“Our biggest problem tonight was faceoffs” said Rick Bowness after the Winnipeg Jets dropped their third straight game. A 3-1 loss to the suddenly red-hot Edmonton Oilers put the Jets at 12-8-2 on the season.
The Jets’ four-game home stand has begun with back-to-back losses in low-scoring games, which is becoming a common theme as of late. Here are three takeaways from the Jets’ 3-1 loss to the Oilers.
The Jets’ Three-Game Losing Streak Has Been Fuelled By Mistakes
Bowness pointed to faceoffs as the biggest reason why the Jets lost on this night, but the truth is, the Jets got thoroughly outplayed at even-strength. Playing at five-on-five had been an early-season strength, but in this one, they failed to continue that trend.
Connor Hellebuyck was fantastic for the first two and a half periods until he let a soft shot from Darnell Nurse beat him on the glove side. You can only rely on your Vezina-trophy-winning goaltender for so long, and in this one, the Jets failed to close the game out in the third period.
Crucial mistakes cost them this game, such as the holding-the-stick penalty that Gabe Vilardi picked up with just over three and a half minutes to go, where Leon Draisaitl scored the eventual game-winner.
The Jets did score a goal on the power play courtesy of Cole Perfetti, who scored his eighth goal of the season, which ties his previous career-high set in 2022-23. On the power play, he told reporters post-game: “It’s obviously nice to get a goal, but what did we go one-for-three? In a game like that, we need to capitalize on more.” He labelled it a “work in progress”, as the Jets look to escape their early-season power play woes.
The Jets Are Not Generating Enough Offence at Five-on-Five
According to Money Puck, coming into tonight’s game, the Jets ranked 27th in the NHL in expected goals for at five-on-five per 60, as they were generating 2.29 goals per 60 minutes.
This game was no different, as the expected goals were 4.52-2.51 in the Oilers favour. The Jets got outplayed at five-on-five, and it was another game where they failed to generate enough offensively.
Rick Bowness shared this thought in the post-game when he stated: “Even in the Dallas (Stars) game, we gave up very very little, so it’s not the defensive structure at all. Right now that’s three games that we’ve lost where we just needed that extra goal and we didn’t get it, simple as that.”
Related: 3 Takeaways from Jets’ 2-0 Loss to Dallas Stars
Getting Vilardi back and comfortable inside the top-six will boost this number into respectable numbers, but for the time being, the Jets look to be a team that is elite at suppressing chances at five-on-five but have shown struggles to generate their own.
Gabe Vilardi Will Need a Few Games to Get Up to Full Speed
Vilardi made his long-awaited return to the Jets lineup tonight, as he has officially worked his way back from an MCL sprain which sidelined him for over six weeks. He was slotted onto the fourth line alongside Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Morgan Barron as the Jets look to ease him back into big minutes.
It was apparent that even in his short time, he will need a few games to get back up to speed, and fans should temper their expectations for the newly extended forward. In due time he will be back within the top six, but it may take a bit longer than expected.
I fully expect Vilardi to get back to his usual form sooner rather than later, and where he slots into the top six has been a heavily debated topic in Winnipeg as of late. Given the Jets’ inability to generate offence at five-on-five so far this year, and especially so as of late, Vilardi may find himself back in his old spot alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele.
His next chance to move up the lineup and for the Jets to get back on track will be on Saturday, December 2, when the Jets welcome the Connor Bedard-led Chicago Blackhawks to Canada Life Centre. That will be game three of a four-game home stand, one where the Jets will look to end their three-game losing skid.
