The Winnipeg Jets spent several weeks recovering from an 11-game losing streak this past winter and now are enduring an ill-timed slump.
Trying to make up ground in a crowded race for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the Jets hope to avoid a fourth straight loss on Sunday afternoon when they visit the New York Rangers.
Winnipeg (28-29-12, 68 points) fell out of the race by going 0-7-4 from Dec. 15 to Jan. 8, and the skid left the team 11 points behind the second wild-card spot. The Jets climbed back into the race by going 11-4-5 in their next 20 games and trailed by five points after Josh Morrissey scored in overtime to give them a 3-2 win vs. the Vancouver Canucks on March 7.
Over the past seven games, Winnipeg is 2-3-2 and enters the stretch run five points behind the Nashville Predators for the final wild-card spot. The Jets settled for a point on Saturday afternoon in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins when they lost a one-goal lead in the third period and could not score in the shootout.
After Thursday’s 6-1 loss in Boston, the Jets overcame a two-goal deficit in the opening 2:02 by getting goals from Morgan Barron and Cole Koepke. Winnipeg took the lead on tallies by defenseman Neal Pionk and Brad Lambert in a span of 4:32 in the third but quickly lost the lead by allowing a tying goal to Erik Karlsson on an odd-man rush.
Still, Jets coach Scott Arniel said, “I like our resilience. I like the way that we battled back.
“I just thought we had a lot of opportunities. Their goaltender made some stops. We had some really good looks. Obviously, (we) got the lead. Those are the types of games you need to finish off.”
The Rangers (28-33-8, 64 points) are on their ninth losing streak of at least three games and were outscored 16-7 in defeats to the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets.
On Thursday, the Rangers allowed two goals in each period of a 6-3 loss at Columbus after yielding three goals in the third period of Wednesday’s 6-3 setback to the Devils. Thursday marked the ninth time the Rangers allowed at least six goals this season.
New York goalie Jonathan Quick is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and Dylan Garand likely will make his NHL debut Sunday or Monday night against the visiting Ottawa Senators.
Garand did not get into a game when Igor Shesterkin was injured two months ago, as the Rangers opted for Spencer Martin as the backup.
Garand was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League after producing a 2.83 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage in 36 games this season.
“There’s a lot of things that have gone into the decision to bring Dylan up, but what I’ll tell you is the biggest point is that he’s played extremely well in Hartford,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after practice on Saturday. “He’s given those guys a chance to win night-in and night-out, and he’s deserving.”
