"That's as soft as we've Played"
Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness was not a happy man following the Jets' 6-3 loss in Calgary on Monday afternoon.
That's as soft as we've played, as loose as we've played," Bowness said. "I mean, to shift up the pairings, shift up the lines, it wouldn't have mattered one little bit. We just had nobody going, other than Sean (Monahan) and our goalie."
With his team blowing a 3-1 first period lead, Bowness harped into his club following the first period, but it didn't seem to change the sloppy defensive efforts and shoddy puck control.
“We were soft from the beginning for me," he added. "Don’t get fooled by the score. We talked about that right after the first period. Don’t be fooled by the score, we’re not playing that well. Power play carried us there, which is great to see, we need that power play. We’ve said from day one, it would be nice to get those guys together, get them a couple games and see what they can do. So, that was good to see. That would be the one and only positive.”
Sure, Sean Monahan scored a natural hat trick in the first period, while the Jets put up two power play goals for the second-straight game, but other than that, there really wasn't much more to Winnipeg's efforts on the holiday Monday.
"I think Hellebuyck did his job," Bowness said. "I'm not blaming him on any of those goals. And Monahan got three. And that's about it. That's it."
Having finally seen the power play begin to click, Bowness was impressed with his team's work on the man advantage. But, despite the two early goals, the power play faltered when it mattered most: a two-minute man advantage late in the third period, to which the team put up just one shot and then allowed an insurance marker from Calgary moments after its expiration.
"Those guys have a lot of pride," Bowness continued. "They've taken great pride in our goals against all year. And they have. And that's why we're the top defensive team in the league. They know how we play, they know what we look like, and they know that wasn't us out there tonight. I'm very confident that they're going to bounce back tomorrow with a very solid effort."
No, the Jets won't have to wait long to get back out there. In fact, it will be just 24 hours from when they hit the showers to when they hit the ice for warmup on Tuesday evening.
Coming off an historic 10-7 win over Vancouver on Monday, the Minnesota Wild have flown eight hours north and will look to keep the good times rolling in a Central Division showdown from Canada Life Centre.
Although facing a red-hot opponent after giving up five-straight goals in the come-from-behind loss, the Jets' bench boss is confident his crew will be back in full strength for their home fans.
“It’s Minnesota, they just scored 10, seven in the third period against an excellent hockey club. So, we’ve just got to get back to Winnipeg, hard-nosed, hard to play against hockey. That’s as easy as we’ve played, and as easy to play against as we have all season. So flush it and we’ll get ready to play tomorrow.”
The game will get underway at 7:00 from Canada Life Centre. It will once again be aired live on TSN.
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