Winnipeg Jets drop final road game of season 5-3 in Utah – Winnipeg

With the Winnipeg Jets having been eliminated from playoff contention, they’re at the point where losing is actual helpful.

Any more wins this season could jeopardize their odds of getting a higher draft pick, and while it was not their intention to lose Tuesday night in Utah, they did, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Mammoth in their final road game of the season.

The Mammoth scored twice in the span of just 26 seconds in the third period to take a three-goal lead. The Jets then scored two quick ones to pull within a single goal, but they could get no closer as Utah added an empty netter for the Jets third straight loss.

Nick Schmaltz scored twice for Utah in the victory.

Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Isak Rosén all notched goals for the Jets. Gabriel Vilardi had a pair of assists.

Eric Comrie was extremely busy in the first 40 minutes with the shots 29-12 in favour of Utah after two periods. The score could have been a whole lot worse if not for a number of big saves in the first two periods.

“He was standing on his head the whole game,” Rosén told 680 CJOB. “We got to help him.”

The Mammoth swept the three-game season. The Jets will finish the season with a 6-3 record in the second half of back-to-backs.

Ville Heinola appeared in his first game in close to six weeks as he replaced Haydn Fleury.

With the playoffs out of reach, it would have been really easy for the Jets to pack it in during the third stanza trailing by three goals, but it was their best period of the game, outshooting the opponent 12-7 to make it look respectable.

“I think we got more to our game,” said Rosén. “When we got one goal back, I think they were standing on their heels a little bit and yeah, we kept going on them. Yeah, for sure we found our game in the third, but it’s tough to not find our game earlier than that.”

Making his first start since Mar. 22, Comrie was tested early and often by the Mammoth. The Jets’ backup made 13 saves in the opening 20 minutes, several of them of the high-quality variety.

But Utah did manage to get one past him at the 8:05 mark of the period. After the Mammoth won a centre ice draw, Nate Schmidt got the puck in his own end and held it for a few seconds before snapping a stretch pass to the Winnipeg blue line where Logan Cooley had gotten open behind Scheifele.

Cooley took the pass and skated in on Comrie as Scheifele tried to catch up but he was unable to as Cooley made a move and slid a backhand shot through Comrie’s five-hole to open the scoring.

Each team failed on a power play in the first as Utah held a 13-6 edge in shots on goal.

Utah continued to pour on the pressure in the second, dominating play for most of the period.

They extended their lead at the 4:54 mark on a power play when Schmaltz banged home a juicy rebound into an open net for his 32nd of the season.

The Mammoth peppered Comrie to the tune of 15 shots in the period, thanks in part to a trio of power play opportunities, but Comrie stood tall, allowing his team to get back into the game.

After Utah took their first penalty of the period with just under four minutes left, the Jets struggled to get anything set up with the man advantage but in transition they were able to strike.

As he crossed the Utah blue line in the middle of the ice, Connor passed the puck to his right to Vilardi. Vilardi held the puck until sending it back to a hard-driving Connor, who steered the pass into the pad of Karel Vejmelka before knocking the rebound into the net for his 39th goal of the season.

The Jets came close to tying the game shorthanded in the final minutes of the period when Brayden Yager got free on a 2-on-1, but his shot was denied by Vejmelka.

The Mammoth held a massive 29-12 edge in shots on goal through 40 minutes.

Utah restored their two-goal lead just over seven minutes into the third on another power play. The Mammoth snapped the puck around the Winnipeg zone, every player getting a touch of the puck as the Jets defenders chased the play before Schmaltz buried his second of the night.

Just 26 seconds later, Utah made it 4-1.

Two Mammoth converged in the corner to win a puck battle, freeing the puck for J.J. Peterka who took it to the front of the net and slid it through Comrie.

Scheifele got one back for the Jets with 7:24 to go when he took advantage of Mackenzie Weegar falling in his own end, taking the puck in alone and beating Vejmelka for his 36th of the season.

Moments later, Dylan DeMelo was clipped by a high stick to give the Jets a power play look and the second unit took advantage to make it a one-goal game.

After a scramble off an offensive-zone faceoff, the puck came back to Rosén who ripped a wrister from the slot that beat Vejmelka for his third as a Winnipeg Jet.

The Jets weren’t able to pull Comrie for an extra attacker until there was one minute to go but it was for not as Alex Kerfoot scored into the empty net with 23 seconds remaining.

Final shots on goal in the game were 36-24 in favour of the Mammoth as Comrie suffered his first defeat since New Year’s Day in Toronto, ending his six-start win streak.

The loss ensures that the Jets will enter their final game of the regular season against San Jose with the seventh-best odds of picking first overall at 6.5 per cent.

That game will go Thursday evening in Winnipeg on the final night of the NHL regular season. The puck will drop just after 7 p.m. with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starting around 5:15 p.m.

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