The Winnipeg Jets fell to 44-23-6 on the season with a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
The Winnipeg Jets may never win again.
For the the fifth-straight game, the Jets came up short, this time falling to the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, by way of a 4-1 final.
And it wasn't for a lack of opportunity either.
With five total power plays on the night, the Jets came up empty and moved to just one goal scored on their last 21 opportunities.
Entering the night on a four-game losing streak, the now 44-23-6 Jets needed a strong performance against a playoff-bound club.
Unfortunately, it just didn't come.
Former Brandon Wheat Kings star goaltender Logan Thompson stood on his head for the visitors, turning aside nearly everything he faced on the night, as he made 39 stops in the win.
Thursday night marked Winnipeg's seventh sellout of the season and third-straight. Unfortunately for the 15,225 fans gathered at Canada Life Centre, it just wasn't meant to be, as the Golden Knights scored first and last, handing Winnipeg it's fifth-straight defeat.
The Jets fell behind early, as Pavel Dorofeyev potted his 12th of the season off a perfect setup from linemate William Karlsson.
The goal came with just 4:04 left in the opening frame - a period to which both teams contributed, but it was the visitors who took both the lead and shot lead (14-10) into the intermission.
Winnipeg responded in the middle stanza, as Sean Monahan found his 23rd marker of the season - a champagne goal of sorts - and his 10th as a member of the Jets. In typical fashion, it was off a fantastic deflection in the high slot.
After starting the play, Monahan made himself a distraction through the middle of the ice, before redirecting Nikolaj Ehlers' point shot home, knotting things up at ones through 40 minutes of play.
The Jets took over the shot chart in the second, putting up 15 shots to Vegas' six in the frame. That total, however, was heavily influenced by Winnipeg's four power plays in the game.
But despite eight full minutes of man advantage time, the Jets were completely unsuccessful on any of their power plays, falling to one for their last twenty opportunities.
Again, unable to score on the power play, it appeared as though Winnipeg was about to be handed a gift. However, a Nic Hague check to the head on Vladislav Namestnikov only resulted in a two-minute minor penalty. Mark Scheifele jumped in but was given 17 minutes in penalties for his actions, counteracting another late-game power play for the host.
The penalty left most perplexed, players included.
“I don’t get the rule to begin with," Ehlers said. "I don’t know when - and that’s complete honesty, it’s not throwing shade at anyone - I just don’t understand the rule. What’s an instigator, what’s not? So, I mean, you’ve got to ask somebody else.”
And making matters worse for Winnipeg was Vegas' response just moments after the fight. Ivan Barbashev got his 17th of the season, backhanding home a setup play from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation's Zach Whitecloud, giving the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead with 5:29 to play.
Barbashev scored a second marker of the night, skating past Josh Morrissey and putting the puck into the empty net with just over a minute left to play.
Jack Eichel adding another just for kicks, and sealed the deal on a Golden Knights' 4-1 road victory.
“Obviously, it sucks right now," Ehlers said of his team's effort. "But last game, we had a lot of good things, and today we did a lot of really good things as well. I think we deserved better. But we are definitely going in the right direction."
Hellebuyck turned aside 23 of the 25 pucks put on net by Vegas, while Thompson made 39 stops on the 40 Jets shots he faced.
Next up for Winnipeg is the third test of the five-game homestand, as the Ottawa Senators make their way to Canada Life Centre on Saturday evening. That game can be viewed live on Sportsnet at 6:00 PM central time.
