Their first visit to Utah is likely not one that the Winnipeg Jets will be telling their grandkids about someday.
Turnovers doomed the Jets as they dropped a 5-2 decision in Salt Lake City Monday night, a game in which they saw their captain Adam Lowry leave with an injury after the first period.
The opening frame was fairly uneventful as Winnipeg managed to get only one shot on goal in the opening 11 minutes, though they would end up outshooting Utah 11-10 in the first.
The Jets’ best chance came with less than two minutes to go when David Gustafsson collected the puck in his own end and raced up the ice, splitting two defenders and getting a good chance on goal that squeezed through Connor Ingram and rolled just centimetres wide of the post. Morgan Barron attempted a wraparound right after this that Ingram stopped to keep the game goalless through 20 minutes.
There was concern for Winnipeg heading into the second when Lowry did not emerge from the locker room. He was shaken up after sliding awkwardly into the boards in the first and while he did play some shifts after that in the opening period, he did not return to the game after the first intermission.
Adding to the concern, Gabriel Vilardi left the game after a collision with Alex Kerfoot, sending the Jets’ lines into disarray with only ten forwards but Vilardi did return before the end of the second.
It took a while for the first goal to arrive but it finally did with exactly four minutes to go in the second. A point shot from Olli Maatta was heading wide before banking off Dylan DeMelo and into the net to open the scoring. The goal was originally credited to Utah captain Clayton Keller who was battling in front with DeMelo before it was switched to Maatta for his first of the season.
Utah doubled their lead in the final minute of the period when Dylan Samberg fumbled the puck at the Utah blue line as he sprinted to keep it in, allowing Barrett Hayton to retrieve it and get it to Logan Cooley to start a 2-on-1. Cooley kept it all the way and roofed one past Connor Hellebuyck to make it 2-0 after two.
Things did not get better for Winnipeg in the third. The Jets had the puck in the Utah end when a Neal Pionk pass from the right point eluded Josh Morrissey at the left point, bouncing off the boards before it was knocked down the ice, kicking off a race to the puck between Pionk and Josh Doan. Doan got to it first, pushing it to the slot where Hayton was waiting to rip it past Hellebuyck to make it 3-0 at the 4:53 mark.
Another blue line disaster led to Utah’s fourth goal of the night. Samberg stumbled at the point with the puck, giving it away to Hayton who sprinted up the ice on a 3-on-2. He passed it across the ice to Doan, drawing Hellebuyck over before sending it back to the slot where Matias Maccelli had a yawning cage to score into at the 8:04 mark.
Winnipeg got on the board just 28 seconds later when Nino Neiderreiter’s shot in transition snuck through the five-hole of Ingram.
The Jets made it 4-2 at the 11:48 mark when DeMelo blasted one past Ingram to make things a little interesting, but that was as close as they would get. Keller sealed the game into an empty net with 2:05 left.
Hellebuyck turned aside 23 shots as he got saddled with his second regulation loss in his last 17 starts. Winnipeg had zero power plays on the night.
The Jets will look to rebound Wednesday in Denver against the Avalanche.