Lowering Lowry was no demotion

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This article was published 18/11/2015 (3588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets love just about everything about Adam Lowry, from his size and grit to his hockey IQ and maturity.

It was more than just curious, then, to see a player they have so much faith in moved from his third-line centre roll to the wing on the left side of the fourth line in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. After all, that’s one step closer to a spot in the press box than a contract extension.

Upon further review, the move not only had merit, but made perfect sense for a player struggling to find his game — along with just about everyone else in Jets colours — in just his second NHL season.

Lowry had been logging tough minutes in a defensive-matchup role against some of the league’s top centres, including Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Toews, and it’s a role coach Paul Maurice feels Lowry will spend a good chunk of his career doing.

But when a guy has gone 19 games without scoring a goal, it can eat away at confidence and the result often means the struggles spread from the offensive to the neutral to the defensive zones.

“As a team we’re trying to find consistency and trying to find our game and I feel right there, too,” Lowry said prior to Wednesday’s game. “There’s certain areas that I definitely want to improve upon. We haven’t necessarily been getting the results individually and as a team that we expect from ourselves.”

Maurice moved Lowry from the middle to the wing on the fourth line with Andrew Copp and Anthony Peluso for Wednesday and while the shift didn’t result in any numbers on the scoresheet, the attempt wasn’t just about goals and assists.

By moving Lowry to the wing it allowed him to bring some straight lines back to his game.

“We did it last year at this time when he went to the wing,” said Maurice. “It’s a simpler game and for a physical player like Adam, a lot of times on the wing you can get in and get on the forecheck a little heavier, a little quicker. It’s an asset that he has and we need to build some confidence there in his game, so we want to put him in a position where he feels he can get some good things done.”

Lowry finished the night without a point or even a shot on goal, but did register five hits. His eight minutes and 25 seconds of ice time, however, was a season low and well below his average of 15:22.

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The Jets will likely turn to Lowry again for the big matchups with the big centres in the West, and he’ll continue to work on mixing playing that shutdown role with still trying to generate a little offence of his own with his linemates. But for right now, it’s all about baby steps in rebuilding his confidence.

“You’re going out there and focussing on shutting those guys down. But you can’t go out there and not expect any offence,” said Lowry of the checking-role assignment. “Obviously, you’re playing against the best players in the world and it’s going to be tough to create on any given night. We were a little disappointed with our line’s production… you look at the guys I was playing with, and the potential is there for production.

“It’s just a matter of finding it.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait