Chicago sticks it to home side

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2017 (2324 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was touted as a measuring-stick game, one that could show just how far they have come this year as they attempt to prove their worth as a legitimate elite team.

Well, the tale of the tape reveals this one wasn’t even close. The Winnipeg Jets came up woefully short Thursday night in their first matchup of the season against the Chicago Blackhawks, beaten soundly in a 5-1 loss.

Chicago (16-11-5) struck early and often — scoring on their first two shots before quickly adding a third — and showed they are still a Central Division force to be reckoned with despite the fact Winnipeg (18-9-5) is currently ahead of them in the standings. That won’t be the case for long if the Jets’ uninspired performance is more than just a blip.

“It’s the best league in the world. When you come out flat, you shouldn’t expect anything less than being down 3-0,” captain Blake Wheeler said in a sombre Jets dressing room following the game. “We just weren’t quick. We came out a little flat and it’s 3-0 halfway through the first period. It’s an uphill climb. It isn’t insurmountable, we just couldn’t find a way to get it back on our terms.”

Winnipeg was coming off their first two-day break without a game in a month, a reprieve that was supposed to let them recharge their batteries. Instead, they struggled just to find their keys and attempt to even turn the ignition.

“The schedule has been gruelling but we just had two days off. Rest is no excuse; they came ready to play tonight and we weren’t,” said centre Adam Lowry.

As much as players and coaches have said they believe they can manage without injured veteran defencemen Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom due to team depth, Thursday’s game raises serious doubts. Tyler Myers and Dmitry Kulikov — who’ve gone from the team’s third pair to second — and the new third pairing of Ben Chiarot and Tucker Poolman were a combined minus-eight after being victimized for four even-strength goals.

“It was more of an adventure when we had the puck. I thought that’s where we got off our game. Everybody runs into injuries. We certainly have over the years on our blue line and survived it and played well. We can play a much better hockey game than that before we look at two defencemen being out as being a deciding factor,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “I didn’t expect us to come out slow. I thought we’d come out quick, and we didn’t.”

Vinnie Hinostroza, a 5-9 forward who had not registered a point in three games since his American Hockey League call-up, one-timed a Patrick Sharp pass on a two-on-one through the five-hole of Connor Hellebuyck just 1:50 into the game. Winnipeg was in the middle of a line change and appeared to lose track of their defensive responsibilities, which would become a recurring theme early in the game.

Lance Bouma got a breakaway just over a minute later but fired wide. Tommy Wingels made it 2-0 just past the six-minute mark, as his shot went off the stick of Matt Hendricks and past Hellebuyck with the Jets caught running around in their own end. Nick Schmaltz put his team up 3-0 just past the midway mark of the period, redirecting a point shot from Duncan Keith with Winnipeg once again a mess in the defensive zone.

It was a surprising turn of events at Bell MTS Place, where the Jets had won seven straight games entering the night and got points in 11 straight (10-0-1). But Chicago, now winners of four straight, came ready to play. The same can’t be said for the home club, which appeared to check out as soon as the anthems were done.

First periods generally haven’t been a problem for the Jets, who began the night with a 40-29 goal advantage in the opening 20 minutes this season. But this was definitely one that will require careful post-game video breakdown and scrutiny over what went wrong to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“I don’t think we can kind of let ourselves off the hook for not being ready to go. But you have to give them some credit, too. They came in and they knew it was going to be a real tough road game; we’ve been real successful at home, especially as of late. We weren’t ready to go and we didn’t have an answer for their speed, especially in the first period,” said Lowry.

Winnipeg showed a little life early in the second with a few minutes of sustained pressure, but it didn’t produce any results. And then Hawks leading scorer Patrick Kane fired the dagger just past the halfway point, as he converted a terrific no-look pass from Schmaltz to make it a four-goal lead.

As the Jets headed to the dressing room, there were a few boo birds serenading them off the ice.

Nikolaj Ehlers ruined Corey Crawford’s shutout attempt with a power-play goal just over five minutes into the final period, taking just five seconds to score after Schmaltz was flagged for tripping. His 15th goal puts him into a tie with Patrik Laine for most on the team. Laine nearly got one a few seconds later, hitting the post.

Chicago restored the four-goal lead a few minutes later as defenceman Michal Kempny ripped a shot past Hellebuyck, who had yet to lose in regulation time at home this year in 12 starts (11-0-1), but struggled along with his teammates. He finished with 25 saves.

“It’s not all roses. Like I was saying (Wednesday), these guys are behind us in the standings but they’re a good hockey team. I think everyone we play is a good hockey team,” said Wheeler.

The test doesn’t get any easier for the Jets. They head to St. Louis to play the Western Conference-leading Blues on Saturday. The two teams then come back to Winnipeg for a game Sunday evening. The Jets finish up the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule with a three-game road trip next week against the Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders.

“We’ve got 50 games left, so there’s still a lot of work to do. Looking at the standings right now, we’re in good shape but we need to keep working on our game. We need to get better. We can’t start games the way we did (Thursday) and I’m positive the guys are pretty set on getting that changed quickly,” said Ehlers

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg