Ben Kindel: Jets find another unique way to lose in shootout
ben kindel — The Winnipeg Jets dropped a 5-4 shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, a finish that underlines a season-long pattern of odd defeats. Head coach Scott Arniel tapped veteran shooters Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist for the first two shootout attempts; both failed and the Penguins closed it out. The result left the Jets winless in three and sitting deep in the standings race.
Immediate game facts and decisive moments
With the score tied 4-4 and the contest heading to a shootout, Arniel chose 37-year-old Jonathan Toews and 36-year-old Gustav Nyquist to take the first two breakaway bids. Toews struck the post and Nyquist was stopped. At the other end, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell beat goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in their attempts, ending the game.
The 5-4 shootout defeat continued a troubling run for the Jets: they are winless in their last three games (0-1-2) and sit at 28-29-12 overall, including a 1-4 mark in shootouts. Arniel pointed to the career shooting percentages of his veterans when explaining the choice to open the shootout with Toews and Nyquist.
Ben Kindel: Key moments that sank the Jets
The sequence that decided the game was compact but telling: the coach’s lineup choice for the shootout, the misfire from the veteran shooters, and clean finishes by Crosby and Rakell. Rickard Rakell scored in the game and was part of a string of recent point production; a recap published at 4: 16 pm ET noted Rakell’s goal in the 5-4 win and cited his run of multi-game scoring form. Sidney Crosby returned from an extended absence and recorded a goal and an assist in his return.
Coach Scott Arniel, head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, said, “JT is almost a 50 per cent shooter and Gus is in the 40s, right around 41. It was about trying to change it up and get a different look. ” The coach framed the decision as drawing on career numbers even if those marks were amassed years ago.
Reactions, roster notes and the short-term outlook
Forward Cole Koepke, speaking after practice, emphasized defensive structure and the need to play as a connected five-man unit, saying, “We were a little bit inconsistent about what we were doing and working within a structure of five at times. ” Neal Pionk, who has missed multiple games with injury, skated in practice and wore a regular jersey; Scott Arniel said Pionk could be an option as early as this weekend.
The loss deprives the Jets of a chance to stabilize on the road and compounds pressure on the roster as the regular season winds on. The club’s shootout struggles and recent inconsistency invite scrutiny of lineup decisions and in-game adjustments.
Looking ahead, the Jets face back-to-back games and will need to tighten five-on-five structure and special-teams execution to halt the slide. Expect decisions on Pionk’s availability and potential lineup changes to arrive at warm-up; the team will press for answers in short order as the standings compress and every point becomes decisive for playoff positioning, a narrative that ben kindel will be tracking closely.
