Jets can’t get caught in the slot

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This article was published 12/03/2021 (1639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The first step in solving a problem is admitting you have one. If the Winnipeg Jets have a problem, it’s giving up high-danger chances to their opponent, with a particular vulnerability in the slot.

Head coach Paul Maurice lamented giving up far too many of these types of quality scoring opportunities to the Maple Leafs following their 4-3 overtime loss on Thursday. It was much of the same story Tuesday, as well, only the Jets walked away with a 4-3 victory, thanks mostly to the stellar play of goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

On Friday, the day before the Jets play the Maple Leafs in the final game of their three-game miniseries, Maurice was asked about his team’s inability to prevent a high-scoring Toronto team from taking up quality real estate in front of the net.

Simply put, the Jets need to be better, he said.

“Every team is structured a certain way. That’s going to be our challenge and it’s not a matter of players not wanting to do it. It’d be just like… telling a guy that really wants to score goals, ‘well, just go out and to score.’ We really want to defend that area. We’re not necessarily built to be really great in that department, but we can be good at it,” Maurice added. “We’ve been exposed in our slot within the last two games at a higher level, and probably the one other (Toronto) game this year, and not for the entire night, certainly the second half of the second period last night, it happened a whole bunch of times. And then late in the third, it happened again for us. It’s our thing that we got to work on. That’s our challenge.”

The Maple Leafs combined for 34 high-danger opportunities compared to the Jets’ nine over the last two games. That number was particularly daunting on Thursday, with Toronto possessing an 18-4 edge in that department.

Though Maurice was quick to agree there’s been an issue, he stressed that the high-danger opportunities calculated by analytic websites such as natural stat trick, while seemingly important, are not nearly as important as they’re made out to be.

Whether one wants to debate the validity of hockey’s evolving science or not, what truly matters is what the Jets plan to do to prevent Toronto from bullying them in the area just outside the crease.

Mark Scheifele noted it’s about sharpening their defensive zone awareness, so that all players on the ice are aware of their assignments and can therefore quickly read and react appropriately. When that doesn’t happen you see the kind of breakdowns witnessed over the last two games.

“They have guys who are going to make you pay if you lunge at them, whatever you do. To a certain degree, it’s a little bit of patience but it’s also being together as a team,” Scheifele said.

“You definitely don’t want to give them chances in the slot. It’s just a matter of being all connected, being all together and supporting each other.”

Kyle Connor, another gifted Jets forward who, like Scheifele, has seen his defensive play dip at times this season, said limiting these chances have been an ongoing focus, and something they’ve spent time addressing as they enter Saturday’s rubber match.

“We know they have a quick team and can strike pretty much anywhere all over the ice,” he said. “For us, we’re looking to support a little closer all over the ice and battle the puck through our defensive zone, make sure we’re under it, and not make any mistakes and give them any easy goals.”

As for chances in the slot, it’s something, Connor said, that every defensive-zone team setup tries to prevent and every offensive-zone system tries desperately to increase. Otherwise known as common sense, the closer you are to the net the better chance you have to score.

“That’s one of the areas you work from and defend first. You can give up a pass around the outside, but you want to stay tight. If you give up anything it’s that low-to-high pass and we’ll expand from that,” added Connor. “That’s kind of our focus point from the beginning of camp, get that number down. It’s been our starting point for both sides of the ice. For offensive too, we want to get to those areas, get those pucks in there. You have such a better chance of scoring.”

It can be a challenging balancing act trying to overly adjust something, as opposed to just being better at what you do, whether that is man-on-man or zone defence. The Jets do have a safety net in Hellebuyck, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner and arguably best goalie in the world right now.

While some opportunities might be deemed high-danger by calculation, having someone like Hellebuyck between the pipes has proven on many nights to be a great equalizer. But relying on your goalie isn’t the plan here. In fact, providing him more support is.

“The idea that we’d play casually and just run and gun because our goalie will stop the puck, that’s not real, right? That’s Charlie Huddy’s favourite line: Paul Coffey used to skate by Grant Fuhr before the puck drop and say, ‘I’ll see you at the end of the game.’ That’s got nothing to do with what we’re doing,” Maurice said.

“There’s been lots of really good work that’s gone into our defensive game. The last three haven’t been a great example of it. As coaches, we’d be aware of all of these things that you’re talking about. We’d understand this is an issue.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton