The Winnipeg Jets were no match for the Dallas Stars on Thursday to send them even further from the playoff picture.
The Jets fell behind early and never recovered in a 3-0 loss to the Stars on stop number three of the four-game road trip.
The Stars dominated right from puck drop to sweep the four-game season series.
“Everybody has a role to play and you gotta go out and play it,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “And if we don’t have 20 guys playing to their identity, it makes it very difficult for us. And that’s the one thing that we’ve gotten since the break, coming out of the break. We’ve been really good with 20 guys stepping up and working together and being cohesive that way. Tonight, it was loose. We were missing 9-10 guys.
“You flush it. I just told them. They know that wasn’t good enough. That’s not gonna win you hockey games. We’re desperate. We have to be desperate right from the start of the game.”
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The Jets remain two points out of the final playoff spot but that will change by the end of Thursday’s action as the Los Angeles Kings are facing the Nashville Predators in a late start and one of them will get two points, so the Jets will be either three or four points out by the end of the night.
The Jets were outshot 11-4 in the first period with the Stars scoring goals only 1:29 apart.
“There’s lessons to be learned from games like these,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “We’ll review the tape and then find a way to get a good start like we had in Colorado. It’s tough going into other team’s rinks and playing from behind and digging yourself two-three goal deficits, which generally don’t lead to good outcomes.”
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Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti, and Josh Morrissey all saw their five-game point streaks come to an end, while Mark Scheifele didn’t register a point after doing so in their last four straight games.
Elias Salomonsson had to leave the game after taking a hard reverse hit in the second period.
“I’ve always thought that’s a dirty play,” Arniel said. “But whatever, I mean, it is what it is. I mean, he’s probably easy on the kid, probably not expecting that.”
Winnipeg got the game’s first power play just 1:41 into the game but didn’t get a shot on goal.
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Just about seven minutes later, Dallas got their first chance with the man advantage when Haydn Fleury was called for cross-checking, and the league’s best home power play came through.
The Stars cycled the puck around the Winnipeg end as Matt Duchene at the left point sent the puck to Mikko Rantanen at the right faceoff dot. Duchene then drifted deep into the zone and got the puck back from Rantanen.
Duchene’s first attempt was stopped by Hellebuyck, sending the rebound into the end boards. Duchene then shot the loose puck back on net from below the goal line, banking it off the pants of Hellebuyck and into the goal at the 9:43 mark.
Just 89 seconds later, the Stars doubled their lead.
Alex Iafallo misplayed a pass in the neutral zone, stumbling back into the Winnipeg end as he was losing the handle on the puck. That allowed Jamie Benn to not have to clear the zone, scooping up the puck before dropping it off to Adam Erne.
Erne sent it across to Arttu Hyry, who then sent it back door to Benn who couldn’t quite handle the pass. It bounced off his blade right back to Hyry, who buried it at the 11:12 mark.
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Dallas finished the period with an 11-4 edge in shots on goal, which does not include Miro Heiskanen wiring a shot off the crossbar with just over three minutes left.
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The Stars added to their lead just 2:15 into the second when a Lian Bichsel point shot grazed off Erne as it made its way to the net, eluding Hellebuyck to make it 3-0.
The Jets nearly got on the board during their second power play chance of the night when Connor got loose in the slot, but he rang his shot off the post.
Shots on goal in the second favoured Winnipeg 7-6 but they still trailed by three goals heading to the third.
They also had to finish the game without Salomonsson, who was felled by a reverse hit from Jason Robertson late in the second.
With not much going on in the third, Neal Pionk leveled Robertson with a low hip check along the boards. It appeared that Pionk was then angling for a fight with Robertson before Colin Blackwell got a hold of Pionk and wrestled him to the ground. It also led to a fight at centre ice between the captains, Benn and Lowry.
As a result of all this, the Jets wound up on a power play but once again failed to capitalize, thanks in part to a great sprawling save from Jake Oettinger.
Thanks to their three failed power plays in the game, the Jets are now 6-for-51 since the Olympic break.
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Winnipeg decided to pull Hellebuyck for an extra attacker with under three minutes remaining and poured the pressure on Dallas as they tried to break the goose egg, but Oettinger made several strong saves to secure the shutout.
The Jets outshot the Stars 11-4 in the third and wound up outshooting the Stars 22-21 on the night.
Hellebuyck was saddled with the loss, making 18 saves in defeat.
Winnipeg will wrap up this four-game road trip Saturday in Columbus against a desperate and slumping Blue Jackets squad riding a five-game winless streak.
The puck will drop a little after 6 p.m. with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB beginning at 4 p.m.
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