Jets Take Flight, Zoom Past Penguins, 5-2

You’re no doubt familiar with the old truism, you can’t win ‘em all. Especially in the NHL over the course of a grinding 82-game slate, in the midst of a four-game road swing to boot.

And so it was for our Penguins in Winnipeg yesterday afternoon. The Jets took advantage of our “PicNic” defensive pairing and a less-than-stellar performance between the pipes from Arturs Silovs to cruise to a 5-2 victory. In the process, leaving our league-best, eight-game point streak in the dust.

In deference to Connor Dewar and Owen Pickering’s Winnipeg roots, coach Dan Muse iced his fourth line and third defensive pair to begin the contest. The move, touching as it was, backfired spectacularly, as Gabriel Vilardi scored on a behind-the-net-bank-shot just 15 seconds into the game.

PicNic was victimized again at 2:43, when Pickering’s hard outlet pass thudded off the stick of Noel Acciari in the neutral zone. Cole Koepke pounced on the loose biscuit and moved it quickly to Parker Ford. The Jets’ rookie blew around Brunicke in turnstile fashion and flicked a backhand pass to Brad Lambert at the side of the net. Having gained body position on Brunicke, Lambert easily beat Silovs to make it 2-zip Jets. Terrible sequence for our 19-year-old rookie.

The Jets widened their lead just 77 ticks into the second period on a goal off the rush by Vladislav Namestnikov, thanks to a beautiful feed from Jonathan Toews. Kyle Connor followed up with what for all intents and purposes was the final nail in our coffin at 12:13 when he beat Silovs on a penalty shot.

Pens fans finally had something to cheer in the waning seconds of the period when the black-and-gold struck for a power-play goal. After taking a cross-ice feed from Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson let ‘er rip from the left point. The likely shot-pass struck Sidney Crosby at the side of the net and deflected in to foil Eric Comrie’s shutout bid.

Our pesky fourth line made it a two-goal game with 9:33 to play when Blake Lizotte drove to the net and knocked the puck in off Comrie with Acciari planted in the crease. Providing a glimmer of hope for a late charge.

Alas, it was not to be. When Muse pulled Silovs for an extra attacker in the final two minutes, Connor promptly found the empty net. Capping a decidedly unlucky Game No. 13 for our boys.

Puckpourri

The underlying numbers said it was a competitive game. The eye test said different.

The Pens played without Justin Brazeau, out day-to-day with an upper-body ailment. Philip Tomasino (two shots on goal) filled in on the second line. With the offense fizzling, Muse shuffled the deck in the third period, bumping Geno up to Sid’s unit while shifting Tommy Novak to second line center. Filip Hållander dropped to the third line with fellow rookies Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen, all to no avail.

Brunicke (minus-2) most definitely seems to be playing his way back to junior. There’s certainly no sin in that, not for a 19-year-old kid. Learning to play defense in the NHL at that age is roughly akin to learning how to swim in shark-infested waters.

Pickering, also a minus-2 in a team-low 10:43 of ice time, is experiencing his struggles as well. He was outmuscled in front of the net by Connor on the Jets’ first goal.

Muse quickly split up his callow combo, pairing Pickering with Kris Letang and Ryan Shea with Brunicke. The latter’s play improved, the former’s not so much.

For now, the third pairing remains an Achilles heel.

Nor was it Silovs’ finest hour in net. The first two Jets’ goals were stoppable, especially with better positioning at the post. The penalty shot resulted from the rookie goalie straying from his cage in an attempt to pin the puck against the boards, then tossing his stick at the puck and puck carrier Connor in desperation.

All-in-all, one of those games best moved on from and flushed down the loo. After learning the appropriate lessons, of course.

The Pens lost their grip on the top spot in the league as well as the Metro. At 8-3-2, we’re still tied for the second-most points (18) in the league.

We wrap up the road trip with a visit to Toronto on Monday night.