Ehlers scores, but Jets come up short in road trip finale

Wednesday night's road trip finale wasn't the 500th game Nikolaj Ehlers was looking for.
Sure, he scored, but he would've preferred to celebrate the milestone with a victory.
Unfortunately, his Winnipeg Jets (35-22-1) dropped a 2-1 final to the New York Islanders, and finished with one win on a four-game road trip.
"It just goes to show that we're not exactly where we want to be," said Ehlers. "Of course we wanted to win every single game. We know we have work to do."
The goal coming into the night was to match the urgency of the Islanders, who are holding down a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but a number of the teams chasing them have games in hand.

The Jets did that, outshooting the Islanders 26-22, including by a 13-4 margin in the middle frame. Ultimately, it came down to the home side taking advantage of two scoring chances, and the Jets only capitalizing on one chance - despite holding a 9-6 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five according to Natural Stat Trick.
"I think we played well, but we had another level, too," said Adam Lowry. "There's just a sharpness to our game we expect to be there and we don't think it was there every shift. I don't think we played poorly but any means, but we're always striving to get better, always striving to improve different areas of our game."
For the first time on the road trip, the Jets didn't get the game's opening goal. Sebastian Aho capitalized on a rebound with 2:25 remaining in the opening frame, as the Jets turned the puck over in the offensive zone during four-on-four play. The turnover - a missed drop pass from Mason Appleton to Ehlers - led to Brock Nelson's shot from the right wing on a two-on-one, and Aho banged home the loose puck for his fifth of the season.
"I thought he was going to come out a bit more before dropping it," Ehlers said. "It is what it is. If I would have got it, it might have been a great chance. It's a little misunderstanding, that happens. It ends up in a rebound shot that goes between my skates, backdoor."
The first wasn't without opportunities for the Jets. Kyle Connor hit a post and had a one-timer turned away, and Blake Wheeler's chance in tight was gloved away by Ilya Sorokin.
It just seems to be the way things are going offensively for the Jets these days. Since coming back from the All-Star break, Winnipeg has scored 13 goals in five games, which puts them 26th in the NHL.
It's highly unusual for a team with so much skill and talent, who has been getting offensive contributions throughout the line-up for the majority of the season.
"It's been awhile since me, (Morgan Barron), (Karson Kuhlman), a few other guys have found the back of the net and sometimes that's the difference," said Lowry. "We created some chances but that's the difference. They got a goal from their bottom six tonight and we didn't tonight."

Winnipeg tied it with a power play marker 4:30 into the second, as Ehlers wired a wrister from the left circle off the crossbar and in. It was the fifth of the season for Ehlers, with Connor and Josh Morrissey picking up assists.
The goal not only made it 1-1, but gave the Jets power play goals in consecutive games, something they hadn't done since January 19 and 21.
It was the only power play marker they'd get on four chances, as the Islanders' league best penalty kill on home ice kept Winnipeg off the score sheet on the other three chances, including two in the third.
Those missed opportunities came back to haunt them.
Simon Holmstrom put the Islanders back in front near the midway mark of the third, as his wrist shot - which came shortly after a puck battle in the corner - beat Hellebuyck just inside the right post.
Jets head coach Rick Bowness pointed to puck management as one of the Jets issues.
"Defensively we were far better tonight. That didn't hurt us," he said. "It was the puck decisions that ended up in the back of our net and the missed opportunities around our net."
The Jets couldn't find the equalizer late, and as a result, weren't able to gain ground in the Central Division. The standings remain tight as the calendar gets closer to March, and the Jets want to take advantage of the next stretch of games at home, with six of their next seven coming at Canada Life Centre.
"It's a huge opportunity," said Lowry. "It's definitely and important stretch coming up to the trade deadline and you want to show that your team should be buyers. I think we've done that so far, but we can to continue that."
That starts on Friday against Colorado, a team chasing Winnipeg in the Central.
"I believe in this team. We'll play ourselves through this," said Bowness. "We have the most important game of the year coming up on Friday night, and that's the focus right now."