‘Give them a much better performance to cheer about’

Cole Perfetti has experienced plenty of magical nights inside Canada Life Centre, when his Winnipeg Jets and their loud, loyal fans have come together to create something memorable.

Last spring’s “Manitoba Miracle” sits near the top of that list. Perfetti scored the dramatic, buzzer-beating goal that night — a season-saving moment that sent the downtown rink into pandemonium and became one of the defining highlights in local hockey history.

But on Tuesday, the young forward saw the other side of the coin. This time, the Jets struggled badly on the ice — and the folks in the stands were anything but impressed.

There were loud chants of “Shoot the puck.” Bronx cheers when a puck finally drifted toward the Anaheim net. One fan screaming a vulgarity from the upper deck. And scattered boos as the final minutes ticked away.

They say the customer is always right. And the 13,292 in attendance clearly weren’t buying what the Jets were selling in an ugly 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks that further dented Winnipeg’s fading playoff hopes.

“Our fans are fantastic. They’re so passionate and they obviously want us to do so well. And we want to do well for them,” Perfetti said Wednesday following his team’s optional skate ahead of facing the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

“In a game like (Tuesday) night where we didn’t create much, they’re coming out and supporting us still. We didn’t give them much of a show.”

No, they certainly did not.

Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal barely broke a sweat as he was only tested 13 times over 60 minutes. None of those shots came off the stick of Winnipeg’s four highest-paid players — Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabe Vilardi and Josh Morrissey.

Perfetti, didn’t have one either, meaning all five members of the top power-play unit — which went 0-for-3 — were blanked.

“It’s definitely weird for all those guys, all of us to not get pucks to the net. You know, it was a mixture of them playing pretty good defence and us not executing, not being sharp,” said Perfetti.

“Hopefully we can just flush that one away and that doesn’t happen again. We need everyone contributing. For all of us to not get a shot it’s not acceptable. We know that, we know we need to improve and everyone in this locker room needs to up their game.”

That’s especially true considering this group is supposed to be fighting for its playoff lives, which likely contributed to the fan reaction on Tuesday.

“Obviously it sucks when they’re cheering when we get a shot on net. That’s not what we want to give for them. It’s not how we want to play,” said Perfetti.

“Obviously it got to a point where it must not have been very fun for them to watch if they’re cheering for us to get a shot on net. It’s embarrassing a little bit, but at the end of the day they’re passionate, they’re wanting us to do well and we want to do well for them.”

Morgan Barron scored Winnipeg’s lone goal against one of the league’s most porous defensive teams, giving the Jets a 1-0 lead before the night quickly unraveled. Anaheim struck three times in a chaotic 104-second span, turning the game on its head.

During the second intermission, Barron offered a blunt assessment in an interview with TSN’s Kevin Sawyer: “It looks like we have nothing to play for out there.”

It was a damning observation — and likely not one appreciated by fans who paid hundreds of dollars to watch what unfolded. At that point, the Ducks held a 28-7 advantage in shots. They finished with a commanding 34-13 edge, leading head coach Scott Arniel to declare his group “laid a big, fat egg.”

After the game, Barron didn’t sugarcoat things.

“It calls for a better effort than that. Straight from the top to the bottom of our lineup,” he said.

The rising frustration inside the arena — which built from a low rumble to a crescendo during the third period — was impossible to ignore.

“Obviously it’s not a good feeling. You can hear the frustration. I think they have the right to be frustrated in a game like that,” said Barron.

Jets forward Gustav Nyquist, who has just one goal this season, was at least willing to pull the trigger. He led Winnipeg with three shots.

“You know what, I get the frustration. We were frustrated, too, obviously not being able to generate,” said Nyquist. “But we know they’re behind us, so move on to the next game.”

Attendance has been a major storyline surrounding the Jets in recent years. After their season-ticket base of more than 13,000 dipped to roughly 9,500 following the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has been slowly rebuilding it, with two consecutive seasons of growth pushing the total back to around 10,500.

The Jets also entered this season riding plenty of on-ice momentum after capturing the Presidents’ Trophy last year. But things have gone sideways since then.

With just 19 regular-season games remaining, Winnipeg sits 27th overall in the standings — and performances like Tuesday’s do little to inspire optimism. It’s likely no coincidence that two of the three smallest crowds of the season have come during the current homestand.

Tuesday’s attendance was the second-lowest of the year. Last Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay, which drew 13,473, was the third-lowest.

Through 32 home games, the Jets have recorded seven sellouts of 15,225 and are averaging 14,203 fans per game. That’s down slightly from last year’s average of 14,366 — a season that finished with eight straight sellouts and 16 overall.

A similar late-season surge seems unlikely this time around, especially if the on-ice product doesn’t improve quickly.

Perfetti knows the responsibility goes both ways.

“Hopefully (Thursday) night we can give them a much better performance to cheer about,” he said.

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