Jets run out of luck in Vegas

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This article was published 30/10/2022 (823 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The Winnipeg Jets were one shot away from proving that you don’t necessarily need to be good to be lucky, that you can actually be pretty bad — and at points really bad, at least for two periods — and still have some incredible fortune.

The Jets were outclassed Sunday night by the Vegas Golden Knights, who dominated their opponent in front of a home crowd of 17,824 at T-Mobile Arena, several of whom donned Winnipeg jerseys. Despite the visitors generating some quality scoring chances late in the game, it was the Golden Knights who left with the two points, earning a 2-1 overtime victory with some last-second heroics.

Vegas forward Jack Eichel scored with six seconds remaining in the extra period, skating around a tired Mark Scheifele before beating Connor Hellebuyck with a nifty cross-crease move to the forehand. The goal capped a three-game road trip for Winnipeg, which opened with wins over the L.A. Kings and Arizona Coyotes on back-to-back nights Thursday and Friday.

“We’ll take the five points, but the L.A. game was a lot like tonight,” Jets associate coach Scott Arniel said afterwards. “Our goaltender had to stand on his head for most of the evening. We’ll take the points, get out of here.”

The Jets dropped to 5-3-1 with the loss, earning a single point for forcing the game to OT, which puts them in a tie with the Dallas Stars for top spot in the Central Division.

Let’s take a deeper look into the loss with some news, notes and analysis.

1) It would be criminal not to start with the play of Connor Hellebuyck, who finished with a whopping 46 saves, several of which needed a second look to believe, including a seemingly blind paddle stop on defenceman Nicolas Hague.

There aren’t enough adjectives to describe what Hellebuyck means to the Jets. While many are asking how Winnipeg can be in a fight for first in the Central, with Nikolaj Ehlers playing just two games, Kyle Connor having just one goal and the power play and penalty kill both in the bottom-third of the NHL, well, look no further than the man between the pipes.

“Clearly, we didn’t deserve to win that one,” Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon said. “We collectively know in here that Bucky had an unbelievable game to give us a chance to win.”

2) The Jets had horrible starts against the Kings and Coyotes and, as Arniel alluded to, the trend continued against the Golden Knights.Vegas absolutely dominated Winnipeg through 20 minutes, a frame the Jets were heavily outchanced and outshot, 15-4, with shot attempts 22-10 in favour of the home side. That the Jets left the period tied 0-0 was a blessing from the hockey Gods, and had it not been for the stellar play of their savour Hellebuyck, this game would have gone south fast.

“We want to play a more complicated game than what we need to. You’re on the road, you’re in a hostile environment, that’s the time you try to keep it as simple as possible,” added Arniel. “We’ve been stressing it for nine games. It’s not like teams are overpowering us because they’re out-skilling us or outworking us. We’re turning pucks over and allowing the opposition to come at us. They’re too good of a team. They’re going to come back the other way and you knew the push was going to be on.”

3) After a horrid second period, where the Jets were outshot 18-4, bringing it to a two-frame total of 33-8, Adam Lowry notched his second of the season just 13 seconds into the third. It was another significant goal on the road trip for the third-line centre, after Lowry notched a short-handed marker late in the first period against L.A. that halted a three-goal run by the Kings and kicked off the comeback. While Lowry has long been considered a leader on the Jets, he was officially named an alternate captain this season, and he continues to prove the new coaching staff made the right call. Credit should also go to line mate Morgan Barron, who started the play by winning a puck battle in the corner.

“He takes so much pride in being a Jet, and being a leader on this team,” Dillon said. “He works hard and plays the right way. He’s a guy you can count on, and you know what you’re going to get from him for 60 minutes..”

4) It’s not a good sign when the fourth line is your best forward trio in the game. That was the case Sunday, certainly through the first 40 minutes, with centre David Gustafsson and wingers Saku Maenalanen easily the most effective for the Jets. Despite logging under 10 minutes in the game, they spent arguably the most time in the offensive zone among Winnipeg forwards and generated one of the Jets’ best scoring chances early in the game, with Gustafsson feeding defenceman Neal Pionk with a pass to the slot that was turned aside by the shoulder of Golden Knights backup goalie Adin Hill. Winnipeg’s fourth line has played well all season, and it’s their job to be relied on for extra responsibility at the end of road trips, something they’ve been delivering.

5) The Jets best period was OT, which included several chances that could have ended the game in Winnipeg’s favour. Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Morrissey and Nate Schmidt all had great looks, but were unable to beat Golden Knights backup goalie Adin Hill, who also earned the win over Winnipeg 10 days earlier, before Eichel finished it in the final seconds.

“He made a good move. I think I want to poke check that next time,” Hellebuyck said.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton