Sluggish start costly

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This article was published 19/02/2022 (1309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 12,360 fans who braved a blizzard certainly have an excuse for showing up late to Saturday afternoon’s hockey game at Canada Life Centre. The Winnipeg Jets? Not so much. And a sluggish start proved costly in a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Sure, the home team played a solid third period. Problem is, the first 40 minutes of the game matched the miserable winter weather outside the downtown rink, with Zach Hyman, Kailer Yamamoto and Connor McDavid giving the visitors a comfortable lead.

“Well, you give up three goals and you dig yourself a big hole,” said interim coach Dave Lowry. “I look at the whole game, from start to finish. I liked the way that we got down, but we stayed with it. We talked about going into the third, we had to get that first one to generate some momentum. Then we were able to get that second one.”

Indeed, a shorthanded goal by Adam Lowry at 10:45 of the final frame gave the Jets a pulse, and hearts really got racing when Kyle Connor pumped in a power-play tally at 14:38. But Darnell Nurse sealed the deal with an empty-netter with the Jets pressing for the equalizer in the dying seconds.

Winnipeg falls to 22-19-8, including 2-2-0 during this four-game homestand. Edmonton improves to 28-18-3, including 5-0-0 under interim coach Jay Woodcroft, who took over for the fired Dave Tippett.

“They came out hot, they’re playing well right now, and they’re playing with energy,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “I think it took us a while to get going but that’s the game right now. This time of year, you can’t dwell on losses too much. We have to move on and play again in 48 hours so a good opportunity to be ready to go in that game. Another big game against a top team in the league right now so we’ve just got to look forward to that.”

Winnipeg now heads west to begin a four-game road trip on Monday afternoon in Calgary, with stops in Dallas, Colorado and Arizona to follow.

Arguably a big turning point in Saturday’s game happened early in the first period, when Hyman and Brenden Perlini took minor penalties just 30 second apart. Given a glorious chance to grab the lead, Winnipeg whiffed on the ensuing five-on-three advantage, not even generating a single shot during the 90-second span.

“I think it’s something where obviously your pace has to stay up on the 5-on-3. I thought we didn’t move the puck fast enough,” said Morrissey, who had the best look only for his stick to snap just as he attempted a one-timer.

“I think when we got it to an actual set-up we were a little bit stagnant but like I said, there were some seam looks that just didn’t connect and if I don’t break that stick or one of those goes through, it’s a goal, too. They did a good job. It’s something we’d like capitalize one. Obviously it can get you some momentum and not scoring obviously didn’t do that for us.”

That lost opportunity loomed even larger when Dominic Toninato was whistled for hooking a few minutes later, and Hyman gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead by tipping a Tyson Barrie point shot just 20 seconds into the power play. It’s as if Edmonton was saying to Winnipeg “see, that’s how it’s done.”

The Oilers came into the game with a perfect 14-0-0 record when they score first, to give you a sense of the importance of that swing.

Yamamoto made it 2-0 at 7:46 of the second period, burying his own rebound created by a McDavid rush. Brenden Dillon had pinched in the offensive zone and got burned, giving the Oilers an odd-man rush. McDavid then made it 3-0 at 10:50, finishing off a gorgeous backhand pass from Leon Draisaitl. McDavid and Draisaitl now sit one-two in the NHL scoring race.

It truly looked like game, set, match when Jets forward Evgeny Svechnikov — inserted in the lineup for the injured Cole Perfetti and bumped up in the third period to play with Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois — took a foolish interference penalty midway through the third, then chirped the referee and added an unsportsmanlike conduct minor as well.

“He just wasn’t happy that he made a comment to him,” coach Lowry said of the explanation he got from the referee. “I don’t like seeing penalties after the whistle that I really believe we have control on them. I don’t like penalties that hurt the team. It would have been appreciated if you had given him a 10-minute (misconduct) instead of the extra two because then I wouldn’t have had to ride the (penalty) killers.”

However, Toninato sprung Lowry for a shorthanded breakaway goal, seconds after Dillon was denied on his own breakaway.

“It’s nice to contribute,” Lowry said of scoring his fourth goal of the year. “You know it’s a big point in the game. It’s four minutes, you’re down by three, you want to obviously kill it but if you can get one going the other way, it’s huge. I thought we springboarded off of the start of the third and that helped.”

Connor then blasted his team-leading 29th after a feed from Morrissey, and it looked like the Jets might just rally once again. They got one more power play chance late, with the Oilers taking a too-many-men on the ice penalty with 2:05 to play, but they weren’t able to take advantage even with Connor Hellebuyck pulled for a six-on-four advantage.

Hellebuyck finished the game with 36 saves, while Mikko Koskinen stopped 21 of the 24 pucks he faced.

In addition to Perfetti, the Jets were also without injured forwards Andrew Copp, Nikolaj Ehlers and C.J. Suess, and defenceman Dylan Samberg. Ville Heinola was the lone healthy scratch. Forward Adam Brooks, picked up off waivers on Friday from Toronto, is expected to join the team for practice on Sunday before they hit the road.

BIG OVATION FOR LITTLE: The best moment of Saturday’s game came during a television timeout, when veteran forward Bryan Little was shown on the big screen and treated to a standing ovation from the crowd. Little, 34, hasn’t played a game since suffering a catastrophic head/ear injury in November 2019 after an Ehlers slap shot hit him up high. He remains on long-term injured reserve and can’t get medical clearance to resume his career.

“I think it’s awesome. He was such a great player, a great person for this organization,” said Adam Lowry.

“To see him go down like he did, it was such an unfortunate accidental play. To have his career cut short like it was, it’s great to see him in the building, it’s great to see the fans recognize what he meant to the community, what he meant to the city and to our team. That was a pretty special moment on the bench. Having played with him for a while it brings a smile to your face.”

Morrissey said Little helped set a high standard for professionalism within the Jets room, which continues in his absence.

“Bryan’s work ethic, his commitment to the game and to being a pro, doing the same thing every day over and over, his fitness level, all of those things were things that as a young player you strive to try and follow,” he said.

“He’s not a guy that says a whole lot. We were joking on the bench that getting up on the Jumbotron, as much as it probably means a lot to him, was probably the last thing he’d wanted. He’d just want to hide under the radar. But I learned so much from him. I think looking back, anyone that played with him, when you ask they can’t help but say he’s such a great guy, such a great person. It meant a lot to see him there, Just terrible obviously the luck that he had. The impact has lasted with us and lasted with our team. It’s nice to see him get recognized.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg