With a shoot-out loss to the Boston Bruins and a regulation loss to the New York Islanders, four valuable points were lost that kept the Winnipeg Jets from positioning themselves atop the NHL's Central division.
The Jets played well in Boston, however a hot Tuukka Rask stifled the Jets all night long. Connor Hellebuyck mirrored his counterpart till the very end, only Helle couldn't stop Bruins rookie, Charlie McAvoy in the shootout and the Jets left the TD Garden with one point. Disappointing, given the the Jets played well enough to win, but came up just short in the 2-1 shootout loss.
Patrick Laine scored his team-leading 18th goal.
The game against the Islanders, on the other hand, was a clinic in futility. How the Jets go from dueling a big, strong, grinding team like the Bruins, then simply drop their guard for a spanking against the New York Islanders; a team that had been struggling with a 2-3-2 record in their last seven before this game, is still buzzing in my head.
Tucker Poolman scored his first NHL goal in the loss. Adam Lowry tried to make it look a little less embarrassing with his 7th late in the third, but it was a sunken ship by that point, as the Jets lost one they just as soon forget, 5-2.
With the losses, the Jets stayed pretty much idle in the Central division standings, save for the one point earned against Boston, the Jets remain a technical third in the division, (although tied with the St. Louis Blues for second-who have played one extra game than Winnipeg) with 46 points. The Nashville Predators hold first in the division with 48 points.
