SUNRISE – Hockey players will often reference a “full 60-minutes” effort, and for good reason. Coming up short of that can leave a team open to less than desirable results.
The Winnipeg Jets (4-6-3) could point to their last three games as an example of that. In the Heritage Classic, two goals from the Montreal Canadiens 3:45 turned a scoreless game into a 2-0 deficit.
Two nights later, the Florida Panthers (7-4-2)– who the Jets play tonight in the second stop on a four-game road trip – scored three times in 2:51 to open up a 3-0 lead. Last night was the most recent example, where the Tampa Bay Lightning turned a 2-1 game in the second period into a 5-1 lead in 3:07.
If the Jets want to snap the seven-game winless skid tonight, they’ll need that elusive 60-minute effort and the discipline to avoid the costly stretches that have put them in deficits too large to overcome.
“We can’t have those brain cramps,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel after the loss to the Lightning. “We’ve been talking about the stress that happens in a game and when you start to put that stress on yourself and it’s more of those mental mistakes. That’s when the good teams are going to capitalize.”
To Winnipeg’s credit, they battled back in the third period against Tampa Bay to make it a 5-4 game with 2:48 remaining in the third. Pontus Holmberg’s empty-netter ended the comeback hopes, but perhaps it offered a template for how the Jets need to look to have success.
“I think that's the message,” said Neal Pionk, who scored twice against Tampa Bay in his 600th career game. “We can't wait for tomorrow. Can't wait for the third period tomorrow. Right at the drop of the puck. We just saw them too. So, have to play well.”
Pionk’s two goals, plus Dylan Samberg’s two-point night, were part of four total points from Winnipeg’s back end against Tampa. The Jets now have 22 points from their defencemen (putting them 26th in the NHL), but want to see more of their blue-liners getting in on the offence.
“If you’re going to try and score in this league, it isn’t just about your forwards,” said Arniel. “We’ve said from the beginning that your D have to be a part of that. Whether that’s in the O-zone and getting their shots to the net, finding lanes or making that next pass. But the other big one is you’ve got to join the rush.”
Winnipeg won’t hold a morning skate after playing in Tampa Bay Thursday night, so warm-up will be the best indication of whether Arniel keeps the lines the way they were against the Lightning.
His biggest adjustment in that contest was splitting the duo of Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. The two paired up for Winnipeg’s fourth goal of the night in Tampa – which made the score 5-4 – and were also out together in late period offensive zone draws in the first and second period.
Both lines that Connor and Scheifele were on got the better of their opposition in terms of shot-attempt percentage at five-on-five (per Natural Stat Trick) and held the combined edge in high-danger chances at 6-1.
“We need more than just one line scoring and they recognize that,” said Arniel. “I like the leadership from that perspective. Now we need to come out with a win by doing it.”
Doing just that would earn the Jets a split in the state of Florida to open a difficult road trip that still includes stops in Carolina and Montreal. The hope is that the momentum from the third period carries itself on the plane from Tampa into Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.
“If you want to be a team that is going to be considered one of the top teams, you have to play like that every night,” said Arniel. “That’s too many games now where we haven’t done that. The inconsistency, it doesn’t work in this league.”
Puck drop is set for 6:00 pm CT.
