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That glimmer of hope hasn’t been fully snuffed out yet, but the Winnipeg Jets slim playoff hopes have taken another significant hit.

Fresh off a lacklustre effort against the Anaheim Ducks, the Jets fell 6-3 to the New York Rangers on Thursday at Canada Life Centre, slipping to 26-28-10 overall. The Jets are 3-2 on this season-long eight-game homestand.

“This team’s not going to just fold,” said Jets left-winger Kyle Connor. “There’s a lot of compete and a lot of will in this room, a lot of belief, too.

“Yeah, we need to respond.”

Unlike Tuesday, when most things were favourable for the Jets on the out-of-town scoreboard, the Jets lost ground in the Western Conference playoff chase as the San Jose Sharks moved into the second wild-card berth and are six points up on Winnipeg.

The Jets have 18 games to go in the regular season, including Saturday afternoon against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.

“We need to find two points and (on Thursday), it was D-zone coverage that kicked us,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel, whose team allowed a goal early in the third period for the fifth time in six games. “We gave up nine five-on-five scoring chances and they scored four goals off coverage. It was all coverage. Those tip ins and deflections and getting beat to the net-front, those were coverage goals that we just have to get better at.”

Although the Jets remain focused on trying to make a miracle run for a playoff spot, the loss — coupled with wins by the Rangers and St. Louis Blues — leaves them tied for the fourth fewest points in the NHL (only the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks are below them in the standings).

“We can feel that we’re right there, but we have to make a push now. We can’t wait,” said Jets forward Isak Rosen. “We’ve got to keep pushing. That’s the only thing we can do. It’s a real tough loss but we’ve got to keep pushing.”

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired.

On the board

Rosen found the scoresheet thanks to a nifty redirection that evened the score 1-1 at 2:21 of the second period.

Rosen, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres, did a good job of getting inside position in the slot and tipped home a point shot from Jacob Bryson.

“If you want to score goals, you have to be there,” said Rosen, who scored his fourth NHL goal of the season and recorded his first point in three games since joining the Jets. “Sometimes it’s tips, maybe next time a rebound. I think that’s where you have to be if you want to score goals.”

It seemed fitting that Bryson, who came over with Rosen in the trade involving Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn, took the shot that led to the goal.

“I told him before the game that we can’t wait any longer. We have to score now,” said Rosen. “It was good we got one.”

Rosen had the lone shot on goal and three shot attempts, though he also sprung Jonathan Toews for a breakaway with a crisp pass in the first period.

“He’s getting more comfortable being on a new team, with his linemates and his teammates,” said Arniel. “Even in the third, you could see, he had the puck, went on a couple rushes and kind of pulled away with his speed. Hopefully, he continues to build off that.”

Bryson’s assist was his fourth assist and sixth point in 38 games this season — and first point since Jan. 12, when he scored a goal against the Florida Panthers.

For context, Bryson has appeared in 10 games since Jan. 12.

The explanation

The decision to make Connor a healthy scratch for the final four games of the Olympics — including the gold medal game against Canada — left many in Manitoba scratching their heads.

How could such a consistent goal scorer and point producer not be among the best 13 forwards in his home country?

“When you look at the collection of players that were there, that team that was assembled was a dream team in a lot of ways,” Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan, who coached the United States to a gold medal, told reporters. “So the thought process going into building the team in the first place was creating a team in the true sense of the word. There were guys put in the lineup and cast in certain roles to help us create offence, play on the first power play and things of that nature. There were guys cast in certain roles to help us defend. First over the boards on the penalty kill, defending a five-on-six when our opponent pulls the goalie.”

Connor had no points and no shots on goal (though he did rattle a shot off the iron against Denmark) and since he’s not an elite defender, he found himself on the outside looking in as guys like Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller stayed in the lineup.

“Listen, Kyle made the 4 Nations (Face-Off) and the Olympic team because we certainly have a lot of respect for his body of work and how good of a hockey player he is in the NHL,” said Sullivan. “But when you put yourself in that circumstance, you’re competing against the very best of the best for certain roles in those situations. When you look at that roster, from top to bottom, virtually every player is a point a game guy. The difference between the highest point guy (Matt Boldy, 37 goals, 74 points in 62 games) and the lowest point guy (Miller, with 14 goals and 38 points in 51 games) is not significant.

“Those decisions are difficult, they’re not easy. But having said that, nobody has more respect for Kyle’s game than myself or our coaching staff. That was some of the conversation we had with Kyle when we were there (in Italy). When you have an embarrassment of riches, when it comes to the players that were on that roster, somebody had to be out. Every one of those guys had an argument for being in and that’s just the reality of those circumstances.”

On Thursday, Connor scored a goal that is going to be showing up on numerous highlight reels.

After taking a pass from Mark Scheifele, Connor danced through Rangers defenceman Adam Fox before beating Igor Shesterkin for his 29th goal of the season, tying the game 2-2 with 2:11 to go in the second period.

The (latest) milestone

Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo suited up in his 700th NHL game on Thursday, a remarkable milestone for someone who was chosen by the San Jose Sharks in the sixth round, 179th overall, in the 2011 NHL Draft.

DeMelo broke into the league with the Sharks on the third pairing on a team with Brent Burns and over the course of time, he worked his way into a top pairing role with Jets blue-liner Josh Morrissey.

“No, not every day, that’s for sure,” said DeMelo, asked if he envisioned hitting this mark early in his career as he was working to establish himself as an NHL regular. “There were some days you felt like you could play 1,500 games when things were going well and when things weren’t going well you’d think ‘Oh no, I might not be in the league very long.’ When you kind of look back at it, it’s been a lot of fun. Some ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Definitely 700 games is an awesome accomplishment, so I’m proud of it. But I’m not satisfied. Hopefully I can play a lot more.”

DeMelo had two shots on goal, a hit and a blocked shot in his 700th NHL game, though he was on the ice for the game-winning goal after losing an edge at the defensive blue line.

The key play

Former Brandon Wheat Kings D-man Braden Schneider set up Gabe Perreault for the game-winning goal at 6:57 of the third period.

THE THREE STARS

Braden Schneider, D, Rangers, Set up two goals, including the game-winner, and led his team in ice time (22:25).

Alexis Lafreniere, F, Rangers, Scored a goal, chipped in an assist.

Kyle Connor, F, Jets, Scored his 29th goal of the season.

EXTRA, EXTRA — Gabe Vilardi rounded out the scoring for the Jets, finding a rebound for his 25th goal of the campaign, which leaves him two shy of his career high set last season.

Jets defenceman Elias Salomonsson chipped in an assist to give him points in consecutive games. Salomonsson, who appeared in his 21st game, continues to raise his level of play and he added second power play unit duties to his list of responsibilities on Thursday.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made his seventh consecutive start for the Jets and finished with 11 saves.

The Jets lone healthy scratch was defenceman Ville Heinola.

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