Jets put bad losses in rear-view mirror

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/12/2017 (2885 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA BAY — The Winnipeg Jets chose a rather bizarre way to work out the kinks Friday afternoon following a pair of monstrous defeats on their three-game road trip.

They shot hoops at the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Crews at Amalie Arena had installed a temporary hardwood court over the ice, in prepartion for a show by the Harlem Globetrotters, so the majority of Jets chose not to skate and, instead, played some basketball.

While no one with a critical eye spent any time watching the presumably fun-filled workout, fans of the NHL club can only hope executing a tight defensive scheme, controlling rebounds and making good on their shots topped the list of things to address prior to their next outing.

Heaven knows, Tampa Bay’s got a pretty good squad.

The Lightning, with an NHL-best record of 20-6-2, welcome the Jets tonight, with puck drop set for 6 p.m. CT.

Before the dribbling, the Jets’ coaching staff led a series of meetings with the players in the wake of an excruciating 6-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.

It was another missed opportunity to pick up points from a “weaker-than” NHL team, as Winnipeg kicked off the trip by getting dumped 5-1 by the Detroit Red Wings.

The Jets had a day off Wednesday, while only goalie Connor Hellebuyck and wingers Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine joined the usual healthy scratches — forwards Marko Dano and Shawn Matthias and blue-liner Tucker Poolman — along with injured goalie Steve Mason, for a Thursday skate at the Lighting’s practice facility.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said spending a day without skates on, doing different things, is often a better use of time and energy.

“It’s a far bigger picture than a hard skate because of a loss,” he said. “We’ve played for the last month. We want to make sure we’re in our best position to play a solid game (tonight). We’ve got a lot of miles, a lot travel zones on these guys. Our energy hasn’t been an issue for us. We were driving in these games.

“Some of it’s a little bit mental. I think we can cut off some shift length, for sure. And we can not force quite as many things through.”

Maurice said he’s expecting the same roster he’s been relying on to go up against the rock-solid, dangerous Lightning, featuring the NHL’s top-two scoring leaders, centre Steven Stamkos (12G, 29A) and winger Nikita Kucherov (19G, 21A).

Expect Hellebuyck (15-3-3) to return to the crease for the Jets, 48 hours after taking a seat on the bench while Eric Comrie, who, like his teammates, had an off-night in just his second NHL start, took the loss against a feisty Florida squad.

Laine scored his team-leading 15th goal and added a pair of assists. Jets captain Blake Wheeler netted his eighth tally and now has 37 points, tied for third with Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau and Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek. Burly blue-liner Dustin Byfuglien registered his 15th assist, but is goalless this season.

So efficient in its defensive play in recent weeks, Winnipeg resembled more closely its “old” self against the Red Wings and Panthers — a group distracted from its original game plan, burned early and then forced to loosen up as a way to catch up.

“We didn’t play the defensive game in either Detroit or Florida,” veteran centre Matt Hendricks said. “We’re using (Friday) as a way to recharge the batteries, but to really think about our game and ways, as individuals, we can better prepare (for the Lightning).

“We were finding a lot of success lately, offensively. You start to feel like offence is the only way to get gratification and you start to get away from the detailed structure of the defensive zone. You cheat a little bit on that side of the puck to create a little more offence. And we’re allowing opponents to have too many opportunities.”

The Jets had won 10 of their previous 15 games prior to departing for the Motor City to climb to the top rung of the Central Division. They’re now 17-8-4 and sit third in the division and fourth in the Western Conference.

Centre Bryan Little said the team is still figuring out the appropriate way to react to success.

“In the back of your mind, when you’re having success, in a couple of games, everything was clicking and we were getting the bounces and playing well. You go into the next games (thinking) that they all might look like that and that things might get easy, but it doesn’t,” said Little.

“There’s no easy games in this league. We found that out the tough way the last couple of games. Now, it’s a real test for us to put those behind us and try and get back to the way we were playing before.”

Getting kicked in the teeth a couple of times is about as harsh a wake-up call as you can get, he said.

“It puts you in your place. We were riding high, sitting at the top of the league and we have two games like that, that we weren’t happy about, that we know we can play better than, and that’s the way it goes,” Little said. “We’re finding a way to put those behind us and get back on track faster than we used to.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell