On Saturday night, the Winnipeg Jets extended their losing streak to three games (0-2-1) with a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg.

A trend the Jets hoped to have overcome resurfaced on Saturday: a slow start. The team struggled to break out of their zone and had difficulty connecting clean passes, which put them on the back foot early.

Josh Morrissey was left bloodied and was forced to head to the dressing room after taking a puck to the face, a tough blow for the Jets’ defense early in the game.

The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead when Dylan Larkin sniped a shot past Connor Hellebuyck on the power play. The goal came off a crisp tic-tac-toe passing play between Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, setting up Larkin for his 15th of the season at 6:25.

The Jets’ atrocious play continued throughout the first period, generating just seven shots on goal compared to Detroit’s 17. It was an embarrassing display from the home team in the opening frame, with little offensive pressure and defensive effort.

The Red Wings would double down on power play goals to make it 2-0. Seider would set up Raymond who would one-time it past Hellebuyck. Fortunately, for Detroit, the puck hit Neal Pionk’s stick and redirected in. Raymond would get credited for his 16th goal of the season at 4:33.

Barely a minute later, the Jets sparked some life into their game. Josh Morrissey, who had returned after getting a puck to the face, fired a hard slapshot past Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon to cut the lead to 2-1. It was Morrissey’s fourth goal of the season. Ironically, the shot deflected off Tyler Motte’s stick before finding the back of the net, marking two straight goals that resulted from friendly fire.

The second period didn’t see much more action, but the Jets began to show signs of life. They generated more shots on net and started skating with more intensity.

By the 40-minute mark, the shot count stood at 20-17 in favor of Detroit.

The Jets’ hopes for a comeback were dashed once again as Detroit regained their two-goal lead. Alex Iafallo intercepted a pass but then handed it right back to Alex DeBrincat, who quickly passed it to Patrick Kane. Kane attempted to return the pass, but somehow it deflected off DeBrincat’s stick and into the net. From the camera angle, it didn’t even look like DeBrincat had a chance to get his stick on the puck, as he was tied up with Jets defenseman Ville Heinola. But either way, Detroit took a 3-1 lead, and DeBrincat cashed in on his 17th goal of the season.

At 16:45, Nikolaj Ehlers brought the Jets within one goal, tipping a quick shot from Pionk past Lyon for his 12th goal of the season. The goal reignited some hope for the Jets, who now had a chance to tie the game.

The Jets sustained some pressure in the Detroit zone in the final minutes, but it wasn’t enough. Dylan Larkin sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his 16th of the season and second of the game.

It was unfortunate that the Jets couldn’t tie things up since they had played a very respectable third period.

With the victory, the Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to four games, while the Jets’ pointless streak grew to two.

What’s going on with this Jets team? Is this just another annual fall-off, a temporary slump, or something more serious? Whatever it is, it needs to be addressed. With six games left on their eight-game homestand, there’s still ample opportunity to practice and regroup.

The Jets are missing key defensemen: Dylan Samberg, Haydn Fleury, and now potentially Colin Miller, who left Saturday’s game after taking a puck in the neck/chin area. But even with these injuries, there’s no excuse for the lack of effort. The best team in the league should not be playing like this. It’s simply embarrassing.

The first period was arguably the worst they’ve played all season, largely due to a slow start—something they’ve managed to avoid in previous games. Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue.

Now, the focus shifts to Tuesday, where the Jets will look to reset and get back on track with two points up for grabs.

The season long eight-game homestand continues on Tuesday, Jan. 7th as the Nashville Predators come to town for the second time in nine days. Puck drop for that game is at 7:00 p.m. CT and is available to watch on TSN3.

Be sure to check back here for pre-game notes and post-game coverage after the final buzzer.