After only losing once in the first month of the season, the Winnipeg Jets are now struggling to win.
The Buffalo Sabres have also been having trouble getting victories recently.
Both teams will try to avoid their fifth consecutive loss when they play each other Thursday night in Buffalo.
Winnipeg had an incredible start to the season, winning 15 out of 16 games. During that stretch, the Jets averaged 4.6 goals per game. Since then, they’ve gone 3-7-0, averaging just 2.2 goals and scoring one or none in six of those games.
“I don’t know if I can pinpoint it now,” said Winnipeg star Mark Scheifele about the team’s offensive struggles. “I think it’s just a matter of wearing teams down. Obviously, everyone’s gunning for us and they know they got to play us hard. So, I think it’s just a matter of getting back to looking at the blueprint that we were doing earlier and just try to get back to that.”
On Tuesday, Winnipeg only scored one goal, a late goal by Scheifele, in a 4-1 loss to St. Louis, dropping their home record to 9-2-0.
“We need to be better as a group. That’s the biggest thing,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel. “We won all those games as a team and this isn’t going to change here. Everybody’s had a little bit of fault (with) these losses and now it’s a case of us sticking together and going on to the next game on the road here and finding a way to win that hockey game.”
Winnipeg has now lost six times on the road, and they’ve dropped three straight while in a 3-6-0 slump. The Jets are also in a stretch where 11 of their next 13 games are away from home.
Despite their road struggles, Winnipeg has won three in a row and five of their last six games in Buffalo, where the Sabres have lost three straight. Buffalo also blew a 4-0 first-period lead in their 5-4 loss to Colorado on Tuesday.
With that tough loss, Buffalo has gone 0-3-1 after winning seven of nine.
“We just need to be better,” said Sabres star Alex Tuch, who got his team-leading 23rd point with an assist against Colorado.
“Call (Tuesday’s loss) a learning experience. Honestly, just don’t forget how this feels. … We didn’t want to lose multiple games in a row, let alone four now.”
While Winnipeg is struggling to score, Buffalo has allowed 12 goals in their last three games, including nine in two home games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 36 saves on Tuesday, has been in goal for Buffalo’s last two home games. Meanwhile, James Reimer, who has been the backup since the Sabres claimed him off waivers on Nov. 13, has stopped 48 of 52 shots in his two starts.
“We have a top-three team in Winnipeg (Thursday), we have to be ready for them,” Tuch said.
Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor is tied with Scheifele for the team lead with 13 goals, and he has scored six in 12 games against Buffalo. However, he hasn’t scored in his last six games.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has allowed eight goals in his three-game losing streak. Backup Eric Comrie, a former Sabre, has a 3.04 goals-against average and is 3-3-0.
It’s unclear if Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin, who has 19 points this season but none in his last four games, will play after leaving Tuesday’s game with back spasms.
