Disjointed all-around play plagues Jets in loss against struggling Canadiens

WINNIPEG - Rick Bowness wasn’t about to rant and rave about this rare no-show.

The head coach of the Winnipeg Jets maintained his composure in the aftermath of what has to be considered an outlier effort for his team that has prided itself on consistency this season.

Although Bowness wasn’t pointing fingers or assessing blame, he was direct when it came to where he thought things went wrong in what turned into a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, a team that had not won consecutive games since late November - until Tuesday, that is.

“There's very few games that we're going to walk out of a rink and say we didn't deserve to win but that's certainly one. We didn't deserve to win that game,” Bowness told reporters in Montreal. “We were behind all night and made it very easy for them to play their game. When the compete isn't there and the legs (aren't) there and the execution isn't there, then you look bad. We looked bad.”

Whereas Friday’s tidy 4-1 victory was an outing that featured no passengers in the eyes of Bowness, the number of adequate to above average performances could probably be counted on with one hand.

Over the course of an 82-game schedule, it’s going to happen.

As hard as it may be for some fan bases to accept, teams near the top of the standings occasionally fall to a team near the basement.

That’s not to suggest it’s something a team like the Jets can easily dismiss either, as Kyle Connor made abundantly clear in his post-game comments.

“Kind of disjointed throughout the whole ice, all three zones, not one zone in particular,” said Connor. “They were able to counter on us pretty good, catch us on bad changes. We just weren’t taking care of each other.

“Ah, I mean, you want to take everything that we can out of that. I don’t think it’s just a completely wipe the slate and forget about it (situation). We’ve got to learn from what happened and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

For those folks wondering if the Jets might have taken the Canadiens lightly after squeaking past the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday, that wasn't part of the equation either.

“I don’t think so,” said Connor. “I wish I knew. (Then) I would tell you. We’re all going to look in the mirror and figure that one out.”

Connor produced one of the few highlights in the contest for the Jets, finishing off a creative series of passes during a power play to blast home a one-timer for what was his 200th NHL goal.

Connor wasn’t in much of a mood to celebrate the milestone, though he conceded it was something he would take time to reflect on during the offseason.

“It’s pretty cool to hit those milestones,” said Connor, who became the fifth player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise history to reach the mark. “You never dream in your wildest dreams that you’d be in the NHL and be scoring 200.”

In what can only be described as an unexpected turn of events, the Jets seemed to abandon their structure and got away from almost all of the things that have made them such a successful team this season.

Their puck management was suspect and so was their defensive-zone coverage.

The lapses were plentiful and often costly.

Puck support was often non-existent and this offence that has seemed to find its groove since the return to health for several key contributors was barely able to sustain any sustained pressure in the offensive zone at even strength.

Top Jets defence prospect Ville Heinola checked back into the Jets lineup for Dylan Samberg and things didn’t go smoothly for him - though that’s a phrase that can be used to describe most of his teammates on this night.

However, for a guy battling to make an impression and keep himself in the midst of the competition for ice time on the back end, this effort didn’t help his cause.

During a three shift stretch in the second period, Heinola was on the ice for three consecutive goals against.

That’s not to say he was at fault for all of them, but Heinola was a bit too cautious as he played a one-on-one with Mike Hoffman after defence partner Brenden Dillon pinched up on the play.

The split second Heinola took before contesting the shot was enough for Hoffman to find the space required to roof his shot off the crossbar and in for the goal that ended up being the game-winner.

Heinola had put together a strong stretch of games before he was taken out of the lineup, only to come down with an illness on the afternoon he was supposed to return to action with the Jets.

The spread of the flu bug forced the Jets to send him down to the minors on the weekend when they needed a forward available on an emergency basis and he got into a game with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League that was meant to help him get his legs under him.

Bowness sat Heinola down for the final 6:29 of the second period, but got him back in the rotation for the third period as he finished with 17 shifts for 9:34 of ice time.

This isn’t a call to demote Heinola immediately, it’s a reminder that young defencemen like him are going to encounter growing pains and this is sometimes what they look like.

Samberg is likely to return to the lineup on Thursday for the All-Canadian showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Heinola will need to find a way to get himself ready for his next game - which should come before the end of this five-game road swing.

It’s a harsh reality for players on the periphery of the roster and it’s something that should serve guys like Heinola well once they finally break through and earn more regular work.

In case you were wondering, Bowness wasn’t about to make Heinola a scapegoat on an evening where plenty of players missed plenty of assignments.

“It wasn't one guy,” said Bownness. “It was everybody, so... It was everybody.”

The Jets were already looking forward to the opportunity to put this suspect effort behind them.

“I don't think it was necessarily tactical stuff,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, who helped set up Connor’s power-play tally. “We sat back and we weren't on our toes and we didn't have our skating legs. That's something that's easy to fix. We'll have to be ready to go against a top team here in a couple of days.”

There’s plenty of evidence from the first 40-plus games to suggest the Jets will be ready to go when they face the Maple Leafs for the second and final time of the regular season.

“That’s a proud group in there. We wouldn’t be where we are today without that being a proud group,” said Bowness. “They knew they were off. We didn’t play well. So, we had a bad game and we have to recover quickly.

“Now we’re going to be challenged Thursday in Toronto and we better answer the bell.”