Skidding Jets blame mental errors, lack of offence for sixth straight loss

WINNIPEG — Scott Arniel was more than happy to give his players Monday off following an emotional weekend capped by the NHL’s Heritage Classic outdoor game.

The Winnipeg Jets could not repay the favour, however, leaving their head coach searching for answers after a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on “Halloween night” at Canada Life Centre Tuesday night.

“We really beat ourselves in this one,” a frustrated Arniel said post-game. “Last goal we’ve got four players on the ice. That was more mental for me. I don’t know if it was coming off the weekend or what it was, but we can’t come out against a team like that and make the mental mistakes that we did.”

Winnipeg (4-5-3) dropped their sixth consecutive game — and seventh in the last eight — to fall below .500 for the first time this season. After starting the year 4-1-1, the Jets have gone 0-4-2.

The Jets sit seventh in the Central Division, two points shy of the Nashville Predators for the final wild-card playoff spot. But they have some company, with the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks just ahead, and the Calgary Flames only one point behind.

The Panthers improved to 7-4-2.

“We’re frustrated. We expect more out of ourselves. We expect more out of the team,” captain Adam Lowry said. “We’re not delivering the results. We felt like going into the Heritage Classic, that was going to be a great spot to get us right. We didn’t get it done. You want to rebound and it seems like we’re picking ourselves up off the mat. We’ve got to find a way to get some things going in our favour.”

The Jets again struggled to find offence, while special teams also continue to trend downward.

Winnipeg has scored 28 goals through 12 games, averaging the third-fewest in the league — at 2.33 per game — behind only Chicago and Philadelphia. Of their 28 goals, 17 have been scored by a member of the top line: Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor or Cole Perfetti.

The Jets have also allowed the first goal in eight of their last 10 games. Against Florida, they were down 3-0 by the 10:18 mark of the first period.

Is Winnipeg doing enough on the ice to expect more offence?

“I don’t know. Probably not, to be honest, we haven’t scored a lot,” defenceman Dylan DeMelo said. “Our looks, I don’t know how much of a grade A they are. But I do think whenever you’re not getting goals, and not generating the offence that we want, there’s some things that we can do better.

” … We’ve got to continue to do it together, and do the right things, and that’s the only way to turn it around.”

The only goal on Monday came from Lowry, on an unassisted short-handed wraparound that required the NHL to halt the action after it was originally waved off by the official. Lowry’s second of the year cut Florida’s lead to 3-1, only for the Panthers to regain their three-goal edge fewer than a minute later.

“Just some consistency in our game — five-on-five, short-handed, on the power play — and go from there,” Lowry said. “That’s been a thing that’s missing. We see it in spurts and then every 10 or 15 minutes, we take two or three penalties. We give them enough looks and we’re chasing. We’re not creating enough offence to spot teams two- or three-goal leads right now.”

The Jets are struggling mightily on both the power play and penalty kill.

Winnipeg is 0-for-14 on the PP in the last five games, with the PK surrendering seven goals in the last six, including three against the Panthers. The Jets rank 21st and 22nd in the league, respectively.

“When you’re a step off and you give world class players time to make a play, they’re going to make it,” Lowry said. “They bleared down and buried their chances.”

Matthew Tkachuk (four assists) and brother Brady (one goal, two assists) combined for seven points against the Jets, giving them a total of 35 points in the first 13 games. Carter Verhaeghe scored twice, with Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart rounding out the scoring for Florida.

Things don’t get any easier for Winnipeg. They leave Wednesday for a four-game road trip, with stops in Tampa Bay before a rematch with Florida less than 24 hours later, ending with visits to Carolina and Montreal.

“It’s a grind,” Arniel said. “But you know what, it’s about us making sure we do everything to play our part, to play to our best ability and compete like we need to compete.

“And we’ve got to be squeaky clean. Hopefully, we can get results each game. “

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2026.

Jeff Hamilton, The Canadian Press