VANCOUVER — The Winnipeg Jets’ three-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday night, as they fell behind early to the Canucks and never recovered, with the final being 6-2. Here’s an on-scene version of the next day takeaways from the Jets’ Tuesday night loss to the Canucks.
The Jets got shredded off the rush
For a team that has been solid in their defensive structure all season long, the Jets had a handful of defensive breakdowns in this one.
Two first-period goals came off the rush for Vancouver, an area that Scott Arniel and the Jets’ coaching staff have been emphasizing all season long.
“We certainly made some early mistakes,” Arniel said. “Gave up a lot more rush opportunities than we ever have, I think in a game, and they capitalized.”
I asked Dylan DeMelo if those rush chances allowed were more misreads or miscommunications, and here’s what he said: “A little bit of both. I mean, we’re diving in, (their) D are joining, we get caught at the end of a long shift. We go east-west, can’t get enough guys off, they’re fresh coming on guns a blazing and they kind of just beat us to areas, and yeah, kind of all into one there.”
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Clearly, it wasn’t just one read or one misstep that led to Vancouver carving the Jets off the rush. There were plenty of things that led to these goals, and once the Jets trailed, they couldn’t recover.
There was a moment in the game when the Jets trailed 3-2, and Mark Scheifele was robbed on a glorious chance in front by Kevin Lankinen, and just moments later, Nikolaj Ehlers hit the crossbar on a solo rush chance.
This game could have been much different in the second period had the Jets gotten a better fate on those chances, but two quick goals from Vancouver felt like the dagger.
“For sure, you can always look back at plays like that, if they go in, you never know what the game could be after that,” Alex Iafallo said after the game. “At that point, you have to stick with it and keep playing hard, and hopefully things start going in.”
New look bottom-six lines
To begin the second period, with the Jets down 3-1, Scott Arniel made a tweak to his bottom-six. He put Alex Iafallo and Brandon Tanev up with Adam Lowry on the third line, and put Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton with Morgan Barron.
That switch paid off, as Iafallo-Lowry-Tanev scored to bring the Jets back within one, and played strong for the majority of the game.
“You have to do something, right? And they went out and scored a goal, so sometimes you just want to get a spark,” Arniel said to me after the game. “I loved the other two lines where Scheifele’s line had great zone time, Perfetti’s line was outstanding. There was a lot of looks and a lot of chances, and their goaltender made some big stops as well.”
In a game where not much went right for the Jets, this new look third line could be something that they re-visit on Thursday against Edmonton.
Brandon Tanev and Adam Lowry played together during Tanev’s first stint with the Jets, and with Niederreiter having just one assist and no goals in his last 14 games, it seems as though now might be the time for a new look in the bottom six.
No thought of pulling Connor Hellebuyck after two
It was a rare off night for Connor Hellebuyck, who allowed five goals against on 21 shots. There was no thought of giving him the third period off, however, even with the Jets down 5-2.
”If it’s 50, 60 shots coming at him, it’s a little different thing,” Arniel said. “But like I said, a lot of them, they were mistakes that we made and ended up in the back of the net with our coverage off the rush”
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
To nobody’s surprise, Scott Arniel did confirm after the game that Connor Hellebuyck will get the chance to go right back at it on Thursday against Edmonton: “Just get right back on the horse and he’ll go back at Edmonton.”
Up next:
The Jets will travel to Edmonton to take on the Oilers as they wrap up this three-game road trip, before returning home and beginning a four-game homestand on Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the latest Jets news and coverage through the weekend and into next week’s homestand.
