T’was a few days before Christmas and as they played in Brooklyn, visions of sugarplums or unwrapping presents or anything but playing an actual hockey game in the afternoon seemed to be dancing in the head of Winnipeg Jets players as they head into the Christmas break with a thud after a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders.

The game was over pretty much 2:20 into the game as the Jets took a penalty early on and then gave up a power-play goal to Anders Lee. That was followed up by Mathew Barzal goal – the first of his three on the day – less than a minute later.

The Jets for what it’s worth put up decent numbers both in possession and shots, but numbers sometimes do in fact lie as it was an overall poor effort from the team, especially on the defensive end where the Jets were hindered by turnovers, forced somewhat by the overall speed of the Islanders which seemed to be a problem for the Jets defense that clearly missed the presence of Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom.

 

For Winnipeg: Adam Lowry – Of all the Jets forwards who had issues dealing with the islanders speed, Lowry seemed to fare ok against them and even picked up a last minute goal to make the score look at least a little bit respectable.

For New York: Mathew Barzal – First career hat trick for the rookie who only made his claim to a Calder Trophy even stronger.

The Jets get a three day holiday break before hosting the suddenly surging Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday