While the visiting Winnipeg Jets are reeling, the Ottawa Senators are trying to break through the logjam for an Eastern Conference playoff spot as the two teams meet Saturday night.
The Jets are winless in their last eight games (0-5-3). All but one of those losses – a two-goal defeat against Edmonton that included an empty-net insurance marker – have been decided by a single goal. The latest came on New Year’s Day in Toronto, where Winnipeg blew a 4-1 second-period lead in a 6-5 loss to the Maple Leafs.
“Man, oh man,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel when asked why his team has struggled to protect one-goal leads or rally when trailing by one. “In the last three years, we were one of the best teams in the league in one-goal games and a lot of the same guys are here. … It’s got to be the shot-blocking, the wall plays, the net-front battles, having the responsibility of making sure the puck gets out of our zone into their zone. Those are all things that, when you’re on your game, they become habits and it’s continuous habits. Right now, we’re trying to get guys to be consistent with it.”
Winnipeg enter Saturday’s game sitting alone in last place in the NHL, a stunning reversal from a year ago when the Jets captured the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best regular-season record.
“How do we turn it around?,” asked Winnipeg forward Gabriel Vilardi in Toronto. “I don’t have a single answer for you. It doesn’t involve me talking here for five minutes. There’s a lot of things that we can clean up and continue to talk about and work on and it’s got to translate to the game, though.”
Ottawa enters its matchup with the Jets riding the momentum of a comeback victory. The Sens rallied past the Washington Capitals 4-3 after trailing 2-0 following the first intermission on Saturday.
A fiery locker-room address from head coach Travis Green was reportedly a catalyst for the turnaround.
“I probably can’t repeat a lot of the things I said,” said Green. “I didn’t think we were into the game. I just thought we weren’t playing to win. … That’s really not a characteristic of our team when we’re playing well, especially under the circumstances of our last few games… You could tell guys wanted the puck and wanted to be in the battle the last two periods.”
Thursday’s win snapped a three-game skid that followed a four-game winning streak. With the calendar turning to a new year, Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot hopes it provides an opportunity for the team to recommit to a more consistent brand of hockey.
“Look, we believe in what we have in here,” Chabot said. “We have a (heck) of a hockey team. We have a lot of tools in this room… It’s a long season and we wanted to kick off the New Year the right way and I think we did that.”
Ottawa netminder Linus Ullmark remains away after being granted a leave of absence. Senators forward Lars Eller remains on injured reserve with a broken foot and has no projected timeline for his return.
–Field Level Media
