Critical homestand disintegrating

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This article was published 24/01/2016 (3537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a business where all that matters is what you’ve done lately, the Winnipeg Jets are beginning to feel the pains of their current slide.

In what was supposed to be a season-defining homestand, one that, if successful, would propel them back into the playoff discussion, instead it has turned into a series of misfortunes and missed opportunities.

The Jets are now 0-3 at the midway mark of the six-game homestand, their latest result a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils Saturday night. In what was yet another game in which the Jets mostly outplayed their opponent — they surrendered just two shots in the second period and 16 by the final whistle — it proved difficult to hide the frustration as media members marched from one player to the next.

“I didn’t think tonight was our best effort,” defenceman Tyler Myers said. “We’re going through some adversity right now, for sure. It’s just all going to come down to how we take this mentally.”

Mentally, the Jets seem poised to push on. After all, getting down on themselves will do little in helping them get out of the basement in the Central Division, where they currently sit with a record of 21-24-3.

“I’ve been in that situation where things were going really tough and the last thing you want to do is feel down,” added Myers. “We just got to believe in ourselves, we know we have a good team, we just have to go show it.”

And they have, at least in glimpses over the past week, even if there is zero to show for it. And it’s come without the services of centremen Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry, both out with injuries.

“We’re not doing moral victories in here at all, we just got to find a way to come out on top, at the very least get a point here and there because three straight losses where we’re at isn’t going to get it done,” said right-winger Blake Wheeler. “I won’t stop believing in our group. I won’t stop believing in what we have in here until they shut the lights off, but I’m not going to pretend like it’s easy right now.”

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Things don’t get any easier for Winnipeg, who will welcome the Arizona Coyotes (22-19-5) Tuesday night, another team ahead of them in the chase for that final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

STEMPNIAK STEPS UP: The Jets got a up-close look Saturday at what they gave up last summer. Lee Stempniak, who found a new home with the Devils after the Jets opted not to offer him a contract at the end of last season, scored twice and now has 14 goals (36 points) in 49 games, just one goal fewer than he had last year in 71 games split between the New York Rangers and Jets.

“This summer, not signing (with Winnipeg), it was hard in a sense,” he said after the game. “It was fun to be back here, I enjoyed playing here and am friends with a lot of guys. Nothing but good memories and great things to say about the Jets organization.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff 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.