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This article was published 11/2/2016 (1680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They just haven’t had it in them.

The Winnipeg Jets do enough good things to be competitive on most nights, but when they fall behind, it hasn’t been pretty.

In losing to the Boston Bruins 6-2 Thursday night at the MTS Centre, the Jets fell to 0-20-2 in games they trailed after 40 minutes.

Pastrnak goal

This one was 3-2 for Boston through two periods, and the Bruins put the nail in the result with David Pastrnak’s two-on-one goal just 35 seconds into the third.

That left the Jets, along with the sad-sack Toronto Maple Leafs, as the only teams in the NHL this season without a win when trailing after two periods.

"I thought we did a lot of good things in the first and second period, but we came out in the third and looked tentative," said Jets defenceman Tyler Myers. "We can’t play like that if we want to come back. They got the first one in the third, and we’re caught chasing, and it’s tough to come back like that.

"We’ve struggled in that area for sure. It feels like a lot of games we’re down one or down two and we can’t seem to find a way to get that next goal... and when you start playing that chasing game, it’s tough to come back."

That chasing game is taking its toll.

With Jimmy Hayes’ empty-net goal for Boston Thursday, the Jets have given up 16 of those this season, tied for the NHL lead with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

JOHN WOODS / THE CANDIAN PRESS Winnipeg Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers (27) gets clipped by a high stick from Boston Bruins' Jimmy Hayes (11) during second period NHL action in Winnipeg on Thursday, February 11, 2016.

It indicates a lot of catch-up hockey.

"We didn’t generate enough offence to think of coming back," said Jets coach Paul Maurice, whose team had just six shots on goal over the final 30 minutes of Thursday’s game.

"The first shift of the third period, we hit our own guy in the head, and it’s down and in our net, and that was the life going out of your building after that."

Marked contrast

Added Jets centre Bryan Little, who had scored in the first period: "That goal early in the third kind of killed us.

"We were ready to come out, but to get down by two at the start, that’s not easy, and obviously we’re not doing great with the empty net right now.

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"When the game was tight, they made the right plays to get the win."

All of that was a marked contrast to the first 30 minutes for the Jets, who piled up 30 shots on Boston goalie Tuukka Rask in that time.

"The simplest thing is they got faster, and we got slower," Maurice said. "At the end of the day, we couldn’t get to a puck, we couldn’t come out with the puck, and when we did, we couldn’t move it quick enough.

"I don’t have an answer for you as to why that changes.

AFTERBURNERS: The Bruins were starting a six-game road trip on Thursday and evened their two-game series this season with the Jets at one each... Everyone in the Jets lineup was a minus Thursday night save for the fourth line of Andrew Copp, Chris Thorburn and Alex Burmistrov, who were all evens.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca