Perreault leaning left

Centre takes a hankering to playing wing with Scheifele, Wheeler

By: Tim Campbell Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014

It's unlikely he'll have much say in the matter when Evander Kane returns to health but Mathieu Perreault made the case Saturday for remaining a left-winger with the Winnipeg Jets.

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It's unlikely he'll have much say in the matter when Evander Kane returns to health but Mathieu Perreault made the case Saturday for remaining a left-winger with the Winnipeg Jets.

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It’s unlikely he’ll have much say in the matter when Evander Kane returns to health but Mathieu Perreault made the case Saturday for remaining a left-winger with the Winnipeg Jets.

Perreault, signed over the summer to a free-agent deal for three years and $9 million, was shifted last weekend from centre to left wing with centre Mark Scheifele and right-winger Blake Wheeler.

At the time, Perreault said the right things and made no bones about simply doing his part to help the team.

Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files
Mathieu Perreault has been shifted to left wing from centre for the past three games and he's starting to get the hang of it. — Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files Mathieu Perreault has been shifted to left wing from centre for the past three games and he's starting to get the hang of it.

Now after three games on this line, each of them better than the last, the 26-year-old native of Drummondville, Que., is really warming up to it.

“Honestly, I think I like it a lot on the wing,” Perreault said after Saturday’s practice at the MTS Iceplex. “I wouldn’t mind staying on the wing all year, or as long as they want me there.”

The line produced the Jets’ second goal on Friday, by Blake Wheeler. Perreault has two assists in the three games and has seen his ice time increase to near 18 minutes per game.

“It’s only a few games, but last one felt better and hopefully the next one will feel even better,” Perreault said. “I thought as a line we created a lot of chances, we were moving our feet in the offensive zone, keeping our speed. We’re three fast players that can really move. I think we can use that to our advantage and be a very effective line.”

Perreault was trying to look past the recent results that have seen the Jets lose five of the last six to fall to 2-5.

“Obviously (Friday) night we didn’t get the results we wanted, but our line still got one and we created those chances,” he said. “Myself, I’m actually starting to feel really comfortable on the wing and I actually kind of like it.

“I feel like I can save a lot more of my energy and that’s a big thing for me. Playing centre, it’s a lot of energy on the draws and in the D-zone and in the corners and battling bigger guys. On the wing I don’t feel like I have to battle as much in the corners in the D-zone and that saves a lot of energy. And it relates when I get to the offensive zone; I’ve got more energy when I get down there.

“And I felt that last night, that I was faster on the puck, maybe than the previous games at centre.”

With the Colorado Avalanche in town for today’s matinee at the MTS Centre (2 p.m., TSN3, TSN1290), Perreault had developed an anticipation and little chemistry with Scheifele and Wheeler, he said. Certainly playing in a combination with two of the Jets’ best players has something to do with his eagerness.

“For sure they’re great players, top players on this team and just fun to play with,” he said. “You give them the puck and it’s coming back to you. There’s back-and-forth and they have great vision. And a lot of talk. Blake has a lot of talk on the ice; he lets you know where he is.

“And that’s a good thing because sometimes you don’t see a guy, but when he talks to you, you get a feel for where he is. We’re starting to get a feel for where each other is on the ice and it’s only going to get better.”

Perreault agreed that a week ago, he might not have seen as much enthusiasm as he’s developed for this concept of playing the wing, something he’d done only briefly as a rookie pro in the AHL.

“I’m a natural centre, so I feel, to me, any centreman can play on the wing,” he said. “It’s hard to take a winger and put him in the centre. You don’t see that too often. Take a centre and put him on the wing? A lot of guys have been through that. I think Marty St. Louis was a centre when he came in and they moved him to the wing. Now he’s been one of the best wingers in this league for a long time. If I can end up being a better winger than I was a centre, I’ll be happy with that.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca