Nobody said it was going to be easy. The long road back to NHL relevancy hit an early detour Monday night for the Winnipeg Jets.
A 2-1 lead with less than two minutes to play in regulation turned into a 3-2 overtime defeat to the Ottawa Senators, resulting in a costly lost point for a Winnipeg team that already finds itself trying to play catch-up.
“That is a game that should have been won by us,” said a clearly unhappy coach Scott Arniel.
“At the end of the day, these are the games you’ve got to learn to win. We’ve got to find a way, however that is. If that’s making the next play so that it gets out of the zone, if that’s blocking a shot, whatever it is. We need two points. We need them bad.”
The Jets were coming off their best game of the year, a dominant 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals which they hoped would be the spark for a lengthy run of sustained success.
And yet…
“Very winnable hockey game that we found a way to lose,” bemoaned defenceman Logan Stanley. “Mistakes are going to happen in a game, and two of them ended up in the back of our net. Kind of been a theme right now. But a game that I think we should have won.”
Winnipeg falls to 15-15-2 on the year. Ottawa improves to 15-13-4.
WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? The Jets appeared to be in control, even when Ottawa pulled goaltender Linus Ullmark for an extra attacker with just under three minutes to play. They had been defending well, keeping most shots to the outside and making life fairly routine for Connor Hellebuyck.
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ottawas Tim Stutzle (left) and Brady Tkachuk celebrates Tkachuk’s overtime winner Monday night.
As often is the case in these situations, a mistake proved critical. Jets forward Kyle Connor had an opportunity to clear the puck out of his zone but failed to do so. Just seconds later, the game was tied. A shot by Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson deflected off Winnipeg centre Mark Scheifele, beating a surprised Hellebuyck,.
It was a whole new hockey game with 1:54 left on the clock.
Then, in the ensuing three-on-three session, Connor had a glorious chance to win it — and score career goal No. 300 in the process — but his one-timer off a Scheifele pass was stopped by Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Sure enough, the Senators would make the Jets pay for that missed opportunity, with Brady Tkachuk burying a Tim Stutzle feed at 2:11 of the extra frame.
Game, set, match.
“I didn’t think our execution was great in the first (part) of the first period, kind of a theme that continued throughout the game,” said defenceman Neal Pionk.
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Winnipeg Jets’ Neal Pionk celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators with teammates during the second period.
“I thought we had good spurts, good spurts in the second. Played well enough to win. Just didn’t get it done.”
RIGHT TO THE POINT: Winnipeg began the night with 12 goals from defencemen in the first 31 games of the year, a number which Arniel would like to see increase.
The modern NHL game means coming in waves of four or even five players at a time, with blue-liners jumping into the rush to add additional support and threats. Although taking care of their own end will always be priority No. 1, Winnipeg’s rear-guards have the green light to go when opportunity presents itself.
That was certainly the case against Ottawa.
After falling behind 1-0 midway through the second period off a goal from Senators forward Nick Cousins — the Jets somehow failed to cover the entire left side of the ice — the club seemingly hit the activation button.
First up was Pionk, who took a pass from Connor and then found a lane through traffic to beat a screened Ullmark at 15:37 of the middle frame. It was the second goal of the year for Pionk, who matched his career high a season ago with 10.
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Winnipeg Jets’ Logan Stanley celebrates his second-period goal against the Ottawa Senators with Mark Scheifele.
Then came Stanley, who simply can’t be stopped. The big man, who scored exactly one goal per season in each of his first five campaigns, ripped home his sixth of this year at 18:35. It’s his third snipe in the past four games.
The only Winnipeg players who have lit the lamp more than Stanley through 32 games? The top line trio of Scheifele (16), Gabe Vilardi (16) and Connor (15). That is rather remarkable, while also serving as an indictment over some of the Jets’ secondary scoring woes.
“I’d like for there to be a few more forwards added into that, but when your D can get involved, it’s a big bonus,” said Arniel.
“I think we were over 10, 11, 12 shots from our back end. That’s important. That puts some strain on the opposition and we had some good zone time because our D were active. Our D were getting themselves in position to either get shots or to make the next plays.”
KEY PLAY: While the Connor failed clear, the Sanderson tipped shot and the Ullmark overtime save would all be worthy contenders, the Tkachuk ripper to the top shelf was the ultimate difference. It’s his second goal of the year, and his first since recently returning from a thumb injury that cost him 20 games.
As an added bonus? His grandfather, who lives in Winnipeg, was at the rink to witness it:
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk is checked by Winnipeg Jets’ Dylan DeMelo during the first period.
“There’s a lot of memories here with our family, my dad (Jets 1.0 forward Keith Tkachuk), and my grandpa and my mom being from here. I just always get excited playing here,” he said.
THREE STARS:
1. Sens C Tim Stutzle: 3A
2. Sens D Jake Sanderson: 1G, 1A
3. Jets F Morgan Barron: 1 A
EXTRA, EXTRA: Winnipeg had given up a power play goal in eight consecutive games but finally put a stop to that dubious streak, going three-for-three while shorthanded. The Jets failed to click on two chances of their own.
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ottawa Senators’ Drake Batherson is checked by Winnipeg Jets’ Neal Pionk in the first period.
Hellebuyck, playing his second game since returning from a three-week injury absence, stopped 28 of 31 shots. Ullmark turned aside 23 of 25 pucks that came his way.
Defencemen Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury and forward Tanner Pearson were Winnipeg’s scratches.
A crowd of 13,566 took in the game, which is below the season average of 14,071. Capacity at the downtown rink is 15,225.
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Prior to puck drop, the Jets announced Gimli is the winner of their “Town Takeover” contest. The Interlake community will host a full day of events on March 19 including Project 11 mental-wellness sessions at local schools, an on-ice session for local minor hockey teams featuring team alumni and a watch party for Winnipeg’s game in Boston.
The Jets now hit the road for the final three games before the Christmas break, starting Wednesday night in St. Louis. They’ll also visit Colorado on Friday and Utah on Sunday.
“We get three Central Division opponents here. We’re going to have to just go into St. Louis and we’re going to have to make sure we gain some points,” said Arniel.
Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ottawa Senators’ Tim Stulzle carries the puck past Winnipeg Jets’ Cole Perfetti in the first period.
“We didn’t do the job here at home so we’re going to have to make sure that we go out on the road and get some.”
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Mike McIntyre
Reporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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