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“I just wanted to get those guys out there as much as possible,” Arniel said.
Published Apr 06, 2025 • Last updated Apr 06, 2025 • 4 minute read
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Kyle Connor watches practice with coach Scott Arniel. The Jets bench boss blended his bench brigade looking for a spark, but the Jets still lost 4-1 to Utah on Saturday night. Photo by File /Winnipeg SunArticle content
Entering the third period down by three goals on Saturday night, the bench boss blended his forward groupings,
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The result was a promotion for Cole Perfetti, the Whitby, Ont., native skating with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
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The trio contributed to the Jets only goal in a 4-1 loss to Utah in Salt Lake City.
“I was just kind of mixing all the lines up a little bit, just to get a spark,” head coach Scott Arniel told reporters in Utah. “I just wanted to get those guys out there as much as possible. They spent an awful lot of time in that end of the rink. I was hoping for a little bit more, but they had some good opportunities.”
Even though Scheifele’s goal went into the books as an unassisted marker, Perfetti and Connor both missed point-blank opportunities seconds before #55 intercepted a clearing pass by Ian Cole and deposited the puck behind Karel Vejmelka.
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“I was just trying to complement them and find some open ice,” Perfetti said about his job on the top line.
Perfetti has his goal streak halted at three consecutive games. He has 18 goals, one away from his career high of 19, set last season.
“Perfetti played great,” Scheifele said. “He was in the right spot, he made a lot of great passes. He did a lot of good things out there, so it was fun to play with him in the third.”
Brandon Tanev, Vlad Namestnikov and Alex Iafallo skated on a line, while Nino Niederreiter skated with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. Nikolaj Ehlers took the pre-game skate but was downgraded to scratch status.
Streak snapped
The Hockey Club scored two power-play goals on three chances. Coming into the game, the Jets were 10 for 10 on the PK in a five-game stretch, dating back to the 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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The Jets were whistled for three minors in the first, the final one carrying over into the second period.
Clayton Keller and Barret Hayton scored man advantage goals for the home side. Keller also added an assist on Hayton’s goal, bumping him up to 500-point status.
Winnipeg is 14th overall in the league, with a penalty kill rate of 79.2 per cent. The Jets surrendered three goals on a dozen chances in four games against Utah.
“Yeah, I mean, first one we win the faceoff, and we don’t get the puck down the ice,” Arniel said. “Next one, it’s a seam play, a double seam pass. Usually, we’ve got numbers and bodies there. The penalty kill has been trending the right way. Just those were two big goals that we don’t give up normally.”
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Rare air
Mark Scheifele hit the 800-point mark when he scored a power-play goal at 2:45 of the third period.
Blake Wheeler leads the Jets 2.0 franchise with 812 points. Dale Hawerchuk scored 978 points with the original Jets franchise. Thomas Steen is second with 861 points.
Considering the context of the game, the Jets de facto number one centre wasn’t in a celebratory mood.
“Yeah, obviously cool,” Scheifele said. “It would have been better in a win.”
Homeward bound
The Jets finished their final extended road trip of the regular season with a 1-2-0 record.
They lost to the Los Angeles Kings and beat Las Vegas prior to Saturday’s setback. The locals are 24-15-0 on the road, with games in Chicago and Dallas later this week to close out the road portion of the schedule.
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The Capitals and the Jets are the only teams in the national league with 24 road wins heading into league play on Sunday afternoon.
“The road trip was OK,” Perfetti said. “Obviously, a big win in Vegas but we probably would have liked (to have the Utah game) back. We don’t end it on…you know, we had the door open there with the Dallas game earlier and could have put a stranglehold on it, and we really shot ourselves in the foot. We would have liked to have had this effort back.”
The team was outscored 8-6 on the trip. They lost 4-1 to the Kings before the 4-0 win against Vegas.
“Yeah, not great,” Scheifele said about the three-city trip. “It was a stinky one in L.A., a great one in Vegas, and a stinky one on Saturday.”
As Perfetti briefly referenced, the Stars lost 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Dallas remains four points behind the Jets for first place in the Central Division.
Saturday was a golden opportunity for the local lads to get some breathing room. The Jets have five games remaining and Dallas has six.
“We’ve talked about it for the last three, four weeks,” Arniel said. “We’re not waiting for some other team to beat Dallas. We can’t sit and do that.”
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