Second line going back to basics

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This article was published 23/11/2017 (2851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES — No one’s more perplexed and perturbed than Bryan Little by the absence of production from the Winnipeg Jets’ second line.

The 30-year-old centre had just a pair of goals in 20 games, while it was seven games and counting without a goal for Nikolaj Ehlers. Patrik Laine had scored in five straight contests earlier this month but had just a tip-in tally in his past four heading into the clash with the Los Angeles Kings here Wednesday night.

Little said it’s been an adjustment playing between two guys with loads of offensive flair who do their best work darting in and out of their own lanes.

He’d become accustomed to playing the bulk of his career with more conventional wingers such as Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd, who went north-south along the wall.

“For the last I don’t know how many years I’ve been used to being with kind of up-and-down-the-ice players,” said Little. “For (Ehlers and Laine), they try to use as much of the ice as they can. You have to learn from how they like to play. Ehlers like to wind things up and he’s pretty unstoppable when he gets going, but it’s tougher to read guys like that.

“I’m starting to get the feeling of it. We all have to read off each other..”

Little said the trio has done a lot of talking about getting back to the basics.

“For us, it’s doing the little things right. The big thing is communication on the ice, working together on the forecheck, creating turnovers,” he said.

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He hasn’t been in the cage much this season, but the timing for Steve Mason’s return there was right on Wednesday night.

The 29-year-old Oakville, Ont., native, got the nod from Jets head coach Paul Maurice to face the Kings, exactly 11 days after his solid performance in a 4-1 triumph over the Arizona Coyotes — five games ago.

Connor Hellebuyck’s game wasn’t totally off key in Nashville in a 5-3 defeat Monday to the Predators, but he wasn’t nearly as crisp as he’d been during a personal 7-1-1 stretch.

Mason, the de-facto No. 1 following training camp after signing July 1 as a free agent, was 1-3-1 prior to the game against the Kings, sporting a 3.76 goals-against average and .892 save percentage — numbers weakened by Winnipeg’s lopsided defeats to Toronto and Calgary in starting the 2017-18 season.

He was sound in a 2-1 overtime loss to Columbus on Oct. 27, stopping 25 shots by the Blue Jackets, and blocked 29 of 30 in Phoenix Nov. 11.

“We’ve liked the way he’s trended. He deserved to get back in after his last game,” Maurice said.

The Jets play the Anaheim Ducks on Friday afternoon and then close out the four-game swing Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks. Winnipeg returns home to play the Minnesota Wild Monday night and then gets back on a plane bound for Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night.

“Having two fresh goalies for the next two or three weeks is going to be really important,” Maurice said.

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While Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock might be willing to divulge the extent of his players’ injuries, Winnipeg’s bench boss says “no way” to that.

Earlier this week, Hitchcock said he’s dispensing with the preferred terminology such as “upper-body” and “lower-body” to describe injuries, suggesting members of the media will figure it out and report it to the masses anyway.

On Wednesday, Maurice said he won’t be bucking the trend.

“I have no problem with the long-term (injuries) when I know a guy’s not coming back until he’s 100 per cent. But if you look at the maintenance lists on every team… somebody’s dealing with something. Half your team is. I’m not telling anybody that stuff.”

Only defenceman Toby Enstrom (lower body) is hurt right now for Winnipeg and likely won’t return for at least another seven weeks.

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At the quarter mark of the season, the Jets were soaring higher than they have since the franchise’s relocation.

Winnipeg (12-5-3) had its best-ever record through 20 games since coming to the Manitoba capital in 2011, while equalling a franchise record for most wins set by the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2006-07 season.

Since moving north, only once have the Jets had a losing record in their first 20 games, going 8-9-3 in that inaugural 2011-12 campaign. Three seasons ago, the club took off with a 10-7-3 mark and qualified for the NHL playoffs.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell