Three Talking Points as the Winnipeg Jets Lose To the Senators 5-2
The Winnipeg Jets lost for the first time in their last three games on Thursday night on home ice against the Ottawa Senators. Here are three talking points from the game.
The Winnipeg Jets played host to the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at the Canada Life Centre in another important game for the team who is fighting for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
The Jets were coming off of a Tuesday night home victory against the Vegas Golden Knights thanks to an outstanding shutout performance by Connor Hellebuyck. Vegas has been struggling and is also a team that the Jets need to pass on their path to the playoffs.
The Jets entered the game three points behind the Dallas Stars for the final Wild Card spot. The Senators came into the game having lost five of their last six games. Despite that, the Senators completely outplayed the Jets earning a well deserved 5-2 victory.
The Jets have a chance to wash the stink of the Senators game away quickly as they take on old pal Patrik Laine and the Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice Friday night. Keiran Hurley has the preview here.
Here are our three talking points from the Jets loss to Ottawa:
3. Third Period Collapse
After two lackluster periods, the Jets were tied with the Senators 1-1 despite being outshot and having not created any sustained pressure on a team below them in the standings. The third period started off with a continuation of the poor play for the Jets as they did not register a shot on goal for the first eight minutes.
Then, within the span of three minutes, the Jets completely collapsed as the Senators scored three goals to take a lead that they would never relinquish. Kyle Connor scored his 40th goal of the season to narrow the gap, but ultimately the Jets gave away an opportunity to win a game they desperately needed to win to remain in the playoff hunt.
It’s hard for Jets fans to fathom how a team with this much at stake came out so flat, particularly in the third period.
2. The Jets’ best players were not the team’s best players
Let’s start with the Jets players who played like last night’s game was crucial if the team expects to make the postseason – Nikolaj Ehlers. That’s pretty much it. If I’m being generous I’ll add Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck to this very shortlist.
In a must win game, against a team tied for second last in the Eastern Conference, the Jets’ top players were basically nonexistent. Nikolaj Ehlers tried valiantly to carry the top line with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler who looked like they were sleeping through the game.
Pierre Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor, and Evgeny Svechnikov seemed to forget about the hard forechecking, pressuring defensemen style that has been successful for them this season. The third and fourth lines provided nothing in terms of defense or offense. And the only defense pairing that provided any support to Hellebuyck was Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo.
This team did not look like a playoff team at all last night, and more concerningly, looked like a team that may need to shake up the top end of the roster in the offseason.
1. The playoffs look like a distant dream
With the Dallas Stars shootout victory last night against the Carolina Hurricanes the team moved five points ahead of the Jets for the final Western Conference Playoff spot with two games in hand. The general consensus is that to make the final Wild Card playoff spot a team will need to get 96 points.
The Jets have 17 games remaining and currently sit at 70 points. To hit the magic 96 point threshold the Jets basically have to win 13 of their remaining 17 games this season. Plus, the Jets would have to hope that the Dallas Stars experience some kind of extended losing streak.
At this point, the Jets making the playoffs looks virtually impossible. Kevin Cheveldayoff’s trade deadline strategy was to obtain assets for pending UFA Andrew Copp and to ensure that the team had enough to continue to compete for the final playoff spot by obtaining roster players and holding on to pending UFA Paul Stastny.
I think it is time for Cheveldayoff to wave the white flag, and start looking towards next season. It’s time for the team to see what they have in some of their prospects like Ville Heinola, David Gustafsson, Dylan Samberg.
It’s also time for Cheveldayoff and his staff to start reaching out to potential head coach candidates and arranging interviews starting when the regular season ends. The team may also want to start thinking about some kind of incentives for fans to attend the remaining meaningless home games.
Want your voice heard? Join the Jets White Out team!
Winnipeg Jets Fans: What did you think of last night’s game and the Jets playoff chances? Leave your comments below!
Next. Winnipeg Jets vs Blue Jackets: Laine Makes his Return to Winnipeg. dark