In Winnipeg, the Jets handed the Chicago Blackhawks their eighth straight loss, 6-3, led, in part by Kyle Connor ‘s two goals.
The loss pushed the Hawks to 9-18-5 and it is now abundantly clear, the firing of Joel Quenneville was not the solution to what ails the club.
The root of the problem on the ice starts at the opening puck drop for which the Blackhawks seem unprepared.
Tuesday night they fell behind 3-0 in the first period and were down 4-0 before scoring three straight to make it close at 4-3 in the third period.
“It’s not fun,” Blackhawks forward Dylan Strome said. “We’re down 2-, 3-0 in the first period every time. So I don’t know … we’ve got to find a way to break out of it.”
Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves for Winnipeg in the win.
“We came out ready right from the start,” Connor said. “It showed on the scoreboard, just the way we were on pucks, playing through guys and being hard to play against.”
Strome had a goal for Chicago in the loss.
The eight-game losing streak is a dismal 0-8-0 with all 16 points lost in the streak.
Dominik Kahun and Alex DeBrincat also scored for the Blackhawks as once again the top players on this team have disappeared.
“We didn’t have a shot for like the first what, 15, 16 minutes? Maybe even more,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. “Pretty embarrassing start.”
The Jets improved to 19-8-2 with the win.
In addition to Connor, Mark Scheifele, Tyler Myers, Mathieu Perreault, and Brandon Tanev also scored.
“All speed,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. “You know, we were real quick. They had a tough start and we were really good. You marry those two things together and you get an unusual start to the game like we had. You know when you have the number of Stanley Cup rings that they have in that room, they’re going to come out and push hard.”
[WATCH:Â All Blackhawks vs. Jets highlights]
Cam Ward made 28 saves in the loss.
“There’s nothing really more we can say about the starts,” Kane said. “Spot them four goals, it’s tough to come back in this league.”
The frustration is evident across the ice and bench as the Blackhawks are listless and even when there is a push back, there is little enthusiasm for seeing it through.
“If I had [a fix], I would have fixed it already. Compete harder early on. I thought we were late to almost every situation in the first period and they have a really good team,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton lamented after the loss. “They pressure hard and they make a lot of plays. They play like men out there and we just couldn’t match it in the beginning and we paid a price for it.”
Chicago has accumulated 23 points this season, and the Los Angeles Kings are just ahead of them at 24 as the two teams vie for the red lantern in the NHL.
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