In Winnipeg, the derailed train wreck that is the Chicago Blackhawks continued on, Friday night in a 5-1 loss to the Jets.
Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two points apiece in the win.
The Jets improved to 6-2-2, their best 1-game open to a season in Winnipeg since moving from Atlanta.
“We’ve added some pieces this year that feel like we round out the group pretty good, so we take a lot of ownership in how we play and how we perform,” Winnipeg’s Andrew Copp (three assists) said. ” And you just want to be your best and be your best for the team. So yeah, I feel confident in my game, confident that I’m helping the team every night whether it’s on the score sheet or not on the score sheet, and I just want to continue that.”
Eric Comrie made 17 saves for the Jets win.
MacKenzie Entwistle scored the Hawks’ only goal, coming off a shorthanded situation.
“There’s no real excuse,” Entwistle said. “We’re coming in here against a big, solid team, and I think we’ve got to be ready to start the game. We get out to a 2-0 deficit early, it’s tough to come back against a team like that. So, it’s frustrating. We’ve got to start on time and there’s no real excuse.”
The Blackhawks are 1-9-2 on the season.
It was all downhill for Chicago after Winnipeg’s Paul Stastny struck for the game’s first goal with just 47 seconds gone in the game.
Neal Pionk pushed the Jets lead to 2-0 off a power-play at 2:23 of the opening period.
An early goal by Chicago in the middle frame was waved after review.
“We had a pretty good start of the second period, the first seven minutes or so we had some push,” Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “The offside goal was unfortunate because we got a little bit of a reward for having a push, but the third goal was a killer. It’s hard to win when you do that. That seemed to really take the fight out of us.”
A waved off goal is always a good thing.
“Tonight, we’ve got to leave this game,” Colliton said. “We’re nowhere close with that effort. I don’t think that’s us. We’ve performed at a much better level than tonight. We’ve got to take the day off and regroup and come out flying (against the Nashville Predators on Sunday). That’s the message. On another day, it’s a different message. That’s not for tonight.”
Dominic Toninato t added a third Winnipeg goal just past the midway point of the second period for a 3-0 lead to the Jets.
Entwistle got the Hawks on the board with less than a minute gone in the third period.
“It was bang-bang off the backboard right to the guy,” Comrie said. “Kind of a weird play on our power play, so it’s unfortunate. But I mean, just go back to the process of things and let this one take care of itself.”
Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves in the Chicago loss.
“We recognize things, but we haven’t been correcting them, and that’s our issue right now,” the Blackhawks’ Connor Murphy said. “We need to play for each other more, play with more pride, play with more confidence, play with more energy. Just for each other I think is the biggest thing we can do.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.