• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
Winnipeg Jets

Miscues Cost Jets In Ugly Loss To Penguins

By Andrew Sykes February 11th, 2012

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Evgeni Malkin led the Penguins over the Jets with five points on the afternoon (Tom Turk/THW)

With two goals in the opening eight minutes of Saturday’s afternoon affair against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Winnipeg Jets could not have asked for a better start.

Kyle Wellwood and Alex Burmistrov scored two early goals to give the Jets a 2-0 lead, but the picture-pefect way start to a road game quickly turned into a defensive nightmare.

In what became a comedy of errors, nearly all of Pittsburgh’s eight goals were the result of defensive miscues by Winnipeg players. On Dustin Jeffrey’s goal to cut the Pens deficit to one in the first period, Tobias Enstrom pinched past the blueline but failed to hold the puck in allowing Jeffrey to go in uncontested and put a perfectly placed shot past goaltender Ondrej Pavelec.

Pittsburgh’s second goal came off some extended pressure in the Winnipeg zone which resulted in an iceing and thus some tired Jets forwards. Jim Slater cleanly lost the ensuing face to Evgeni Malkin who drew the puck perfectly back to sniper James Neal who whistled a shot past Pavelec to tie the game.

Winnipeg’s poor decision-making continued in the second with some untimely pinches by defenceman Dustin Byfuglien leading to a number of two-on-ones; and with the likes of Malkin (5 points in the game), Neal (two), Chris Kunitz (four) and Kris Letang (three) buzzing around, those pinches proved to be costly. Second period goals by Malkin, and a Tim Stapleton goal sandwiched between tallies by Kunitz and Letang staked Pittsburgh to a 5-3 lead heading into the final frame.

Despite the high number of breakdowns, the Jets quickly put themselves right back into the game when a Byfuglien pinch finally resulted in something positive as the big blueliner scored to make it 5-4 at 4:35 of the third. However, just 20 seconds later Tobias Enstrom was unable to tie up the stick of Richard Park who deflected the Brooks Orpik point-shot into the net to restore the two-goal lead. Three minutes later, the goal that salted the game away was once again the result of poor defensive coverage as Nik Antropov could not prevent Jordan Staal from making his way to the net and easily beating Pavelec with a hard low shot.

Bryan Little scored to make it 7-5 but his team’s errors had already decided the outcome and Pittsburgh would add one more to skate away with a 8-5 win.

For head coach Claude Noel, this was the type of game that he will surely be able to use in the video room as “what not to do” in terms of play without the puck.

As big as Thursday night’s comeback win over Washington was, Saturday’s meltdown in Pittsburgh was it’s exact opposite. The team will certainly need to put it behind them, while at the same time remembering the areas in which they absolutely must improve upon because games like this must not, and cannot continue if the Jets hope to stay in the playoff race.

  • Tags
  • Evgeni Malkin
  • James Neal
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 21st 10:15 AM
Anaheim Ducks

3 Takeaways From the Ducks Series Against the Wild

Jan 21st 10:05 AM
Column

Prospects News & Rumors: Safonov, Coronato & Sebrango

Jan 21st 9:55 AM
San Jose Sharks

5 Sharks’ Takeaways From Blues Series: Faceoffs, Penalty Kills & More

Jan 21st 9:45 AM
Commentary

2020-21 NHL Season Will Require More Depth Than Usual

Jan 21st 9:35 AM
New Jersey Devils

Devils Get Goaltending Depth With Aaron Dell Waiver Claim

Jan 21st 9:15 AM
Anaheim Ducks

Ducks Trying to Avoid Making Same Mistake by Starting Zegras in AHL

Jan 21st 9:05 AM
Boston Bruins

Bruins Fans Should Not Overreact to Slow Start

Jan 21st 8:55 AM
Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens’ Jake Evans Has Been a Pleasant Surprise on the Penalty Kill

Jan 21st 8:45 AM
Toronto Maple Leafs

Highly Anticipated Maple Leafs & Oilers Game Ends Up Underwhelming

Jan 21st 8:35 AM
Fantasy

5 Fantasy Hockey Free Agent Targets

Editor’s Picks
NHL TV Blackouts & Why They Happen?

NHL TV Blackouts & Why They Happen?

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information