In their first opportunity to win four consecutive games since April of last year, the Winnipeg Jets decided to play like a tier two junior team and a give a gift to the lowly Colorado Avalanche, losing 5-2 today in Denver.
Ondrej Pavelec should take some of the blame for the loss today as he went back to his old ways before he was sent down to the Manitoba Moose after training camp. But he wasn't alone in this one. The Jets defence core was anaemic Pavelec was left hung out to dry too many times. If it wasn't for him making more saves than he should have didn't help. The stand-out save for him today was a wicked glove save off of Matt Duchene on a rebound from Jerome Iginla.
The fact that the Jets were out-shot 14 to 7 in the first period tells a big story.
The Avalanche were on a nine-game losing streak. Combine that with the Jets unable to put more than three wins together and it was almost a given that the Jets were going to gift-wrap this one.
Adam Lowry was the loan Jet to bend the twine this afternoon, as he was able to score twice in the losing effort to up his total to nine on the season.
The Jets missed a big opportunity at some much-needed points today. The loss leaves them remaining in fourth in the Central division for the time being. They remain at 54 points, three behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card spot, with the St. Louis Blues in between with 55 points.
The Jets now come home to the MTS Centre to host the dangerous Minnesota Wild on Tues, February 7.
