Winnipeg Jets: 3 Talking Points as the Losing Streak Continues vs. Ottawa
The Winnipeg Jets went into Ottawa trying to put an end to their six-game losing streak as they faced off against the Senators, who the Jets have dominated the season series against.
Paul Maurice and the Jets’ coaching staff made some lineup changes as they were looking to pick up points for the first time since April 15 when the Jets beat Toronto.
Adam Lowry was back healthy from injury and replaced Jansen Harkins on forward. Logan Stanley came back into the lineup on defense for Jordie Benn and the Jets decided to give Connor Hellebuyck the night off and gave Laurent Brossoit the start in net.
Unfortunately, these lineup changes did not make a difference as the Winnipeg Jets failed to pick up any points against the team with the lowest winning percentage in the North Division
The Winnipeg Jets lost 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators and their losing streak continues
Here are three talking points from the Winnipeg Jets loss to the Ottawa Senators:
3. Special Teams
As we have seen in many games featuring the Winnipeg Jets this season, special teams can be the difference between the Jets leaving an arena with two points or walking away empty-handed.
In this game, special teams made the difference. The Jets had six power plays in this game and failed to score on any of them.
In fact, Ottawa’s first goal of the game came on a Jets’ power play. Ottawa was able to take advantage of a loose puck and hit the Jets’ defensive zone with speed.
Nick Paul was able to make a pass hat evaded Paul Stastny’s stick and gave Connor Brown a breakaway. Brown rifled home a shot past Laurent Brossoit to open the scoring in the game and give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
Going zero-for-six and allowing one goal against while on the man advantage was the difference in this game.
2. So Close but Yet So Far
The Jets were only minutes away from forcing this game into overtime and picking up their first point in over a half a month, but the Senators had other ideas.
In the last minute and a half of the game, the Senators threw everything they had at the Jets and had many good scoring opportunities.
Ottawa was then able to work the puck up to the point, where Nikita Zaitsev received a pass. Although there were no Senators in front of Brossoit, Logan Stanley and Adam Lowry went to block the shot from Zaitsev and provided a screen in front of the Jets’ goaltender.
The shot found its way past Lowry, Stanley, and Brossoit and into the back of the net to give the Senators a 2-1 lead with just over 70 seconds remaining in the game.
You could see the reactions of the Jets players in the clip above. The players looked stunned and you could see the “here we go again” look from their facial expressions and body language.
Unfortunately for Winnipeg, Zaitsev’s goal was the game winner as the Jets could not tie the game in the last minute.
1. The Jets are now in a Tie for Third Place
Only a couple of weeks ago, the Jets were challenging for first place and were closing in on Toronto to steal the top spot in the division.
But with this loss, the Jets are on a seven-game losing streak and have fallen into a tie for third place in the North with the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets do have the tiebreaker over Montreal with more regulation wins.
Winnipeg now has the longest current losing streak in the NHL and are barely hanging on to third place with the tiebreaker.
The Winnipeg Jets will finish this three-game road trip when they take on the Flames on Wednesday night in Calgary. That game will be the Jets last road game of the season, as they will start a four-game homestand to finish the 2021 regular season starting Saturday night.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: What did you think of the Winnipeg Jets performance? Leave your comments below!
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