Jets downed by Predators in road trip finale

Let's just say the Central Division will be well represented at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game.
The two goaltenders that will represent the division squared off on Tuesday night, as Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck and Nashville's Juuse Saros went save for save all night, but ultimately it was the Predators who came out on top by a 2-1 score.
In the end, Hellebuyck had 39 saves while Saros turned away 32.
"I think he's the best goalie in the NHL," Pierre-Luc Dubois said of Hellebuyck. "You hate to say you expect it from him, but he plays a lot, a lot, a lot of good games. And he's been extremely important to us this season and will be until the end."

Dubois scored the lone goal for the Jets (31-17-1), who were not only playing the finale of a five-game road trip, but also their fifth game in eight days.

And there was no quit on the bench, regardless of that fact.
Twice in the final minutes, Josh Morrissey prevented an empty-net goal that would have put the game out of reach.
And twice the Jets hit the crossbar, once one a one-timer from Mark Scheifele, and again shortly after from Nikolaj Ehlers in the final minute.
They scratched and clawed, but just couldn't get back on even footing.
"Two posts in the last minute and a half is a pretty big game-changer," said Dubois, who doesn't feel the Jets schedule is an excuse, though when he lays it out, it sure sounds taxing.
"We're on the road for a week, come back for one game, back on the road for eight days, 16 games in 28 days in December, 15 in 30 in January - it's a lot of hockey," he said. "But we still have to have that same attitude and same mindset going into games."
Overall, the Jets finished with two wins on the five-game trip. Outside of the first game in Montreal, they liked their efforts and performances in the final four stops.
"It's disappointing going 2-3. We want to keep building that gap between us and other teams," said Dubois. "This road trip kind of feels like a little slide down, but there's still a lot of hockey left to be played and we can play better."

For the second game in a row, the Jets got off to a strong start. Cole Perfetti, controlling the puck in the left circle, somehow spotted Dubois just off the right post. He sent an almost no-look pass to Dubois, who went skate to stick and tapped home 21st of the campaign. It was 1-0 for the visitors just 48 seconds into the contest, the fastest goal to start a game for the Jets this season.
"Just a great play by (Dylan DeMelo) there to find me on that weak side off that forecheck. It came off my stick a little awkward, I had to turn and grabbled it," said Perfetti. "I saw both KC and Dubie going to the net. The one guy took KC and it left Dubie wide open back door. I had to lead it a bit into him there and find him right behind that defenceman's heel. It worked out well."
Winnipeg had a couple more chances to increase the lead, but Saros kept the lead at 1-0.
"We had some two-on-ones and three-on-twos where we were trying to make plays that weren't there and we slowed up on the rush, which allowed their back checkers to get back," said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. "The opportunities to put more pucks on the net were there."
Nashville came back strong in the second, outshooting Winnipeg 8-1 at one point, and they'd eventually be rewarded with the equalizer. Off a face-off win to Hellebuyck's left, the puck came back to Roman Josi, who sent a wrist shot toward the net that Cody Glass deflected into the net. The sixth of the season for Glass came with 6:11 left in the middle frame.

The Predators - on the second game of a four-game home stand - outshot the Jets 18-5 in that period.
"We played hard, for the most part, and just let up when we shouldn't have and they didn't," said Bowness. "Their goalie made some huge saves for him, our goalie made some huge saves for us. It certainly wasn't a 2-1 game in terms of offensive opportunites for either team. But both goalies were outstanding."
The momentum continued into the third, as Nashville took a 2-1 lead shortly after two Kyle Connor chances came up empty. Tanner Jeannot's wrap around, after a Tommy Novak shot missed the net, just barely beat Hellebuyck's sprawling left leg to the post 5:38 into the final period. It was Jeannot's first goal in 38 games.
"A couple self-inflicted wounds and things we'd like to clean up and know we can do better," said Perfetti, looking back on what changed after the first intermission. "All four lines worked really hard. That was a long road trip. The guys are really tired and we battled through. I think we deserved a better outcome, but at the same time their goalie played great and they played a good game."

With 49 games under their belt, the Jets and Dallas Stars have played the most games in the Central Division.
Winnipeg trails Dallas by one point for the division lead, and the Jets have a three-game home stand coming up before a nearly two-week break in their schedule around the All-Star festivities.
Needless to say, that break will be welcomed with open arms.
But first, they want to get that home stand off to a strong start against Buffalo on Thursday.
"Teams that aren't in playoff spots, they're hungry," said Dubois. "We look at the standings and we're happy with where we're at. But there's still a lot of hockey left to be played, and a lot can change. And we have to have that same hunger that we had for the first half of the season."