, with Winnipeg racking up just six wins over the next 30 games (6-19-5).

Winnipeg’s lineup is a bit of a mystery at this point. Since it wasn’t a formal practice on Friday, there were no line rushes, nor did Arniel participate or speak with media afterwards. There will be no morning skate on Saturday with the 1 p.m. (12 p.m. CT) local time puck drop, so we won’t know until the warmup.

There’s a good chance defenceman Neal Pionk returns from a two-month injury absence. He took part in Friday’s skate, with contact, and is likely good to go.

Haydn Fleury is probably in line to be a healthy scratch, given that he was benched by Arniel for most of the third period after being on the ice for three of Boston’s early goals. Ville Heinola, who has been a perennial healthy scratch, is another option, but the pending unrestricted free agent has clearly fallen out of favour with the coaching staff.

Up front, the Jets have no extra options beyond the 12 skaters who faced the Bruins. However, Arniel brought out the line blender in the final frame — re-uniting Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi; putting Brad Lambert with Adam Lowry and Cole Perfetti; putting Rosen with Morgan Barron and Alex Iafallo; and having Koepke, Jonathan Toews and Gus Nyquist as the fourth line.

Arniel also moved rookie blue-liner Elias Salomonsson up to play with Josh Morrissey. If he opts to keep them together, Pionk could slide in with his usual partner in Dylan Samberg, while Dylan DeMelo and one of Jacob Bryson, Fleury or Heinola would form the third pairing.

We’d expect to see Connor Hellebuyck get the start in goal, despite the fact he’s struggled in two straight outings. The Jets also play Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, where Eric Comrie — who is riding a personal five-game winning streak — would likely get the call.

Could Arniel consider shaking things up and reversing the order? Having one goalie play both games? We shall see.

One thing is clear: The bench boss is obviously hoping his latest public blast of his team brings the desired response.

“That’s a one-off hopefully, because we’ve got to turn around. We’ve got two back-to-back afternoon games, three (games) in four nights. No time to dwell. We’ve got to get focused again now on Pittsburgh,” he said following the game.

Koepke said they just need to focus on what they did well during the first period against the Bruins.

“We were ending plays quick in our own zone, quick to support one another. Defending as a group of five and then from there just transitioning quick, ending plays early,” he said.

“We just need to do that for a full game.”

For whatever reason with this wildly inconsistent group, that’s been a lot easier said than done this season.

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre