It`s been said that the Winnipeg Jets must be a good team to consistently lose so many playoff games.
Over the past three seasons, including the current one, the Jets lead the National Hockey League in regular-season wins with 154. However, they hold the unenviable record for most consecutive road losses in the playoffs. Their recent 3-1 defeat against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, despite it being arguably their most solid road performance yet in this playoff run, extended this streak and pushed them to the brink of elimination.
This loss marked the first time during Winnipeg`s perplexing nine-game road playoff losing streak that they allowed fewer than four goals. Conversely, it was the ninth time they managed to score two goals or fewer in these road defeats.
Following the game, head coach Scott Arniel, who inherited the team`s road struggles from former coach Rick Bowness, expressed his frustration: “We had 70 shot attempts and scored one goal. If we can`t find more than one goal, we`re not going to win hockey games, especially against this hockey team.”
He added, “I liked a lot of what we did five-on-five. I liked a lot of the opportunities that we created. I loved our first period. We got off to a great start, had them hemmed in, had some great looks. [Jake] Oettinger made some big stops. But like I said, we had 70 shot attempts. We`ve got to get … more than one goal off of those. Maybe that`s driving harder (to the net), finding those rebounds, screening, whatever it is. We`ve done it in the past and we`ve got to find a way to do it the next game.”