The Jets fired 42 shots at Winnipeg native Calvin Pickard, but only tackled him once: Adam Lowry’s second of the season. Max Jones opened the scoring with his first of the year, former Jet Jack Roslovic made it 2-0, Lowry got the club on the board in the third and Zach Hyman scored an empty net goal to ice the game. Connor Hellebuyck deflected 18 shots as Winnipeg fell to 15-18-4.
I can’t buy a goal
I give credit to the Jets offense, they played well, and nine times out of ten the Jets win this game, but Pickard was absolutely brilliant between the pipes for Edmonton. Winnipeg had its eye on the power play, but went 0-for-3 on their opportunities. Jets head coach Scott Arniel thought his club also looked good with the man advantage, but they just couldn’t finish it.
“Again, it’s us finishing. The finishing aspect. Our power play spent almost the entire time at the end of the rink during our three power plays,” said Scott Arniel. “We had eight good scoring chances on our power play. All these things have to be… When they all seem… When everything seems to be working, we’re scoring three, four, five goals a game and you’re not talking about that.”
Winnipeg outscored Edmonton 42-21 and led in shot attempts 80-45.
Close as it can be
Attacking didn’t seem to be the problem, it was simply the finishing that was nowhere to be seen. The top line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi played a great game, but got snake bit. The Jets did get some secondary scoring from Lowry to get within one, but he acknowledged that secondary scoring was a struggle.
“You know what, it was just nice to get us back into the game. It’s been a while,” Lowry said. “It’s no secret that secondary scoring has really been an issue for us. So I felt like it helped bring the building to life, but I would trade that for a win.”
800 games for Lowry
Jets captain Adam Lowry became the fourth player to play 800 games for the Jets/Thrashers, joining Mark Scheifele (915), Blake Wheeler (897) and Bryan Little (843).
The Jets now head to Detroit, Michigan to begin a three-game road trip against the Red Wings on New Year’s Eve. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 PM on Sportsnet West.
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