Winnipeg Jets Collapse Again in the Final Period, Lose to Blues, 2-3

The Winnipeg Jets are in a tough situation, as they stand at the brink of elimination in the series against the St. Louis Blues. Last night, the Jets suffered a loss at their Bell MTS place, 2-3, and now have the same deficit in the series.

After leading 2-0 at the and of the first sequence, and keeping that distance throughout the second period, the hosts collapsed in the last 20 minutes.

They allowed three goals, the final one which shocked all the spectators, 15 seconds before the end. It was a stunner after which you could hear only the Blues’ players celebrating on the ice.

After winning Game 3 and 4 and regaining the home court advantage, most of the fans were convinced that the Jets are going to win last night’s match. They’ve rallied and overcome adversities on the road, and in the situation when they had a perfect position to capitalize that, just choked.

Despite the loss Jets’ goalie Connor Hellebuyck is still convincing that his side will go advance to the next round. He is already prepared for the upcoming two games according to his words.

“It’s bitter, but it’s playoffs,” Hellebuyck said. “We’ve got to put it behind us. We’ve got a big Game 6 coming up, and a big Game 7.”

He had 29 saves in this game, five of them in the last period, but there was no way to stop the fantastic Blues’ who ambushed his defense just 89 seconds into that sequence. It was a powerplay goal scored by Ryan O’Reilly.

That changed a lot of things on the ice. The hosts began to look more frightened, while on the other hand, it boosted the morale of Craig Berube’s guys.

With 6:08 to go Brayden Schenn scored the goal, but that had to go under review because Oskar Sundquist displaced the goal. It was later confirmed that he did do it, but after Dustin Byfuglien forced that action.

The complete shocker came 15 seconds before the buzzer, when Jaden Schwartz netted after striking the puck in the air. Back in St. Louis, the Ballpark Village went wild with the fans who gathered there to watch the game exploding of joy.

Winnipeg’s coach Paul Maurice stated that his players need to stop for a moment and take a look where they made the wrong choices and moves, and to process that in order to improve. They have to face all of their mistakes and make some conclusions.

“You’re going to eat it for the rest of the night, and then we’ll go through the places in our game that we need to tighten up and get better at,” said Maurice. “We’ll deal with the goals, so they understand it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAV7BX9DXlQ

This was a remarkable six straight loss of the Jets at their Bell MTS Arena. Ok, that happens. But what certainly makes their fans very disturbed is the fact that they have nine defeats this season when leading at the start of the final period. Winnipeg holds the top spot in that negative category with the Florida Panthers.

It had been seen twice in this series.

The reason for that is not known. Lack of composure, or energy, some kind of mental oscillations, or maybe the combination of it all, whatever that might be, it needs to be solved before the upcoming game at Enterprise Center. The Jets can’t afford to have another meltdown against the Blues, because it will be their last in this season.

With all the ambitions before the postseason started, it would be considered as a failure.

Kelvin Hayes, Winnipeg’s right winger, predicts that Game 6 in Missouri will be the best one his team played in this series, as they don’t have any other choices but to win.

“If we lose, we’re done,” Hayes said. “That’s enough motivation. Game 6 will be our best game.”

That contest is to take place at Enterprise Center this Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.