The Winnipeg Jets got punched in the nose in Game 3, and they need to counterpunch quickly to stop their series with the St. Louis Blues from spiralling out of control.
Jets Crash Landed Hard in St. Louis
After taking Games 1 and 2 in Winnipeg by 5-3 and 2-1 scores, the Jets came into St. Louis and could not handle a desperate Blues club trying to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. The home side came out fast, physical, and ferocious, grabbing a well-deserved 3-0 lead by the end of the first period.
For all intents and purposes, the game was over after 20 minutes. While the Jets managed to get the game to 3-1 by the early third, they allowed four more in embarrassing fashion to eventually lose 7-2. They only generated 18 shots, couldn’t match the Blues pace, and failed to break through the Blues’ forecheck with any sort of regularity.
Connor Hellebuyck — already fighting the narrative that he caves in the postseason — was lit up, allowing six past him on 25 shots before getting the hook, one that should have come after his terrible behind-the-net gaffe that made it 4-1 just 52 seconds after David Gustafsson’s third-period goal gave the Jets some life.
The Jets were also undisciplined, giving up a whopping eight power plays and two five-on-three situations. The penalty kill was leaky again, allowing three further goals; the Blues have six power-play goals already in the series.
“We lost the game in the first period. They scored two goals in the first three minutes, got on our heels, crowd got behind them,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said after the game. “We were terrible in the first period. Game was over in the first.”
Panic? No. Concern? Definitely.
While it’s not time to panic just yet, the Game 3 Jets looked eerily similar to the Jets of last spring’s awful first-round series with the Colorado Avalanche. The Jets were out of structure and outmatched in that series, losing four in a row after taking Game 1.
Losing Game 4 on Sunday would not only draw the series even, but also give the Blues all the momentum going into a best-of-three. For a team like the Jets prone to crashing out in Round 1, that’s a dangerous spot to be in, even though they’ve never lost a series they’ve been leading 2-0.
There’s some debate whether a close defeat that comes down to one play is easier to handle mentally than a blowout. Arniel, when asked if the magnitude of the score would make it harder for his club to bounce back, indicated it doesn’t matter.
“It’s one game. We lost one game,” he said. “Whether it’s 7-2 or 1-0, we lost one game in this series.”
Jets Need to Find Identity Quickly for Game 4
The good news for the Jets is that, indeed, they only lost one game and still lead the series 2-1. What really matters is how they respond from here.
“You lose that game in overtime, you lose that game how we did, it’s the same result,” defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “Playoffs are all about turning the page, learning lessons, and improving as the series goes on. So we’ll look at the areas we need to improve. But our team’s done a great job all year of being resilient and bouncing back from games that aren’t us, so that’s our expectation over the next few days.”
Morrissey’s right. The Jets only lost multiple games in a row five times in the regular season, and only lost more than two in a row three times.
The Jets didn’t win 56 games and the Presidents’ Trophy by accident. They’re a strong team that wins when it commits to a stout defensive structure, stifles their opponents’ high-danger chances, and gets good goaltending. They got drastically away from their blueprint for success in Game 3 after mainly adhering to it in Games 1 and 2. It’s up to Arniel, captain Adam Lowry, and the rest of the veterans to get the team refocused so they come out on time in Game 4 and play how they know makes them successful.
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“Playoffs are all about momentum, all about learning lessons in series, adjusting in series, getting better within the series. That’s something that we need to do over the next few days but then turn the page and come out with a great start on Sunday,” Morrissey said.
The Jets’ psychological mettle is about to be tested. Can they leave Game 3 behind and get back to playing to their identity, or will they get whacked again before they can get off the mat? We’ll see Sunday.