Circus over, Jets back to business

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This article was published 23/10/2016 (2734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The circus has left town but the Winnipeg Jets hockey club needs to get its act together.

A day after the Jets’ less-than-entertaining performance in the 2016 Heritage Classic outdoor game, they were back at practice Monday, grateful for a return to their regular routine.

They had a roof over their heads, no tuques were worn, no personal appearances were scheduled and neither Teemu Selanne nor Wayne Gretzky was anywhere near the MTS Iceplex.

It was just the Jets and their coaches, left with memories from a special celebration of hockey in the Manitoba capital and some regret after dropping a 3-0 decision to the Edmonton Oilers before more than 33,000 fans at Investors Group Field.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler said the weekend was a great experience but it’s time for the team to get back to the business at hand.

For a club that has dropped below .500 with a 2-3 mark, that means winning.

“It was a great platform for the city and everyone involved did a tremendous job. Everyone was really impressed with the city, the stadium, the job the Jets did and the job that Winnipeg did. There’s a lot to be proud of,” said the veteran right-winger.

“We just got beat 3-0, so you’d hope (there’s no post-Classic hangover). There should be a little bit of determination in our room to get back on the right track.”

After a two-hour delay at IGF, the Jets opened with a solid 20 minutes and out-chanced the Oilers but couldn’t get anything past goalie Cam Talbot, who went on to register a 31-save shutout. He was named the NHL’s first star of the week Monday after leading the Oilers to three victories.

Winnipeg surrendered three goals in the second period and couldn’t muster a comeback. In fact, the Jets have trailed heading into the third periods of all five of their games this season and have been forced to pull their goalie in all them.

That’s not a blueprint for success, defenceman Tyler Myers said.

“It’s tough because you look at the game and guys are working hard,” he said. “It’s a couple of plays that result in causing us to try and dig ourselves out of a hole. If we can work on playing that full 60 minutes, work on our consistency a little bit within games, we’ll start seeing better results.”

The Jets skated for about an hour Monday morning and then boarded an afternoon flight to Dallas for a battle with the Stars tonight at American Airlines Center.

The Central Division teams play the second half of the home-and-home series Thursday night at the MTS Centre, with the opening faceoff set for 7 p.m.

Just one of Winnipeg’s first five contests was against a division opponent and that resulted in a 4-3 defeat to the host Minnesota Wild on Oct. 15.

During the 2015-16 campaign, the Jets went 11-16-2 against others in the Central and wound up last in the division. Winnipeg went 1-3-1 against Dallas last season, posting a 6-3 win on Feb. 25 on the road in their last meeting of the season.

The Stars play an exhilarating brand of hockey, led by superstars Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, but history also shows they allow opponents time and space to do some offensive damage, as well.

“There’s always a bit more of an edge when you get into the Central Division,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “The Dallas games are always high-end at both ends, so we’ve got to make the most of the chances we get in these games, and we know there’s some pretty good shooters there, so we’ll be aware of that.”

The Stars (2-2-1) are trying to find their footing also, after a pair of home losses. The L.A. Kings earned a 4-3 overtime win over Dallas Thursday and the Columbus Blue Jackets pinned a 3-0 defeat on the Stars Saturday.

Stars head coach Lindy Ruff called out his club following the weekend loss to Columbus, calling the effort “one of the toughest performances we put together in two years. That was as flat as flat could be. I’ve never seen this team in two years move the puck so poorly.”

Wheeler expects Dallas to respond with a strong effort.

“It’s no easy task,” he said. “You have to have success within your division if you are, ultimately, going to reach your goals. It’s a good time to start. Dallas is a really tough opponent, so it’s always good to see how you match up.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell