Winnipeg Jets hit patch of turbulence, but not hitting panic button

Winnipeg Jets hit patch of turbulence, but not hitting panic button

A rough patch? No question. Regression to the mean? That remains to be seen.

However you wish to describe it, the last few weeks have not been kind to the Winnipeg Jets. The losses are starting to pile up — a season-worst three-in-a-row, and six over the last nine games.

The injuries are piling too. Shutdown defenceman Dylan Samberg is out indefinitely with a broken foot. Flashy winger Nikolaj Ehlers is in the hands of doctors for his lower-body issue. Top two centres, Mark Scheifele and Vlad Namestnikov, are clearly playing through ailments. We believe another top defenceman, Dylan DeMelo, is as well.

Throw in a road-heavy schedule spanning three time zones that has shown no mercy — the Jets have had to board an airplane after 11 straight games, and they’ll do that three more times this week before they can finally unpack their bags and settle in the same city for more than one outing — and this can officially be classified as a significant stretch of turbulence.

Time to hit the panic button? Hardly.

We knew this was going to happen at some point. The Jets weren’t simply going to cruise through the entire season without some bumps along the way. Fortunately for them, a historic 15-1-0 start that had them flying in NHL first class helps absorb the current dip.

Now the key is making sure this doesn’t spiral out of control, starting with Tuesday’s one-game “homestand” against the St. Louis Blues.

Based on up-close observations over the just-completed six-game journey, here are six keys to getting back on track.

1. Paging the top line

It was not a good road trip for the trio of Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi.

Scheifele had twice as many minor penalties (four) as points (two), and his two assists were both secondary ones on empty-net goals. He only had nine shots in the six games and was a minus-four.

After starting off strong in Pittsburgh with his first-ever Gordie Howe hat trick, Connor went quiet with no goals and just three assists in the following five games. Vilardi also scored against the Penguins, then just had one goal (on the power play in the 4-1 defeat to Los Angeles) the rest of the way.

Add it all up and that’s not nearly enough for the trio, who were repeatedly outclassed by the brightest stars of their opponents.

Coach Scott Arniel actually took Vilardi off the line late in Sunday’s 3-1 loss in Dallas, replacing him with Namestnikov. That likely was just temporary, but changes could be coming if the top line can’t get out of neutral. These are proud players and leaders, so we shouldn’t expect this to last much longer.

2. Power outage

The Jets could compensate for a quiet stretch from the big guns if other areas of the game were clicking. Specifically, a power play that was the toast of the league through the first month.

It’s now gone cold (2-for-14 over the last five games) as teams seem to to have figured out what the Jets are up to. That includes 0-for-5 in the last two losses where the game was still very much for grabs and a timely goal, or two, could have turned losses into wins.

One of the biggest issues lately has been gaining the offensive zone and getting set up, with the Jets often spending a good chunk of the two minutes trying to establish control. The absence of Ehlers is certainly felt, but others need to step up and adjustments have to be made.

3. The need for speed

You know what really stood out Sunday? How slow the Jets looked as a team. Obviously missing Ehlers played a role, but it just seemed like the majority of players — with the notable exception of Rasmus Kupari — had heavy legs and were skating in quicksand.

Winnipeg wanted to play faster this year, and they have for the most part, which has helped them come at opponents in waves. Hopefully a bit of rest and recovery can provide a much-needed recharge.

Scratching a smooth-skater like Ville Heinola in favour of someone like Logan Stanley doesn’t help matters, either.

4. Oh, what a rush

The snail’s pace of Winnipeg’s recent play has been in sharp contrast to how the Golden Knights and Stars burned them repeatedly off the rush — including the game-winning goals late in the third period on Friday and Sunday. That’s something the Jets need to clean up. And fast.

Whether it’s smarter defensive reads, removing some degree of risk or having forwards do a better job of helping out, this is likely a major area of video review and discussion right now.

5. Practice makes less imperfect?

Winnipeg has had one practice in the last dozen days. That’s sub-optimal, especially when certain aspects of the game start going south and some fine-tuning is required.

It could have been two, but Arniel cancelled a planned skate last Tuesday in Los Angeles to give his group a bit of an extra breather. It backfired, as the Jets came out the next day with arguably their worst outing the year, mustering just 14 shots. Following the game, Arniel blamed himself, suggesting he hadn’t done a good enough job of getting his group ready.

The Jets did practice Thursday in Las Vegas, and they’ve at least responded with two stronger efforts, albeit still in a losing fashion.

Although the Jets have four games in the next six days beginning Tuesday, there are skates planned for Wednesday (prior to flying to Buffalo) and Friday (prior to back-to-back weekend games in Chicago and then at home to Columbus).

Given the current state of their game, those could be valuable.

6. Be patient

All things must pass, and the Jets are getting close to the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, they’ll continue to play at least every other day through Dec. 14, but at least they get a stretch of four straight at home beginning Sunday. At that point, Winnipeg will have played 11 of 13 in enemy territory, spanning three time zones.

There’s still much to like about this group, along with plenty of talent and depth.

No doubt the Jets hope that once the schedule lightens up a bit — both in terms of quantity of games and also quality of opponents — they can start taking advantage and, perhaps, heal some of those nagging bumps and bruises before they become bigger issues.

Despite this recent swoon, the sky isn’t falling. Just as the Jets probably weren’t as good as their highest of highs, they’re not nearly as bad as their recent record might indicate.

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