The Winnipeg Jets were blown away 4-2 by the Nashville Predators at home on Wednesday.
Wednesday night was a disaster for the Winnipeg Jets from start to finish.
In taking to the ice for warmup without top line centreman Mark Scheifele - who was later listed as under the weather - the Jets put together a difficult effort in a 4-2 home shutout loss to the visiting Nashville Predators.
"From the start, we wanted to be a hard forechecking team and we weren’t," forward Alex Iafallo said postgame. "We weren’t getting those chances, so we need to regroup tomorrow and make sure that we have that hard working, mental aspect from the start.”
Two goals in a span of 22 seconds in the opening minutes of the third period ultimately did Winnipeg in, while its lack of goal scoring certainly rose the eyebrows of those intrigued by its trade deadline spendings.
In a game that served as four-point affair, the Jets' Central Division rivals picked up valuable ground, dusting Winnipeg by a count of 4-2, dropping the Jets to 41-19-5 on the season.
Gustav Nyquist opened the scoring for the Predators, as he beat Connor Hellebuyck cleanly on a partial break. Nyquist's 18th of the season came just moments after the conclusion of a Jets power play.
Juuse Saros picked up the secondary assist as he got the puck to Roman Josi, who fed Nyquist on a perfect stretch pass all the way up the ice.
Then it was Kiefer Sherwood who ripped home another first period tally, putting home an immaculately placed wrist shot off another primary assist from Josi.
The Predators led 2-0 after 20 minutes, despite the Jets holding a slight 11-10 shot lead.
The biggest victory of the game for Winnipeg came in the second period, as the team recovered, although facing a heavily tilted ice surface. The Jets gave up 19 shots in the frame, while only producing six of their own in 20 minutes of action.
Somehow, Winnipeg made it out unscathed, with Hellebuyck and a pair of strong late-period penalty kills serving as the difference. The Jets remained down 2-0 entering the third period.
But it was all for naught, as the Predators piled it on in the final frame, and they did so early.
First, just 1:29 into the period, Nyquist outmuscled Brenden Dillon and Neal Pionk, picking up a loose puck on the Jets' doorstep, before setting up Filip Forsberg for this 34th of the season.
Then, just 22 seconds later, trade deadline acquisition Jason Zucker put things completely out of reach as he tucked home the rebound off a Colton Sissons point shot, doubling Nashville's lead just 1:51 into the period.
Winnipeg got one back with 6:48 remaining, as Alex Iafallo made up for an earlier breakaway miss, redirecting a Dillon point shot past Saros, cutting Nashville's lead to three.
But time was not on the Jets' side.
Dylan DeMelo hit the post behind Saros with Hellebuyck on the bench for the extra attacker. And then it was Mason Appleton who got one past the star backstop with 10 seconds remaining, as he put home a Colin Miller rebound, but that was all Winnipeg could muster.
"It just felt like they were on us, making plays, just finding good connections and making passes across the ice like that," Iafallo said. "Next time we play them we’ve got to make sure that we’re crisper and taking away stuff in the middle.”
Save for a strong second period, Hellebuyck had a night to forget, as he turned aside just 34 of the Predators' 38 shots on goal, while Saros made 28 stops on the 30 pucks fired his way by Winnipeg.
Next up for Winnipeg is the third test of the three-game homestand from Canada Life Centre, as the Anaheim Ducks make their way to Manitoba on Friday night. That game can be viewed live on TSN at 7:00 PM central time.