WINNIPEG – This homestand was supposed to be the run the Jets were looking for to get back into the playoff mix as they have been a better team at home all season. Instead they find themselves 1-5 so far and slipping out of the wild card mix fast. Saturday night they lost a tough one, 3-1, to the New Jersey Devils who only managed 16 shots on goal but still managed to get a big road win.
The Jets came out flat to start the game and were very sloppy with the puck and couldn’t generate much offence. They did figure things out a bit and took over the game and although there weren’t a lot of shots the chances and physical play tilted the Jets way.
“I thought we got off to a good start and then played a pretty complete 60 minutes,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “There were times that Winnipeg had some strong pushes, and we were able to respond better than we had in previous games.”
Corey Schneider got the call for the Devils and was solid as he stopped 22 of 23 shots and made a couple big stops off of Drew Stafford and Nik Ehlers. He improved his record to 22-14-5 on the year.
It was a former teammate who came back to haunt the Jets as Lee Stempniak, a player who really helped the Jets last season after being acquired at the trade deadline, scored twice his 13th and 14th goals of the season.
“It was a good team effort from us,” Stempniak said. “It was a huge game. It’s fun to be back. I enjoyed playing here and was friends with a lot of the [Winnipeg] guys. Nothing but good memories and great things to say to about the Jets organization.”
Stempniak wanted to remain a Jet but was told the team was going with their prospects and ended up signing with the Devils and has been one of their top guys all year; a veteran depth player that the Jets are lacking on the bottom six.
“The morale is going to be low, and it should be after you lose three games,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “The confidence is earned. The only way you have to change your fortunes is to work harder.”
Winnipeg was dominating the physical play as they seemed to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. One player who came to play was Dustin Byfuglien as he was the lone Jet to score He got his 12th on the power play as he was placed in front of the net and picked up a rebound and roofed it past Schneider.
“It’s not good enough,” the Jets Blake Wheeler said. “We’re not doing moral victories here at all. We’ve just got to find a way to come out on top. At the very least, get a point here or there because three straight losses where we’re at isn’t going to get it done.
“I won’t stop believing in our group. I won’t stop believing in what we have in here until they shut the lights off, but I’m not going to pretend like it’s easy right now.”
Winnipeg now sees themselves 9 points back in the wild card race and are running on fumes in this race.
The Jets will host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night before the All Star Break.
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