‘We weren’t at our best’: Jets disappointed with performance in Game 1 loss
The adrenaline hangover from Sunday’s overtime thriller was palpable.
WINNIPEG — The adrenaline hangover from Sunday’s overtime thriller was palpable.
The crowd was hardly in Whiteout ‘mania’ mode. The players lacked pop. Their opponent? Skilled, to be sure, although hardly intimidating.
Game 1 of the Winnipeg Jets’ second-round series against the Dallas Stars — a 3-2 loss — hardly felt like a playoff game.
“That felt like Game 45 in the middle of December,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said. “Obviously, we know the high that we’re on coming off that St. Louis game, but man, this is the playoffs.”
If it weren’t for the 12 saves Connor Hellebuyck made in the first period — where the Jets didn’t even get a shot on goal until the 12:45 mark — this game would’ve been long gone. Winnipeg was flat off the hop, allowing Dallas’ loaded top nine to generate chance after chance.
After that initial shooting gallery, it’s not like the Stars were overly imposing. Well, except for their ‘Moose,’ Mikko Rantanen, who potted a natural hat trick in the second period.
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There was a path to a win. The Jets just jumbled it, thanks to an unconvincing forecheck and a lopsided loss in the one-on-one battle department. Not to mention the fact that they went 0-for-4 on the power play.
“We just gave up home ice advantage,” Arniel said. “And that wasn’t a game where they rolled over top of us for three periods. That was a game where we weren’t at our best, and we should have been here, especially at the start of another series at home.”
A glass-half-full approach, though, would lead you to believe this series is certainly winnable for the Jets. Dallas is hardly as suffocating as St. Louis was, and there was plenty of real estate for Winnipeg’s top guns.
“I’m not harping back onto St. Louis, but we didn’t have a lot of room to make plays, to hold onto pucks (in that series). Tonight we had time. And we didn’t make the plays,” Arniel said. “
In Round 1, St. Louis was able to take the Jets’ stars out of games by delivering bone-crushing hits. While Dallas delivered three hits on Mark Scheifele — mind you, none of them were very noticeable — they weren’t able to get a piece of Nikolaj Ehlers or Kyle Connor.
“We rushed ourselves. I think we were thinking that people were going to come pouring over top of us,” Arniel said. “We had more time to make plays and to execute, and I just felt that that was probably the biggest thing. We weren’t crisp that way.”
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The Moose Is Loose
Containing Rantanen is going to be the biggest key from here on out.
After scoring three goals in Game 1, the Finnish star has now recorded 14 points in his last four games.
“We all know how elite he is. He’s really done it these last few games and throughout his whole career,” Jets winger Nino Niederreiter said. “Always (been) a fantastic player, but we’ve got to find a way to shut him down and not make it too easy on him.”
Two of Rantanen’s goals were scored right in front of Hellebuyck’s crease.
“He’s a big man that got (to the net) with his stick, and he’s just somebody that you always have to know when he’s on the ice,” Arniel said.
You can’t man-on-man defend Rantanen — the Stars have other uber-talented forwards that will make you pay — but there has to be some onus on the Jets defenders to get in his grill. St. Louis’ high-end players — i.e. Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou — weren’t anywhere near the calibre of Rantanen. And Arniel’s going to have to adjust accordingly.
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Line Juggling
Speaking of adjustments, Arniel re-jigged his middle six after the first two periods — placing Ehlers alongside Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton.
Ehlers has fared well alongside Lowry at various points in the year, providing a new wrinkle alongside their shutdown centre. This might be the type of series where we see Arniel lean into that duo more.
The Jets’ identity line — Lowry, Appleton and Niederreiter — has lost its lustre lately. While they do a fine job containing opponents’ best players, their counterattack has dried up. They’re not as efficient off the cycle, and in turn, the offence has dried up. Those aren’t ideal ingredients for a line that’s facing Rantanen and Roope Hintz.
Ehlers provides Lowry and Appleton — two meat-and-potato players who generate offence off the cycle — with the type of speed that can not only get that trio out of their own zone, but create chaos in the offensive zone.
