The Florida Panthers are in Winnipeg tonight, facing a Jets team that has quite the week.
As they were preparing for Sunday’s Heritage Classic — which was played outdoors at the home of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers — the team finally ended the Connor Hellebuyck saga by trading the gold-medal winning goalie to the New Jersey Devils.
Then, the Jets went out and lost 2-1 to the Canadiens for their fifth straight loss.
All of the losses (0-3-2) have come by a single goal.
Stuart Skinner is enjoying a resurgence in goal after a tough time in Pittsburgh and being a scapegoat for Edmonton’s two Stanley Cup Final losses to Florida.
In eight starts this year, Skinner is 3-2-3 with a 2.60/.911. He took the hard-luck loss to the Canadiens on Sunday night.
Winnipeg’s problem in the Classic was the same as its problem all season: A lack of scoring.
The Jets are 27th in the NHL, averaging 2.45 goals per game.
Kyle Connor with nine goals and Cole Perfetti with six account for more than half the team’s goals this season. Mark Scheifele, a consistent 30-plus goal scorer, is off to a slow start with only two goals in 11 games.
Clearly, they are lacking a balanced attack.
In two seasons, the Jets went from winning the Presidents’ Trophy to failing to qualify for the playoffs.
After the Heritage loss, Jets’ coach Scott Arniel again lamented the lack of depth scoring.
“We need secondary (scoring). We need other people stepping up,’’ he said. “It makes it hard with all the heat on ‘Scheif’s’ line to try to do that. That’s part of the mindset of our players. Like I just talked about. You’ve got to get to the net. You’ve got to get greasy goals…
“We’ve got to get inside. That’s just part of how you have to score goals in this league. It isn’t all just cute stuff. It has to be some of that stuff that’s a little bit greasier. We do need other people to pick up some of that load.”
In hockey, “winning ugly” means finding a path to victory in a game which could have easily been lost.
After coming off decisive road losses in Ottawa and Pittsburgh, the Panthers faced a struggling young Blackhawks’ team which couldn’t capitalize on their many chances to win.
Fortuitous breakaway stops by Akira Schmid, friendly goalposts, and Ryan Donato breaking his stick with a yawning Florida net in front of him led up to a sloppy line change by Chicago as the clock wore down.
That gave Lars Eller the opportunity to thread a needle and pop one past Spencer Knight. Knight likely replayed that one in his sleep a few times.
A win is a win and the Panthers happily headed to Manitoba with the two points from Sunday’s 3-2 victory in Chicago.
The only player Winnipeg received in the Hellebuyck trade to suit up for the Jets was Dawson Mercer.
Former Panther Nick Bjugstad was part of the deal but has been rehabbing from offseason surgery and is not expected to be available for another two to three months.
Mercer is a solid 20-goal scorer who should help the Jets.
Nico Daws, also part of the trade, will be battling for the backup goalie spot with 27-year-old Clay Stevenson who has been a minor leaguer for most of his career.
On defense, Josh Morrissey, who is perhaps their most reliable defender, has missed the last seven games with a hand injury and is considered week to week.
This is a significant loss for the Jets.
After the Chicago win, coach Paul Maurice did not indicate any potential lineup changes for tonight.
His key advice to his players was to stay out of the penalty box. The Panthers successfully killed seven penalties Sunday against Chicago, which has the poorest power play in the NHL at 8.3 percent.
Despite its scoring woes, Winnipeg is a more respectable 19.4 percent with the advantage.
The Jets have been playing well in losing efforts.
Florida can expect a motivated opponent tonight — and again in Sunrise on Friday night when the two meet up for a second straight game.
ON DECK: GAME 13
FLORIDA PANTHERS at WINNIPEG JETS
Alan Greenberg has been a freelance hockey journalist for over 40 years. He has written for almost every major … More about Alan Greenberg, FHN Sr. Writer