Nothing good comes from your best players playing their worst.
The Winnipeg Jets top trio of centre Mark Scheifele and wingers Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler struggled mightily Tuesday night – so badly, in fact that head coach Paul Maurice broke up the band – and the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets took full advantage of the situation.
Dreadful giveways by Ehlers – the NHL's first star of the week – and Wheeler led to second-period goals by Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno, and the visiting Blue Jackets cruised to a 5-2 NHL triumph.
Ehlers' shifty hands failed him on the first shift of the period when he was stripped of the puck at the Blue Jackets' blue line with the Jets on a rush.