Jets shut out by Islanders 'Frustrating' 2-0 loss first slip on home ice of season By: Jason Bell Posted: 10:30 PM CDT Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021

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A pair of NHL assignments within 24 hours for the Winnipeg Jets could not have been more dissimilar.

Free to demonstrate their flashy side Friday night against a leaky Chicago Blackhawks squad, the Jets found themselves in trench warfare with the visiting New York Islanders, with less room to move, a short supply of quality scoring chances and the aggression ramped up Saturday evening.

They also faced Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin, who is locked in a zone and showed no signs of fatigue despite playing in his ninth consecutive contest.

Ultimately, Winnipeg lost for the first time in five home games, falling 2-0 to New York in front of just 13,424 spectators at Canada Life Centre.

Jets centre Mark Scheifele and Paul Stastny were both injured in the third period and did not return. The team has Sunday off, so updates won’t come until Monday.

Scheifele got tangled up along the boards with Islanders blue-liner Adam Pelech and hurt his leg, while Stastny was hit in the foot by friendly fire.

Anders Lee scored early in the first period for the visitors, while Brock Nelson did likewise in the third.

The Jets, now 6-3-2, had their fair share of possession in Islanders territory but had difficulty penetrating the area in front of the blue paint.

“Yeah, before the game we talked about they give up a lot of zone time but it’s tough to get into the slot, it’s tough to get anything dangerous from them,” said forward Adam Lowry. “They’re willing to give up the outside, they’re willing to play that structured game, kind of pack in the box and let you the handle the puck on the outside.

“It seems like they have three or four guys in the lane when you’re getting pucks to the net. Any time you get it there, you felt like you had two guys on your back and under your stick.”

When shots finally got through, Sorokin was terrific, posting a 24-save shutout, already his third of the 2021-22 campaign. He’s running a nifty 1.98 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

New York head coach Barry Trotz’s squad, which improved to 5-2-2, has his game plan down pat.

“Well, they don’t cheat the game and they do a good job in front of their net boxing out and making it hard to get chances from the slot. Obviously, they’re hard on the forecheck and just a playoff-style of game, really,” said defenceman Josh Morrissey. “Their goalie made some big saves as well, so obviously (it’s) frustrating.

“But I thought there were a lot of good things for us. We’re on a back-to-back against a fresh team. I thought the compete level was there, just hard to generate anything.”

The clash proved far more formidable than Friday’s cinch against the Blackhawks, who fired head coach Jeremy Colliton about 15 hours after an ugly 5-1 defeat to the Jets.

“It was a grinder for us and there were a lot of small things that weren’t easy for us to do… but it was going to be one of those games,” said Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice. “To have the right outcome, we’ve got two ‘A’ chances, our two best chances don’t go for us and then we get an awful lot blocked. But that’s a big part of what they do and how they play.”

Scheifele was afforded Winnipeg’s best opportunities to score, both in the middle period. He missed a seemingly wide-open cage with a high riser that bounced off the glass and then was stopped by Sorokin from in tight.

“The game was OK. There was enough good there… you’re not winning every game,” said Maurice. “Mark’s putting that puck in the net 99 times out of 100, but that didn’t go for you, so you stay with it.”

Jets goalie Eric Comrie had a solid outing, stopping 29 drives.

The Islanders struck at 3:12 of the opening period, after Josh Bailey dug the puck out from behind the net and fed Lee, who was left unchecked and free to fire his second goal of the year.

Nelson scored his seventh goal just 47 seconds into the final frame, scooting down the right side and beating Comrie to the far side. Morrissey pinched on the play and Kyle Palmieri poked the puck past him.

Maurice was asked which of the two markers was most cringe-worthy.

“I would say the first because I think we can close that out better. The second one, it’s kind of like a bit of our night. We would have it in the offensive zone then not. We can handle that first one a lot better,” he said.

The Islanders are in the midst of an almost unfathomable 13-game road trip to begin the 2021-22 season, as the finishing touches are applied to their new home, UBS Arena.

The Jets’ seven-game home stand continues Tuesday when the St. Louis Blues visit. It’s a 7 p.m. start time at Canada Life Centre.

Connor Hellebuyck, alone in the Jets’ infirmary, continues to recover from a non-COVID-related illness but might be well enough to skate Sunday.

True to form, the intrepid netminder figured he was well enough to slide back into the crease against the Islanders, despite the fact he hasn’t faced a blast of rubber in a week. He was absent Monday and Tuesday to be present for the birth of his son before catching a bug.

Hellebuyck’s generous offer to start was rejected out of hand.

“He was putting in a bid (Saturday) but we couldn’t do it,” said Maurice, earlier in the day. “If all goes well here over the next 24 hours we’ll give him a light skate (Sunday) on the off-day and practice (Monday), but we aren’t out of the woods, yet.”

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell