At one point, the Winnipeg Jets were the hottest team in the NHL, sitting atop the league standings. However, over the last few weeks, they have really fallen off their early-season pace.
Following a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, the Jets have lost five straight games, and six of their previous eight. They went from leading the Central Division, to losing out on having home ice advantage of the playoffs.
One of the big concerns with the team heading toward the Trade Deadline is their offense. Winnipeg has scored just four goals during this losing streak, getting shut out by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. They also have not scored a power play goal in their last five games. In fact, since their 5-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 9, the Jets have only scored over two goals in a game once.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff tried to address the issue, acquiring Sean Monahan from the Montreal Canadiens right in the middle of the All-Star break. However, it will take some time for the former Calgary Flame to find his footing with his new team.
As of Friday afternoon, the Jets (30-14-5) are third in the Central Division, three points back of the Dallas Stars for first, but are also 11 points ahead of the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators, who are tied for fourth.
On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk give their thoughts on the slumping offense in Winnipeg.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I don’t think Jets’ fans should be concerned. That power play will get better once Sean Monahan gets a little more comfortable. I think this is just a little bit of a tough patch.
Frank Seravalli: My concern isn’t really in goals that they’ve given up, it’s really the goal scoring that is a concern to me. They’ve really struggled to put the puck in the net. That part, I think they’re going to bounce back…I do have some legitimate concern about their offense, and their inability to produce on a consistent basis.
You can watch the full segment, and entire episode here…
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