Jets' power-play woes continue in loss to Flyers

WINNIPEG — What’s happened to the Winnipeg Jets' most lethal offensive weapon?

The Jets' power play has sat atop the NHL all year long — converting at a historic level — but in their games since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, they’ve failed to convert on 16 consecutive power play attempts.

On Saturday — tied 1-1 late in the third period of their Hockey Night in Canada clash against the Philadelphia Flyers — they failed to score on two golden opportunities to seal the game. 

“Yeah, I mean those are the ones… you've gotta put a game away at that point,” a dejected Ehlers said after Winnipeg’s 2-1 shootout loss. “You've gotta take advantage and we haven't been able to do that.” 

While this is the first time we’re seeing it from this group this season, power plays always go through ups and downs. It’s weird to see it from the Jets, though — nine times out of ten, when they have an opportunity to put away a game like that, they do.

Earlier Saturday morning, Arniel spoke about how the power play wasn’t good enough against Ottawa on Wednesday — where they looked uncharacteristically passive, reminiscent of how they looked when Brad Lauer was running the power play — but noted that he saw improvement against Nashville on Thursday. 

“Well, in the beginning, it was a lack of attacking,” Ehlers said of the recent power-play struggles. “I think now we're moving a bit more. We know what we want to do. I think overall it's just the passing that is not good enough.”

When Sportsnet.ca relayed Ehlers’ remarks to Arniel — specifically the criticism of the team’s passing —the Jets coach’s expression turned dubious. 

"I thought we had some great looks again,” Arniel said. “Just like two nights ago (in Nashville). I thought we had some great looks. (Ehlers) had the glorious one (on the first power play) and a few that were real tight, real close. Whatever. I'm not criticizing our power play.” 

Mark Scheifele wasn’t either. 

“We had our chances. Nikky had a great chance, we just didn’t capitalize,” Scheifele said. 

While it’s only a five-game sample size, the Jets have produced 73.36 power-play scoring chances per 60 minutes — which ranks seventh league wide. For context, in their first 56 games, they registered 54.93 power-play chances per 60 minutes (17th). 

“I think we did a good job,” Scheifele said. “Nikky scores that one and we’re not even (answering) the question.”

The Danish winger isn’t totally off — a cross-crease pass he attempted on the first power play against Philadelphia missed Scheifele’s stick by a mere few inches and there were a few other poorly-placed passes — but perhaps his comments are a tad nitpicky. And that’s a good thing, mind you, as it’s a testament to the high standard the team’s top power play holds itself to. Ehlers is used to the team’s unit being able to find seams and create quality chances via elite passing. That’s a huge part of what makes the top unit so dangerous. 

But as Scheifele alluded to, that Grade-A chance from Ehlers was made possible by excellent puck movement beforehand. Both Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi generated shot attempts from the slot — the former whiffed on his, while Vilardi’s went high and wide. 

In their last five games, just 39 per cent of their power-play shot attempts have hit the net — a sizeable dip from their first 56 games (56 per cent). Aside from the lack of movement in the first three games post-4 Nations break, this recent lull is really an instance of poor puck luck. 

“That's all part of it,” Arniel said when asked about bounces not going their way. “There's good goaltending, there's other people getting sticks on plays. These are the things that happen over the course of a season, whether it's your power play or whether it's your five-on-five scoring. These are the ebbs and flows that happen throughout the season. Sticking with it, we don't get frustrated by situations like this. We just kind of move on. When we get our next chance, we look to bury that puck."

Stoller says 

• Dare I say Logan Stanley has looked, by his standards, quite good since the 4 Nations break? Defensively, he’s not as noticeable — in the best way possible, given that he usually stands out for the wrong reasons. And offensively, he’s executing simple plays on a more consistent basis. He made a few excellent passes to advance the play up the ice. He also dropped the mitts with a heavyweight in Nicolas Deslauriers — a decision that doesn’t go unnoticed by his teammates. 

“That was awesome. Fantastic for him,” Scheifele said. “That’s one of the toughest guys in the league. That’s what Stan does, he’s a guy that will stick up for guys. He did it for me in Ottawa. He’s a guy who will lay it on the line and do anything for any guy on this team. Going up against a tough guy like him, that was awesome.”

• Rasmus Ristolainen sure looked sharp for the Flyers. He’s exactly what the Jets need in their top-four — a mobile, heavy, defensively sound player that can be an asset on the penalty kill, too. The Flyers aren’t in a rush to deal the 30-year-old — he carries a $5.1 million AAV through the 2026-27 season — but he’s exactly the kind of player the Jets should be ponying up assets for.