Bowness rips Jets after loss to Canucks

Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness had harsh words following his team's 5-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

"Whatever my message was before the game was clearly wrong," Bowness said, according to Sportsnet. "So it starts with that, I guess. Listen, the bottom line is: That's the worst game we have played in my two years here, by far. Cause we didn't have one player play a good game, not one. So it starts there and it ends there, it's as simple as that."

The Canucks jumped out to a 3-0 advantage before the end of the first period. Elias Pettersson made it 4-0 with a power-play marker less than five minutes into the middle frame.

"(The Canucks) played a great game, but it's the same team we came in here three weeks ago and played, so that's on us," Bowness said.

The Jets beat Vancouver 4-2 on Feb. 17.

Bowness added: "We had nobody going, it's that simple. Don't overanalyze anything other than that."

Top defenseman Josh Morrissey finished the night a minus-four, his worst mark of the campaign. Vezina trophy candidate Connor Hellebuyck gave up five goals for the first time since Feb. 19 against the Calgary Flames.

Neither of the Jets' trade deadline acquisitions, winger Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Colin Miller, were in the lineup.

Winnipeg remains in a heated race for the Central Division title with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche, as well as for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with the Canucks.

The Jets are four points behind the Stars and now trail Vancouver by six points. They have three games in hand on both teams.