Jets’ season on the brink

The margin for error has seismically shifted from slim to none.

By virtue of a 7-1 shellacking at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at Canada Life Centre, the Winnipeg Jets playoff hopes are officially on life support and they’re now perilously close to next-year country.

Coupled with the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon, the Jets now face a five-point deficit in the chase for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with just three games remaining in the regular season.

That essentially ensures the Jets must run the table, while also receiving plenty of help on the out of town scoreboard.

The tragic number for points lost by the Jets or points gained by the Kings is down to two.

“It’s one of those ones, whether we lost 7-1 or 3-2, those are critical points that we lost,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “Now we know the situation we’re in. We pretty much have to pick up every point the rest of the way and hopefully, we can get some help.”

After winning five of the previous six games to stay within striking distance in this playoff chase, the Jets served up a dud in front of a capacity crowd.

They were thwarted in the offensive zone by Flyers goalie Dan Vladar, who was chased in his previous start after giving up four goals on eight shots in just over one period of work.

Defensively, the Jets weren’t quite as sound in their structure or precise with their puck management in what was a disappointing performance, especially when you consider what was at stake for them.

Is it possible the stress of essentially playing for their playoff lives for an extended period of time finally caught up with the Jets?

“If the intensity caught you or if it’s too much pressure, then you’re in the wrong business,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “That’s what this is. This time of the year, and the second half, this is what you play the game for, when you get put into these situations. We’ve handled them extremely well, until today. It just imploded. We’ll do our homework, talk about it and review it, and then we’ve got to get ourselves to move onto the next one.”

The Flyers won a lot of the races and most of the battles and that’s why they earned a lopsided victory and have essentially pushed the Jets to the brink of elimination.

The Jets, who fell to 35-32-12 for the season, open a two-game road trip on Monday against a Vegas Golden Knights team that is still battling for top spot in the Pacific Division.

“We know how tight it is and in the situation we’re in, we need points desperately,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “No one wants to lose like that. It’s embarrassing in our own arena. At the same time, what are we going to do, cry about it? We’ve got three games left. The score hurts right now as we drive home, but we’ve got to turn the page and keep pushing like we have been.”

Let’s take a closer look at what unfolded:

Sluggish start

By the time the Jets hit the ice, they knew that their deficit had grown to five points, which should have ratcheted up the urgency levels.

But instead of coming out and pushing the pace, it was the Flyers that responded well to a 6-3 beatdown to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday by scoring first.

Rookie sensation Porter Martone started the play off in the defensive zone and then hustled down the ice and buried a pass from Travis Konecny.

For Martone, it was his third goal and seventh point in seven games since joining the Flyers following his freshman season with the Michigan State Spartans.

“That one was ugly,” said Arniel. “We’ve lost some games and maybe we had spurts of a period or stretches of 10 minutes here or there that we’ve lost, but that was a 60-minute one. Especially the start, that was not us. That was not something we’ve done. We’ve taken such pride in trying to get into this playoff spot and pushing. I’ve been pushing the guys and they’ve been pushing each other. That came out of left field. I was not expecting that one and I can’t imagine the players were either.”

After Haydn Fleury tied the game 1-1, the Jets gave up goals on consecutive shifts and the Flyers ran away with this one after that, scoring the final six goals of the contest.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t go out and execute and play up to our standard,” said Lowry. “The stakes are high for us, so guys are going to have to find a way for a mental reset and put our best foot forward on Monday.”

The key play

Flyers captain Sean Couturier stole the puck in the corner and beat Connor Hellebuyck to the glove side to give the visitors two goals in 25 seconds to turn a 1-1 tie into a two-goal cushion.

The early pull

After making nine consecutive starts and being between the pipes for 20 of the past 22 games for the Jets, Connor Hellebuyck was pulled for the first time this season after giving up five goals on 20 shots on goal.

None of the five goals Hellebuyck allowed would fall under the soft category, but it’s indisputable that Vladar had the better night between the pipes.

“We weren’t performing in front of him. There’s not a whole lot he can do on any of those,” said Lowry. “Unfortunately, we didn’t help him out at all.”

When a goalie plays that much in a compressed schedule, it’s natural to wonder about fatigue, but Hellebuyck was 10-5-4 with a 2.42 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in his previous 19 games, so it’s tough to argue with the results.

Jets backup Eric Comrie came in to start the third period and allowed two goals on three shots in his 23rd game of the season, which establishes a career high for appearances.

The three stars

Dan Vladar, Flyers, Made 26 saves.

Sean Couturier, Flyers, Two goals, one assist.

Noah Cates, Flyers, One goal, two assists.

The local scores

Elkhorn product Travis Sanheim extended the lead to 4-1 when his point shot made it through a screen at 11:41 of the second period.

It was the 11th goal of the season for the Canadian Olympian and the first NHL marker in his home province for Sanheim, who had one shot on goal, two hits and a takeaway in more than 25 minutes of ice time on Saturday.

Extra! Extra!

On Sunday morning, the Jets announced they have recalled forwards Brayden Yager and Nikita Chibrikov from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions. Yager has 10 goals and 30 points in 68 games during his rookie season and would be making his NHL debut if he draws into the lineup on this two-game road trip. Chibrikov has six goals and 16 points in 53 games with the Moose this season and has 13 NHL games on his resume, including eight this season.

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Following the morning skate on Saturday, Arniel said that defenceman Elias Salomonsson remains in concussion protocol and has not resumed skating, which means he’s still out indefinitely. Jets forward Morgan Barron (lower body) has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season, which means he’ll finish the campaign with 11 goals (which tied a career high) and 23 points (which is a career high).

The lone healthy scratch for the Jets was defenceman Ville Heinola, who hasn’t played since March 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Saturday was the eighth sellout of the season for the Jets.

Jets defence prospect Garrett Brown captured the NCAA Frozen Four championship on Saturday as the Denver Pioneers defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 2-1 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Brown, who was chosen in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, had two assists in the championship game. Brown has one more season of college eligibility, so he’s facing the choice of turning pro and signing an entry-level deal with the Jets or heading back to Denver in the fall.

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Ken Wiebe
Reporter

Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.