Gasping Jets grab a breather

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/11/2014 (4036 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOSTON — The Winnipeg Jets touched down back home in the wee hours Saturday morning.

And — just a guess here — but the frozen prairie likely never looked so good.

The Jets wrapped up a three-game road trip Friday night in Boston with a 2-1 OT loss to the Bruins that brought to an end a gruelling month of November that saw the club primarily living out of a suitcase.

Get this: the Jets played 15 games — 10 of them away from home — in 28 days, going 8-4-3 overall. And now they have four days before opening a three-game stint at the MTS Centre that opens on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers and includes visits from the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks.

“It’s been a ragged month,” said Blake Wheeler. “We’ve really played hard. It’s been a tough schedule… a lot of road games. We’ve been scratching and clawing all month. There hasn’t been a day where we’ve been able to catch our breath. Even our off days, more often than not they come and go really quick. We’re either getting home at 3 a.m. or there’s something going on.

“(The four days between games) comes at a great time for us. Especially after this trip we can reflect and be happy where we’re at now and get rested up for a big month in December for us.”

The Jets return home with Toby Enstrom still on the shelf — he made the trip, but did not suit up — and with Bryan Little’s status uncertain after he took a shot in the knee in the third period.

Mathieu Perreault, who missed Wednesday’s win over Buffalo, also limped off the ice at one point in the third.

“He’s fine… I think he’s fine,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “I didn’t get anything on him. Everybody is hobbling now. There’s nobody that is not carrying an ice bag to the bus tonight.

“It was a good trip. I think we’re 8-4-3 in the month of November with 10 on the road. We’ve played some real good solid, hard hockey and spent all the energy that we had this month, and we need this rest. We need this time off to get everybody healed back up for the month of December.”

Winnipeg has 13 games in December, nine of them at MTS Centre, where the team is just 4-5-1 this season.

POWERED-PLAY: The Jets lone goal was scored on the man advantage, and marked the third straight game they’ve scored on the power-play (4 for 12). That said, they also ended the game with an extra man after Brad Marchand clipped Grant Clitsome with his stick and drew a double-minor. The Jets couldn’t capitalize in the final 3:30 of regulation or the first 30 seconds of OT.

Maybe that, in part, explains why Dustin Byfuglien looked so peeved at game’s end.

“We can’t be happy,” he said. “We didn’t get all of our points. Simple as that.”

Asked what he saw on his goal, his fourth of the season and first on the power-play, Byfuglien added:

“Bodies in front of the net.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait