Most of the questions tossed around the Winnipeg Jets dressing room, Wednesday, were about the scoring chances that got away in the 5-3 loss to Dallas the night before.

Understandable, when you consider how many there were.

The poster boy for this close-but-no-cigar storyline was centre Bryan Little, although he did have several top-notch supporting actors.

“I take it on myself,” Mathieu Perreault said. “I had a couple good chances and I didn't put them in. If I put those in maybe we win the game.”

Perreault, Little and Mark Scheifele had enough chances between them to win two games.

“You kick yourself for not putting those in,” Scheifele lamented.

But the answer to the Jets' abysmal standing in the Western Conference – just two points out of the cellar -- continues to reside at the other end of the hockey spectrum: an inability to prevent goals.

Start with a penalty-killing unit that continues to weigh like an anchor around this team's neck.

Ranked 27th of 30 NHL teams, the penalty kill cost the Jets two more goals against the Stars.

So who's in charge of that ongoing train wreck?

“I am,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I'm fully in charge of all things broken.”

Narrowing down what's broken on the PK is a little more challenging.

“There's a list,” Maurice said. “It's a function of faceoffs. But the biggest one for us is finding the balance of being aggressive when we can be and then being far more patient and not opening up seams.”

Special teams is only part of this coming-apart-at-the-seams story.

Overall, Winnipeg stands a moribund 25th in goals against, a far cry from a year ago when it actually put its defensive money where its mouth was.

Based on the comments in its room, Wednesday, and its play all season long, this team remains fixated on offence far too often.

That perfect road game it played in Minnesota just before this disastrous six-game homestand got underway remains the glaring exception, rather than the rule.

On Wednesday, for instance, the Jets led 2-1 when they had a scad of second-period chances to increase their lead, but didn't.

So what? They still had the lead.

Why press?

“It's 2-1 for us,” Maurice agreed. “You don't tell a guy to score harder. Try, bear down in front of the net -- I know that's the standard line. Nobody was casual with the puck.

“So you eliminate the other team and find a way to win that game, 2-1, without losing the chances we did have. There are times not to make plays, not to force things because you've had some great chances and they're not going in... especially with a team with a back end as active as they are.”

Instead, the Jets chased goals, and got burned. Again.

Exhibit A: Jacob Trouba's poor decision to attack rather than get back as a Dallas penalty was about to expire, leading to the three-on-none that tied the game, 2-2.

Exhibit B: Drew Stafford's ill-advised pass that was intercepted and taken the other way for the goal that gave the Stars the lead for good, two minutes later.

“On the 3-2 (goal) we tried to feed something through the seam,” Maurice said. “And we didn't need to make that play.”

And on and on it goes. Every game, another kind of mistake or issue pops up.

“That's coaching in the NHL -- it's always something,” Maurice said. “When you're not winning on a regular basis, and even when you are there's always something – you just usually don't have to stand up here and talk about it.”

At this rate, that conversation will become moot.

And lead to one even more unpleasant.

paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @friesensunmedia