The hiccups were bound to arrive: they were just a little more pronounced than Scott Arniel would have liked.
The head coach of the Winnipeg Jets wasn’t thrilled with a good chunk of the season opening 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars and he wasn’t afraid to share that in his post-game media address.
After going through the process of breaking down the film, Arniel felt similarly — especially about the breakdowns in coverage and the inability to win as many one-on-one battles that are required to come out on top against a Central Division opponent and fellow Stanley Cup contender.
JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Morgan Barron’s shorthanded goal in the third period sparked the Winnipeg Jets’ three-goal rally Thursday night at Canada Life Centre.
“Lots of teaching. They know there’s some areas we need to improve on. Talked about it, looked at it. Get ourselves reset,” Arniel said.
Game 2 of 82 goes Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre and the required improvements were easy for Arniel and the players to identify.
“It was loose, a little bit disconnected in the sense when we’re a five-man unit, whether it’s defending, on the rush or taking the rush against us, (we’re) pretty tight,” said Arniel. “The middle of the ice was kind of taken away (by the Stars). There were some big gaps in between their forwards and our D.”
In falling behind the Stars 5-1, thanks to a three-goal outburst early in the third period, the Jets didn’t resemble the stifling defensive team that captured the Jennings Trophy in consecutive seasons for allowing the fewest goals in the NHL.
This wasn’t a matter of shoddy goaltending either and while Hellebuyck certainly wouldn’t have been happy about allowing five goals in his season debut, he made some critical saves that prevented this from being a one-sided blowout and allowed his team to battle back to get within a shot of tying things.
“The execution and attention to detail and compete just wasn’t there,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “It was a pre-season vibe and we know quite clearly it wasn’t good enough. So, it is stuff that is easy for our group to clean up and we are looking forward to a better effort (on Saturday).”
That’s another sign of the progress the Jets have made during the past several seasons.
Although the Jets were proud of their ability to show resilience and battle back — in part by scoring a pair of shorthanded goals — they didn’t let the rally cloud the fact they didn’t reach their high standard in a number of critical facets of the game.
They weren’t leaning into excuses either, which has become another important piece of their identity.
Playing without the likes of defenceman Dylan Samberg or forwards Cole Perfetti and Adam Lowry meant the Jets didn’t ice an optimal lineup — though a return to game action isn’t imminent for any of those three players, so this group isn’t about to sit around and wait for the cavalry to arrive.
Overcoming injuries is a prerequisite for any team that fancies itself on claiming one of the eight playoff spots available in each conference.
While it’s going to take some time for some of the newcomers to find their way in the Jets system, those players were either brought in as free agents or were promoted from the minors because the coaching staff is confident in their ability to get up to speed quickly.
“Whether it is a face-off or the D-zone, O-zone or net-front battles, that is a big part of our identity and that is a big reason why we had a lot of success last year,” said DeMelo. “It is very evident when our group is not dialed in with that — and it looked a lot like that (against Dallas).
“When we are on, it looks a lot more like it did last year. I don’t want to keep talking about last year and all that stuff but we know the blueprint and we know we are really close to it.”
Although the Jets won the special-teams battle 2-1 on Thursday, the power play was 0-for-4 and unable to cash in an opportunity late in the contest that could have forced overtime.
Both of the Jets goals on special teams came shorthanded, while the penalty kill was 4-for-5 and nearly survived a lengthy two-man disadvantage before allowing a goal just after the initial minor expired.
Aside from the seventh hat trick of Kyle Connor’s career, one of the other bright spots for the Jets was an excellent individual effort from Morgan Barron that led to a shorthanded goal that sparked the three-goal rally.
Barron made a smart read to steal the puck and then beat Mikko Rantanen in a race up the ice, worked past Ilya Lyubushkin and then beat Jake Oettinger with a nifty move to the backhand.
“I kind of felt like there was some space, so I just tried to get my feet going,” said Barron. “And then I felt like from there, obviously, it was kind of more reactionary. I didn’t really have the space to get a shot off, and had half a step on those two guys. So yeah, I feel like that’s kind of just trying to play with your instincts a little bit.”
The highlight-reel marker was another snapshot of how Barron could work his way back to being a double-digit goal-scorer like he was in his first second season with the Jets (when he had 11 goals in 80 games).
“He’s a power forward and that was a power forward move,” said Arniel.
For Saturday’s matchup with the Kings (who split their first two outings), Arniel has made a couple of tweaks to his middle-six forwards, flip-flopping Alex Iafallo and Gustav Nyquist.
That means Jonathan Toews will centre rookie Nikita Chibrikov and Iafallo, while Vladislav Namestnikov will be between Nino Niederreiter and Nyquist.
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ICE CHIPS: The Jets organizational depth was fortified on Friday afternoon when forward David Gustafsson cleared waivers and was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
Gustafsson, chosen by the Jets in the second round (60th overall) of the 2018 NHL draft, has six goals and 20 points in 149 NHL games. Much like defenceman Ville Heinola before him, Gustafsson has expressed a desire to get into more game action after missing a bunch of time either due to injuries or being a healthy scratch during the past few seasons.
“It’s about making sure that you go down and you (earn) that ice time,” said Arniel. “Going back to playing and being confident. You never know how things play out as the season moves forward.”
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Ken Wiebe
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Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.
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