Next day takeaways: 3 thoughts as the Winnipeg Jets lose to the Ducks 3-2

Heading into the second night of a back-to-back, the Jets were looking to build off of their win over the San Jose Sharks as they took on the Anaheim Ducks. The opposite happened, as the Jets suffered one of their most disappointing losses of the season, a 3-2 regulation loss to the lowly Ducks as Troy Terry scored with 25 seconds remaining. 

The Jets played down to their opponent

It has not happened very often this season, but the Jets played down to their opponent on this night. The first 30 minutes of the contest saw the Jets fall down 1-0, and losing the shots battle 18-4. Eric Comrie held them in this game, and despite losing his fifth straight game, he was the lone bright spot for Winnipeg. 

“We didn’t do anything in the first period. It was just Eric, he was the only one playing in the first period,” is what Gabriel Vilardi said after the game. Vilardi scored his 14th of the season on the power play to tie the game at 1, which erased a lot of the “bad” that Winnipeg had done up until that point.  

Winnipeg even took the lead in the third period, despite being heavily outshot. Kyle Connor flew up the ice and fired a crisp pass to Mark Scheifele, who fired a one-timer past Lukas Dostal to give the Jets a 2-1 lead at the time. 

“We didn’t play very well for two periods, found a way to get out and get a lead, and we’re usually pretty good when we get up, especially in the third period,” Scott Arniel said after the game. 

Despite it being a 2-2 game, the Jets found themselves on the power play with roughly three minutes remaining, and a chance to take the lead. They generated only one shot on the power play, before Neal Pionk committed a turnover, and Terry capitalized, winning the game for the Ducks. It was a game where Winnipeg failed to earn any points, as they were heavily out-shot, out-chanced, and it resulted in a lot of questions. 

Nikolaj Ehlers, who made his return to the lineup on this night after missing nine games with a lower-body injury, pointed to a few of the questions that arose out of this contest. 

“We’ve got to hold each other accountable for what we’re doing out there. And we’re not doing that. So we’ve got some work to do.” 

Nikolaj Ehlers returns with Jets’ offence needing a spark

The Jets have the top power play in the NHL this season, and that has been a huge reason for their success. However, in their last 18 games, the Jets have a mediocre 8-9-1 record, and rank fairly low in a handful of league-wide offensive metrics. 

According to Natural Stat Trick, here’s where the Jets rank across the NHL at 5v5 in the following statistics since November 14 (their last 18 games). 

– 30th in Goals/60 (1.92)

– 29th in Scoring Chances/60 (22.87)

– 25th in Expected goals/60 (2.27)

– 25th in Shots/60 (25.61) 

The Jets were without Ehlers for half of that stretch, as he missed the last nine games. He is now returning at a crucial point for the Jets as their five-on-five offence is reaching a new low. 

On a night where the Jets finished with only 23 shots on goal against the Ducks, this feels like the main question surrounding this team as they head into a massive game on Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild. 

Eric Comrie winless in his last five starts

After starting the season 3-0-0, Jets’ goaltender Eric Comrie has now lost five straight games. It’s hardly on him, as in the five losses, the Jets have failed to give him any run support. 

Here’s the number of goals the Jets have scored in each of Comrie’s five losses: 1, 1, 1, 2, 3. 

Comrie now has a .901 save percentage, 3.05 goals against average, and a 3-5-0 record on the season through nine starts. The Jets let their backup goaltender down once again, and both Vilardi and Ehlers acknowledged that after the game. 

Up next

The Jets will now return home for a one-game homestand on Saturday evening against the Minnesota Wild, in a contest between the top two teams in the Central Division and Western Conference. 

They will then head to Toronto for a Monday afternoon tilt against the Maple Leafs in their final contest before the holiday break. 

Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the Jets and Moose news heading into the weekend.