Buff good, Stuart bad

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/11/2011 (5077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Winnipeg Jets defenceman Mark Stuart was a remedy to one matter ailing his team on Saturday night but the move had undesired side effects.

The gritty veteran Stuart was paired up with the team’s skating conundrum on the blue-line, Dustin Byfuglien, for Saturday’s road game against the Columbus Blue Jackets and there was noticeable progress with Byfuglien’s overall contributions.

But Stuart freely confessed after the game that it was he who didn’t pull his weight in the move and it was a factor in the Jets’ 2-1 loss at Nationwide Arena.

“It didn’t go well but it wasn’t any fault of Dustin’s — I struggled,” Stuart said, taking ownership in the defeat that sent Winnipeg to 5-9-3 on the season. “I made a couple of bad decisions. On the second (Columbus) goal, it was two bad decisions that cost us. That first one, I’ve got to make a block there standing in front of the goalie. I’ve either got to block it or get out of his way.

“I thought Dustin was good tonight. I wish I could have helped him more.”

Stuart and Byfuglien each finished a minus-one on the night after they combined for a late short-handed goal by Stuart that made for a tense finish, but just wasn’t enough.

Outfoxed

Stuart was outfoxed by Blue Jackets rookie Ryan Johansen, just 19, on a first-period goal just 53 seconds into the game, when Johansen delayed slightly while coming down the right wing before wiring the puck into the far side of the Jets net.

Early in the third, Johansen made it 2-0 after a two-on-one with teammate Vinny Prospal. Byfuglien was the Winnipeg defenceman back, and he played Prospal right into the corner.

Stuart came late to defend the rush and actually overplayed it, and he was kicking himself later.

“I got back, but back too far,” said Stuart, who lost track of Johansen right at goalie Ondrej Pavelec’s crease. “I over-backchecked. I’ve got to get his stick, his body, I’ve got to get something. (And) I sprayed Pav and he can’t see the puck and they just bump it in.”

Stuart sounded like he’d welcome continuing to play with Byfuglien.

“I think the way I look at it, everybody on the team should be able to play with everybody,” he said. “D pairings, if need be, should be able to be switched up all the time.

“I’m comfortable with Dustin. I think our games complement each other. He’s obviously up in the play quite a bit and I’m more of a defensive guy. But like I said, I didn’t do my job tonight, which was to play my game. Both of those goals could have been prevented.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Jets coach Claude Noel said there was method to the pairing Saturday night.

“We did that because we wanted to handle the weight of that (Rick) Nash line, to try to check them and close them off,” Noel said. “We kept them off the board so that was the objective. But when you’re down, you’re chasing the game and that’s one of the things you have to start changing sometimes during it and you run some risk.

“I thought they did an OK job doing that. We accomplished what we wanted but we were on the wrong side of the game.”

To add insult to the defeat, Johansen checked a vulnerable Stuart into the boards from behind from behind late in the game, and went unpenalized. Stuart said later he was fine.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca