Jets open home stand with 'self-inflicted' loss to Sabres

WINNIPEG -Thursday night didn't end up being the welcome home the Winnipeg Jets wanted.
After playing eight of their last nine away from home, and returning to Canada Life Centre after a season-long five-game road trip, the Jets (31-18-1) dropped a 3-2 decision to the Buffalo Sabres.
The loss snapped a five-game win streak on home ice.
"When you don't have your legs and you don't feel your best out there, the worst thing you can do is what we did tonight," said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. "We had bad puck management at both blue lines and all you're doing then is feeding their transition, feeding their speed, so a lot of that is on us."

It was a frustrating night, to say the least, as the Jets saw quality offensive chances result in no shots on goal - at least, until the final five minutes of the third period when Schmidt and Pierre-Luc Dubois turned a 3-0 deficit into a 3-2 thriller for the final 45 seconds.
But the equalizer never came.
For Bowness, most of his frustration came from the fact most of the Jets' wounds were self-inflicted.
"We know they're a fast team, a highly-skilled team that can score, yet we were very stubborn with our puck management," he said. "When we're handling the puck at the blue lines, we look very slow. We're trying to make plays that just might work one out of every 10 times.
"We looked very slow tonight."
The game's opening goal didn't come until the midway mark of the second, with Owen Power sending a wrist shot past the stick side of Connor Hellebuyck. The Sabres had been applying some pressure for a few consecutive shifts, with Neal Pionk swiping an opportunity off the goal line one shift earlier. At the time of Power's goal - his third in as many games - the visiting Sabres were outshooting the Jets 22-11.
"They got a lot of skill, a lot of speed. We didn't take that away from them," said Nikolaj Ehlers, who complimented Hellebuyck's 33 saves on the night. "We keep fighting, and have a goalie that gives us a chance to win every single game. Sometimes you don't deserve it, but he's pretty fantastic."
Buffalo made it 2-0 with 5:45 remaining in the second, courtesy of their leading goal scorer - Tage Thompson. His shot from the slot off the rush finished off a three-way passing play with linemates Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch, with the pass from the latter pulling Hellebuyck to his left, leaving an opening for Thompson, joining the rush late, to shoot at.

The second was a period to forget for the Jets, who didn't have a shot for the final 15:46, and were outshot 28-11 through 40 minutes.
Ehlers lamented some of the overpassing the Jets did that eliminated chances to cut into the Buffalo lead.
"When you start out trying to make those passes and they don't work and you continue trying to do that, it's not a good look," he said. "We've got 25 guys in this room who are not OK with our performance tonight."
Victor Olofsson increased the Buffalo lead to 3-0 on a power play in the third. He lifted home his 23rd of the season from just outside the crease, as Hellebuyck tried to sprawl across, but to no avail. The Sabres man advantage was the result of a Schmidt major for elbowing being reduced to a minor penalty after review.
"They called a major so that they could review it," said Bowness. "They called a five minute elbow and then they reviewed it, then they could reduce it."

Staring down a three-goal deficit with 9:30 remaining waws a steep mountain to climb, especially with how frustrating the night had been.
"We just have to have a lot more consistency in our game," Schmidt said of the Jets, who are 6-5-0 in their last 11. "We have to find the stretches these days in the middle of this schedule where you're going to have to pick 'em up. These points right here are as important as they are in Game 2 as they are in Game 80."
The Jets got on the board with 4:46 left in the third, with Schmidt snapping home a power play marker to break up former Jet Eric Comrie's shutout attempt.
"We had some chances in the third period where we were pressing," said Schmidt about his fifth of the season. "But I'd like for us to be pressing for most of the game, trying to pressure them from behind."
Dubois added his 22nd of the season, this came as Blake Wheeler forced the puck from below the goal line to the front of the net, and Mark Scheifele was able to find Dubois at the bottom of the left circle.
That's as close as the Jets would get, and now the focus is squarely on Saturday night with the Philadelphia Flyers in town.
"We've got two games before the break now and we've got to finish off on the right note," said Ehlers. "I believe in this team. I believe we're a great team. We've got the tools, we've got everything to get it right. It's just the mindset."