Desperate Jets hang on to beat Coyotes

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This article was published 20/03/2023 (394 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets took a step in the right direction in their pursuit of  securing a playoff spot, even if the way they did it won’t exactly inspire much confidence they’re on the right track.

The Jets scored twice early and then held on for dear life, enough to earn a 2-1 decision over the Arizona Coyotes on home ice Tuesday night. The victory comes with a valuable two points, as the Jets continue to fight for a post-season berth with just 10 games now remaining in the regular season.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who improved to 40-29-3 with the win. The Coyotes, whose lone goal came from Barrett Hayton, dropped to 27-33-11 with the loss, which also snapped a four-game win streak.

Connor Hellebuyck finished with 29 saves. Karl Vejmelka countered with 23 saves for the visitors.

“Just staying with it, obviously. They’ve been playing well lately and they’ve got a lot of skill, specifically a couple of lines that will make plays,” Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey said. “They took it to us. We got some huge saves (from Hellebuyck) and we responded well in the third.”

Let’s dive further into this one.

1 Ehlers opened the scoring 4:17 into the first period, finishing off a breakaway that began at his own blue line following a turnover by the Coyotes. Ehlers wasn’t able to convert on his first attempt but cashed in the rebound for his ninth of the season.

The Jets had allowed the first goal in five straight games and nine of the last 10, so it was a change of pace — literally and figuratively — not having to chase the game so early. In the previous five games, which resulted in three losses, St. Louis (4:04), Nashville (5:26), Boston (0:50), Carolina (4:37) and Tampa Bay (1:19) all scored before the game was six minutes old.

Winnipeg added to its lead just past the midway mark of the opening frame, with Adam Lowry scoring short-handed, his 10th of the season. Credit goes to Morgan Barron for his patience that led to a nifty pass to Lowry on the two-on-on.

“Any time you get a two-on-one, you want to hit it hard and get it above the pad. Barron made such a great pass, so it made my job pretty easy,” said Lowry. “It landed flat on my stick and fortunately I got all of it. (Vejmelka) has played extremely well against us here. He only gave up two and gave them a chance to win.”

The Jets have scored the first goal in 38 of their 72 games this season, winning 27 times.

2 No one is going to be intimidated by the Jets beating a Coyotes club that is near the bottom of the standings and has a front office that has seemingly done everything in its power to tank this season.

The Coyotes haven’t been an easy out of late and have garnered better results than the Jets in recent weeks, boasting a 6-2-2 record in their last 10 games. At this point, the Jets, who are among the worst teams since mid-January, with a record of 11-15-2, will take what they can get as they battle to secure a playoff spot.

Arizona also didn’t quit after trailing 2-0, and were the better team for long stretches of the game, particularly in the second period. Hayton cut Winnipeg’s lead to 2-1 at the 11:46 mark of the frame, cleaning up a loose puck in front. The Jets were limited to just three shots in the period and, incredibly, none in the final 16:14.

“We stopped attacking. We got soft with the puck. They were fighting to get back in the game,” Jets head coach Rick Bowness said. “We got hemmed in our zone a couple of shifts, which took all the steam out of our game. When that happens, someone has to get it and ice the puck and reset. We weren’t even able to get it. We had a couple bad shifts in the second period, we didn’t spend any time in their zone because we were changing. We just had no flow to the game whatsoever.

The Coyotes are a young team going through a rebuild, but there are some solid pieces in the lineup with the likes of Hayton, Vejmelka, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz topping the list.

You could argue Arizona deserved a better fate on this night. They would have if not for the stellar play of Hellebuyck.

3 This is going to sound like a broken record, but the Jets power play continues to be a nightmare.

Winnipeg went 0-for-6 on the man-advantage, registering just eight shots. The Jets had eight minutes of power-play in the third period alone, including a double-minor for a high-stick on Vladislav Namestnikov.

That level of ineptitude has been a theme for weeks. The Jets have just one goal on 21 power plays over their last six games and only three on 33 power plays over the last nine.

Bowness has been constantly swapping the two units, to little success. They seem to have run out of answers.

Another concerning pattern is the lack of scoring from their top players. Mark Scheifele has no goals in his last six; Kyle Connor hasn’t scored in his last 11; Pierre-Luc Dubois has none in his last seven; and Blake Wheeler is goalless in his last 18.

Against the Coyotes, the top line of Scheifele, Connor and Nino Niederreiter registered just one shot through the first two periods. Bowness then demoted Scheifele to the second line, bumping Dubois up to the top trio.

The Jets desperately need their top guns to improve if they plan to build up any kind of notable momentum heading into the playoffs. That’s assuming they get there in the first place.

4 The Jets remain in the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, with 83 points. They’re two points shy of the Seattle Kraken, who defeated the Dallas Stars Tuesday, for the first wild card.

Behind Winnipeg are the Nashville Predators, who after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 7-3 are five points back with three games in hand. The Calgary Flames were six points back, with a game in hand, but held a 2-0 second-period lead over the Anaheim Ducks by press time.

Indeed, it’s going to be a heated race down the final stretch. The Jets head out on the road for a three-game road trip, beginning in Anaheim Thursday, followed by dates with the L.A. Kings Saturday and San Jose Sharks Tuesday.

The Jets wrap up March with a tilt against the Detroit Red Wings on the 31st, before entering the final month, with six games in April, including four at home (New Jersey, Calgary, Nashville and San Jose) and two on the road (Minnesota and Colorado) to wrap up the regular season.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton