Power play lacking juice

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This article was published 03/02/2020 (2044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They have the turbines to generate power, yet the Winnipeg Jets’ ability to zap opposing penalty killers is intermittent at best.

In its last 10 games, Winnipeg has scored just four power-play goals in 30 chances (13.3 per cent) during a tough 3-7-0 stretch. Widening the sample size, the team has dented the twine just seven times in 38 man-advantage opportunties (18.4 per cent) since Jan. 1.

Blue-liner Neal Pionk has a pair of power-play goals in Winnipeg’s last 10 outings, while Andrew Copp and Blake Wheeler have one apiece.

The big guns? Silence.

Holiday-season shoppers were blitzing city malls the last time Patrik Laine netted a power-play goal Dec. 21, Kyle Connor is mired in a month-long power-play drought (Jan. 2), while Mark Scheifele last lit the lamp with the man advantage on Jan. 4.

With goal-scoring at a premium during the race to the post-season, the Jets (26-23-4) — still very much on the outside looking in — must figure out a way to cash in on the PP.

“It’s very frustrating. We want to be the difference, turn the game when it’s on the line,” Connor said Sunday. “That’s part of the game. You gotta stick with it. There’s going to be times when you go through these little droughts, especially on the power-play. Confidence is everything.”

Not much has been altered with the system lately, because the chances are coming. The unit peppered Boston goalie Tuukka Rask with a dozen shots Friday but came up dry on six power-play attempts, including two 5-on-3s.

Pionk’s owns a heavy shot from the right side, Laine continues to try and get open at the left dot, Wheeler controls the puck along the wall, Scheifele positions himself in the slow slot while Connor stays deep to collect loose pucks and maintain a net-front presence.

“We have our structure, everybody’s got a spot, per se, on what we want to look like. But you get into a game… you have to be creative and that’s when we’re at our best.”

The squad continues to put the work in every practice and skill guys are there. Smoother zone entries and quicker puck movement are always the goals.

“We’ve been struggling this year at times. The special teams are really critical in tight games and that something we need to improve,” said Laine. He’s a favourite target of Wheeler, however, that seam pass that proved deadly during Laine’s first few seasons is rarely there.

“It’s such a tough pass. It might come to me once a game. I think every team knows that it’s eventually coming. So, it’s coming more from Pionk nowadays,” Laine added. “For me, it’s just try to — it doesn’t matter if I’m shooting or in the slot — just try to find spots and, hopefully, get a couple of good shots in and try to hit the net.”

 

Perreault out for two weeks

Veteran forward Mathieu Perreault is expected to be out for at least two weeks with an upper-body injury.

Perreault was injured after getting plowed over by Boston centre Karson Kuhlman during the Jets’ 2-1 loss to Boston on Friday.

Blue-liner Luca Sbisa immediately went after Kuhlman, the fourth altercation of the night in a spirited contest between teams that only meet twice a season.

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell