The Winnipeg Jets have lost 5 of 7 games to the Edmonton Oilers. 5. Of. 7. This is the team they’re facing in the post-season. Tippett has utterly outclassed Maurice by doing virtually nothing except letting the Jets hardmatch the McDavid line to horrific effect. Once Edmonton has a lead, they just clog the neutral zone and dump the puck down the ice. With the rush shut down, the Jets are completely devoid of punch. In yet another game that feels much like the last several losses to the Oilers, Winnipeg did nothing at all and paid the price for it.
The First Period
The opening 20 minutes were the most encouraging moments of the game. The Jets didn’t concede, and actually created quality offensive looks in the low slot. Mike Smith had to contend with a few difficult and off-kilter shots. Unfortunately, the Jets were a bit loose on the backend, with Logan Stanley creating several bad turnovers that Hellebuyck had to bail him out on. The American netminder made 2 or 3 fantastic stops on breakaway chances.
Despite some open-ended rush chances at both ends, neither team scored. I can live with that, though, with Winnipeg doing a good job of neutralizing the McDavid line. Rather than leaning on the Scheifele unit, Maurice turned to the Lowry line first. They actually handled 97 and his compatriots tidily. It’s too bad Winnipeg idiotically turned away from this match-up later in the game.
The Second Period
Winnipeg literally did nothing. This is one of the deadest periods the Jets have played all year. I think the team mustered a whopping 4 shots on goal. They had the same number of shots on target as they had in losses to the Oilers. Just…yikes. Things got even more fun when Tyson Barrie scored a power play goal from the point. That felt like more than enough to shut the Jets down for the night. Edmonton proceeded to park the bus and just kept dumping the puck away from Winnipeg. The Jets never tested Smith for the rest of the period.
The Third Period
The Jets continued to do nothing as the Oilers clogged the ice and dumped the puck repeatedly. I have seldom hated watching the Jets as much as I despised watching them get locked out by Edmonton. It’s frustrating to watch this team have no answer for Tippett’s boredom strategy. Things got even more annoying when Puljujarvi and Chiasson added 2 more goals against. If Winnipeg doesn’t figure out that they can actually outplay Edmonton’s half-AHL roster, this team is completely screwed come playoff time.
Three Takeaways
The Jets keep getting dummied by the Oilers.
This is a really bad trend. I’d actually like Winnipeg against the Leafs more than the Oilers, and Edmonton is a much crappier team. Tippett knows exactly how to shut down the Jets completely.
Maurice went back to Scheifele vs. McDavid, and it went horribly, like always!
This coaching staff is so narrowly focused at times, and it kills the team in very specific places. The roster needs a coach with genuine tactical flexibility. This staff does not have enough to get from point A to point C when point B is blocked.
Give Forbort some time off.
The dude doesn’t look right at all. His acceleration and lateral skating looked extremely sluggish tonight. If he’s ailing like it seems he is, he needs to heal up. The team will lean on him heavily during the post-season.
