The Dallas Stars head into Winnipeg on Tuesday night looking to keep the struggling Jets in their downward spiral.
Winnipeg has managed only five wins in its last 16 games, a stretch defined by a significant offensive drought and inconsistent defending. During this slide, the Jets rank 27th in goals scored and 24th in goals against, numbers that underscore just how out of sync they’ve been.
The Jets’ latest setback came Saturday in Edmonton, where they were overwhelmed 6-2 by the Oilers, a loss that put an exclamation mark on their recent frustrations.
“Yeah, everything,” said Kyle Connor when asked what is going wrong during the 680 CJOB postgame show on Saturday. “You got to want to be a difference-maker every single night. We’ve got to find a way to do that and bring guys up to speed. We need everybody to be a leader out here. You don’t need to wear a letter… make an impact. If you’re not making a positive impact it’s probably going the other way, so we got to find a way to push each other.”
Coach Scott Arniel didn’t offer excuses, even though the Jets have played seven games in 11 days — a stretch that could reasonably be pointed to as a factor.
“I’m not putting the schedule on this. The whole league is going through this now because of the Olympics. Everybody’s having their tough part, the grind of their schedule,” Arniel said following the loss. “Both mentally and physically, we weren’t ready to go. At the end of the day, I’ll take responsibility for that.”
Despite the difficulties, the Jets have not fallen out of the race. Winnipeg sits only two points outside a playoff spot in a tightly-packed Western Conference where several teams are struggling to find consistency. And the team they face Tuesday, the Dallas Stars, are dealing with their own pursuit of higher standards.
Dallas enters the matchup second overall in the NHL with 45 points, in the midst of an impressive 8-0-2 run over their last 10 games. The Stars and league-leading Colorado Avalanche (48 points) are the only two teams with 40-plus points.
But even with success on the scoreboard, Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan believes his team has room to sharpen its offensive game, despite ranking third in goals with 105.
“It took us a while to generate. We actually didn’t generate a ton,” Gulutzan said. “It’s a couple times in the last week… so we’ve got to find our footing here a little bit. Whether it’s a little bit more rest or a couple practices to get a little sharpened up.”
Stars forward Mikko Rantanen, who had an assist and scored the shootout winner in Dallas’ 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, echoed that concern.
“In those moments when you might have a lot of games, you maybe have your legs you have to lean on your system and try and play good sound defensive hockey,” Rantanen said. “(Try to) limit the chances for the other team and try to capitalize when we get chances… we’ve got to be better in Winnipeg.”
Rantanen has definitely been part of the Stars’ offensive solution, recording 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the last six games and entered the week tied for third in the NHL with 26 assists.
The Jets remain without goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who is recovering from a minor knee procedure and is expected back in late December or early January.
Dallas, meanwhile, could see the return of defenseman Thomas Harley, who missed Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin also left Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury, but didn’t join the team on the road trip.
Despite a hat trick from Connor, the Stars edged the Jets, 5-4, in the season opener for both teams.
