Heading into the All-Star break, Jets fans haven’t had much to cheer about, especially at home. The Winnipeg Jets find themselves at the bottom of the Central Division standings and 9 points out of the final Wild Card spot. With the February 29th trade deadline quickly approaching, the Jets are looking more like sellers than buyers as they continue to fall in the standings.
After dropping their first game of a six game home stand, the Jets continued to struggle to find a win on home ice. One week after beating the Nashville Predators at home 5-4, it was the visiting team exacting some revenge. Nikolaj Ehlers started the Jets off on the right foot opening the scoring just 4:16 into the game but the Preds tied the game up on the power play. With his team on a man advantage, Ryan Johansen scored his ninth of the season to even the game up.
Craig Smith gave Nashville the lead for good in the second period and Pekka Rinne turned away 26 of 27 shots for a 4-1 victory.
It was an ex-Jet that came back to haunt the Jets as Lee Stempniak made his return to the MTS Centre as a member of the New Jersey Devils. Stempniak scored twice for the Devils and Jacob Jacobsen added another to lift New Jersey to a 3-1 win. Dustin Byfuglien had the lone Jets goal with Wheeler and Ehlers drawing the assists.
The Jets finally got back into the win column right before the All-Star break. With points in his last four games, Nikolaj Ehlers broke out in a big way against the Arizona Coyotes. Ehlers scored twice in the first period and got his third goal 14:31 into the second period for his first career hat trick. Blake Wheeler assisted on all three of Ehlers goals and Dustin Byfuglien added a pair of goals and an assist beating the Coyotes 5-2.
Despite being last in the Central Division, one of the lone bright spots of the Jets has been the play of Dustin Byfuglien. The hulking defenseman represented the Jets at the All-Star game in Nashville and had a goal and an assist in a losing cause for the Central Division. In an All-Star game to remember, tough guy John Scott earned the All Star MVP scoring twice in the tournament.
It didn’t get any easier for the Jets after the break taking on the Dallas Stars who sit 20 points ahead in the Central Division standings. In a back and forth affair, the Stars held on to a 5-3 win thanks to Tyler Seguin’s two goals. Ehlers extended his point streak to five games and Stafford, Lowry, and Byfuglien scored for Winnipeg in the losing effort. The loss was the Jets fourth in the past five games at home.
The Winnipeg Jets (22-25-3) conclude their six game home stand against the Carolina Hurricanes. The month of February will see the Jets on the road for 8 of 12 games.
Photos by Srar Roxas | Filipino Journal
