The Winnipeg Jets' season came to an end Thursday night at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights.
It started as a promising year for the Jets, hovering around the top of the Central Division for much of the season. By the end of the year though, they were just fighting for a playoff spot.
Then facing Vegas in the first round, the story played out in a similar way. The Jets started strong with a convincing Game 1 win but proceeded to drop four straight matchups and lost the series in five games. It was reminiscent of their 2018 meeting in the Western Conference Finals.
Before the start of what's sure to be a busy summer for the Jets, we'll evaluate where things went south.
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Injury Trouble
You hate to use injuries as an excuse, but they were certainly a factor for the Jets.
Josh Morrissey only ended up playing in three playoff games. He was injured early in Game 3 during only his second shift of the game, exiting early after a knee-on-knee hit. The defenseman was experiencing the best season of his career, registering 16 goals and 76 points in 78 games. Considering how vital Morrissey was to the Jets' blue line during the regular season, his loss was a massive hit.
Then up front, Mark Scheifele was injured early in Game 4, missing much of the contest, as well as Game 5. Then add on the fact Nikolaj Ehlers only returned for Game 5, after missing the first four games. The injuries left the team with a lack of high-end forwards, given both Ehlers and Scheifele averaged an 82-game pace of nearly 70 points this season. The team was also without Cole Perfetti, who had been out since mid-February.
Obviously, the team missing three of their top six forwards and best defenseman through parts of the series was going to be tough to overcome. Injuries will happen in the postseason, but the Jets were hit especially hard with top players going down.
Lack of Even Strength Offense
One of the positives for the Jets was their dominant power play. The team ended up going 5-for-12 on the man advantage, scoring at least one power-play goal in each of their first four games.
However, the issue is they heavily relied on this power play to keep them going. In addition to their five power-play goals, they also scored two goals at 6-on-5 with the goalie pulled, and one empty netter. This means of their 14 goals, they managed only six of them at 5-on-5 across five games. For comparison, Vegas scored 15 goals at 5-on-5 throughout the series.
Obviously, the lack of top players due to injury didn't help this. But Winnipeg's inability to keep up at even strength through the last four games of the series became apparent.
The Jets also didn't get a ton of offense from their depth forwards. Both Mason Appleton and Morgan Barron went pointless, while Kevin Stenlund and Saku Maenalanen each had one point. Then while Neal Pionk led the team with seven assists, there was little offense coming from the blue line.
Unfortunately, the Jets were outmatched at even strength and relied on their power play to keep up.
Inconsistency From Top Players
Despite the injuries, a lot of responsibility falls on the team's top players. Head coach Rick Bowness made that much crystal clear in his post-game interview for Game 5.
When Scheifele was in the lineup, he managed a single goal and no assists. Then while Blake Wheeler did have a good series overall (at least statistically), he was still inconsistent, managing a single shot on goal over 51 shifts between games 2 and 3.
Say what you want about plus-minus as a stat, but it does tell a story. Nino Neiderreiter was a minus-7, Neal Pionk was a minus-6 and Pierre-Luc Dubois was a minus-4. When top players are getting outscored at even strength and there's a lack of depth offense to compensate, it's going to be tough to win.
Even Connor Hellebuyck, a legitimate Vezina Trophy contender, had a tough time. After a solid performance with a minimal workload in Game 1, Hellebuyck allowed 17 goals across the final four games. He posted just a .886 save percentage by the time the series was over.
Hellebuyck certainly can't be faulted for the series loss and was one of the key reasons the Jets actually got to the playoffs in the first place. However, after managing a .920 save percentage in 64 games this year, he had the opportunity to be a difference-maker for Winnipeg. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.
It could be the end of the road in Winnipeg for a lot of the team's top players. Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, and Blake Wheeler, among others, will be free agents in 2024. Pierre-Luc Dubois is a restricted free agent this offseason as well. With Winnipeg's group showing no signs they'll be able to get the job done, we can expect offseason changes.
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