Digging a deeper hole in Jetsville

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This article was published 16/01/2017 (3165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SAN JOSE — They’re trying too hard.

They’re too easily distracted.

And they miss Patrik Laine.

Those were the three leading theories being advanced by the Winnipeg Jets at SAP Centre on Monday following a 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks that sent the Jets home winless on a three-game road trip (0-2-1) and riding a four-game losing streak that dates back to a 7-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at home last Wednesday.

So how did a team that had won three of four to start the new year — and seven of 11 dating back to mid-December — suddenly become so hapless?

“When you’re in these situations,” ventured Jets captain Blake Wheeler, “and things aren’t going your way, you sometimes try to do too much and it ends up costing you, giving up too much on the other end.”

Mark Scheifele — who had a goal and an assist on Monday — said he thinks the Jets are getting taken off their game plan too easily right now, bailing at the first sign of trouble.

“We know what we’re doing coming in, we have our mindset right and then a little adversity hits and we get away from our game plan and our strategy,” said Scheifele. “And teams are going to make you pay when you do that.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice was asked after the game what has concerned him the most about his team’s play over the last four games, aside from the result.

“That’s a really good question,” replied Maurice. “We didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had — and then about four more that I’m not telling you.”

One of those “four more” might be the absence of Laine from the lineup, who Maurice admitted during an interview prior to the game on Monday his team has sorely missed during the recent slump.

“Sure. And some of it may not even be real,” Maurice said of Laine, who has been out since Jan. 7 with a concussion. “And what I mean by that is when the puck’s on Patty’s stick, you think there’s a chance of it going in every time he shoots it. And no disrespect to any player and it’s true of any team — you don’t have that same feel on the bench necessarily when someone else is shooting the puck.

“He’s just got such a dangerous shot… So yeah you miss him. That’s as pretty close to a top-end gamebreaker as there is. If he gets enough shots, he’s going to score.”

‘We know what we’re doing coming in, we have our mindset right and then a little adversity hits and we get away from our game plan and our strategy. And teams are going to make you pay when you do that’– Jets centre Mark Scheifele, seen battling with Sharks forward Justin Braun, on the team’s slide towards playoff oblivion 

Whatever the underlying reasons for the slump, it’s all left the Jets’ playoff hopes on life support at 20-23-4.

That makes success on an upcoming four-game home stand absolutely critical to keeping them alive.

“You look at the standings and there are less and less games ahead of us, and we’re digging ourselves into a pretty big hole,” said Jets forward Mathieu Perreault.

“We have to see this next game as an absolute must-win for us.”

The Jets host the Arizona Coyotes Wednesday at the MTS Centre.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @Pau lWiecek