The Winnipeg Jets wrapped up their three-game road trip Saturday night in Utah, looking to avenge an earlier loss at the Delta Center. Unfortunately, history repeated itself—Winnipeg once again fell by three goals, dropping a frustrating 4-1 decision to the Utah Hockey Club.

Unlike their strong start in Vegas earlier in the week, the Jets came out flat in this one—possibly one of their worst opening periods of the season. Only the heroics of Connor Hellebuyck kept it close, as the star netminder made several huge stops to keep it just 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Things didn’t improve much in the second. After 40 minutes, it was 3-0 Utah.

“(We were) not very good for two periods,” head coach Scott Arniel said post-game. “Utah was the better team, dominated us in all areas—puck battles, turnovers, they got their rush game going. We knew they were going to be good in that department.”

“We weren’t ready to go,” Arniel added. “We dominated the third period, but it was a ‘buck short and a day late.’”

The lone bright spot for Winnipeg came in the third period, when Mark Scheifele finally broke through with his 38th goal of the season. It also marked his 800th NHL point, making him the first player in Jets 2.0 history to reach that milestone. The previous high belonged to Blake Wheeler, who finished his time in Winnipeg with 795 points.

Despite the loss, Connor Hellebuyck stood tall. Time and time again, he bailed out his teammates—stopping multiple 2-on-1 chances, point-blank looks from the slot, and several high-danger scoring chances.

He didn’t get much help in front of him, though. While he’s had more nights off in recent weeks, this was one of those games where he had to be vintage Hellebuyck to even give the Jets a chance. He finished the game with 24 saves for a .889 SV%.

This one stings a little more considering the Dallas Stars lost earlier in the day on home ice to the Pittsburgh Penguins. A Jets win could have extended their lead atop the Central Division to six points.

Despite the setback, MoneyPuck still gives Winnipeg a 77.2% chance of finishing first in the division—a number that actually went up due to Dallas’ loss. Still, the Jets could’ve boosted that number to over 80% with a win.

“We had the door open there with the Dallas game earlier, to really put a stranglehold on it, and we shot ourselves in the foot,” Cole Perfetti said. “We would’ve liked to have this effort back, and we’ve gotta get ready for Monday and a strong St. Louis team coming into our building.”

The Jets have a big week ahead. They return home to face the surging St. Louis Blues tomorrow night at Canada Life Centre (6:30 p.m. CT), followed by a pivotal showdown in Dallas on Thursday night—a game that could go a long way in determining the Central Division crown.