Morrissey reaches career milestone as familiar faces return in tight loss. Jets battled back but couldn't clinch victory against Utah.
Winnipeg closed out its stretch of three games in four nights with a 3-2 loss on Sunday evening against the newly-named Utah Mammoth.
The Jets received their goals from Dylan DeMelo and Mark Scheifele while Connor Hellebuyck could only muster up 29 saves in the loss. Dylan Guenther got the winner for Utah with 5:36 to play in the third period.
Photo by Scott Stroh"They came as advertised," DeMelo said of the now 8-2-0 Mammoth. "We knew that they have been playing really good hockey. A good up and coming team and every year they seem to get better and better. It was a tight game. It felt like we had some self-inflicted wounds that ended up costing us in the end.”
Josh Morrissey picked up helpers on both Jets goals, giving him 300 assists in his career, becoming the first defenceman in franchise history to hit that plateau.
Familiar faces Nate Schmidt, Brandon Tanev and Kevin Stenlund who each spent time with the Jets, made their returns to Canada Life Centre as members of the Mammoth on Sunday. Tanev received a welcome back message on the jumbotron.
A four-goal second period began with a big clapper from DeMelo, who fired home a point shot less than a minute into the frame.
But then with Neal Pionk in the box for delay of game, Mikhail Sergachev collected the puck off an Utah offensive zone face-off win and ripped the puck past Hellebuyck through a screen.
Then just a minute later, Michael Carcone put another into the Jets' net - this one coming on a two-on-one rush up ice with Kailer Yamamoto.
But with John Marino in the box for interference, the Jets got their turn on the power play. It took 1:57 of man advantage time, but the top unit made Utah pay. Scheifele pulled the trigger on his eighth goal of the season on a long-range wrist shot that beat Vitek Vanecek cleanly through the five-hole.
The visitors held a 20-15 shot lead through 40 minutes, but the two Central Division clubs remained knotted at twos entering big third period.
The Jets killed off a big Luke Schenn interference penalty, but ultimately lost a puck battle in their own zone a few minutes later, leading to Guenther's fifth of the year on a heavy shot that beat Hellebuyck high, short side with 5:36 to play.
With time ticking down on a possible comeback, Winnipeg took a two-minute bench minor for having too many players on the ice with 2:15 to play, crushing any chance of sustained offensive zone control.
“We still haven’t put together a 60-minute game," head coach Scott Arniel said following the game. "For me, it’s pieces of the third. I liked a lot of what happened in the first (period), but the second was way too sloppy. Way too easy for the opposition.”
Hellebuyck turned aside 29 of the 32 shots he faced on the night, while Vanecek made 25 stops on the 27 pucks fired his way.
Next up for Winnipeg is a one-off, Tuesday night game in Minnesota against the Wild, before the Jets return home to Canada Life Centre for Thursday and Saturday matchups with Chicago and Pittsburgh, respectively.