Jets ready to take the play to Golden Knights

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This article was published 17/04/2023 (924 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS — They’ve adjusted to the two-hour time change, got a couple nights of rest in their hotel rooms and now a full team skate in enemy territory under their belts.

All that’s left is for the Winnipeg Jets to go out on Tuesday night and prove they’re ready for playoff hockey against the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights.

“We’re capable of winning. There is no question. We’re here to win,” coach Rick Bowness said following Monday’s practice at T-Mobile Arena.

“We’re not here to give these guys a little workout and move on to the next round. We’re here to win.”

A positive development in that direction was the sight of forward Nikolaj Ehlers in a regular sweater, taking his usual line rushes at five-on-five with Blake Wheeler and Vladislav Namestnikov and on the top power play unit with Mark Scheifele Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Josh Morrissey.

“The power play looked a lot better with him out there,” said Bowness.

“It’s funny how things go. Early in the year we had them together and it was completely out of sync the whole time. We put them back together late in the season and it was much better. It would help the power play. We have obviously a couple different options we can do, and we practised those both today. In a perfect world, Nik would be there (Tuesday).”

Ehlers was hurt last Tuesday when Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman crushed him with a blindside hit. He left the game, clutching his head, but never entered concussion protocol.

Ehlers didn’t skate with the team on Saturday but declared himself “100 per cent ready.” Bowness poured some cold water over that later in the day, and eyebrows were raised when he was absent from Sunday’s skate in Winnipeg.

“I’m staying with day-to-day,” Bowness said Monday. “We’ll re-evaluate him in the morning.”

Ehlers, for the record, once again confirmed he’s good to go, joking that he’s in a “media war with coach.”

“He’s skating great. He’s shooting well. The concern would be getting hit or getting caught in the wrong position,” said Bowness.

“Just watching him, obviously he’s a great skater — we all wish we could skate like that just one day in our lives — and he’s shooting the puck well. We’ll have to see how (Tuesday) looks.”

Ehlers was held without a goal during 21 playoff games in the spring of 2018 and 2019, but he had four in 10 games in 2020 and 2021. He’s hoping to be a difference-maker this time around.

“That’s what you want to do in the playoffs. That’s where you want to play your best,” he said.

“If it’s not points, it’s something else. You try and win games for this team. You’d do anything for it. We’re excited for it. I’m going to give my all for this team.”

Fourth-line centre Kevin Stenlund didn’t skate Monday, his third straight day of being absent after getting banged up last Thursday in Colorado. David Gustafsson would take his spot if he can’t go.

“Kevin is going to skate (Tuesday) morning. I’d say we’re counting on him playing, but he’ll probably be a game-time decision,” said Bowness. “Just talking to him now, he’s feeling better. If he’s feeling strong enough, he’ll play.”

The news isn’t quite so positive when it comes to forward Cole Perfetti, who suffered a shoulder injury in mid-February. He was on the ice in a non-contact sweater on Monday, but took a big accidental bump from defenceman Dylan DeMelo during a drill.

Perfetti was clearly in some pain, hunched over and wincing before making his way to the bench. Bowness doesn’t believe it will impact his timeline.

“Listen, he’s 10 days or two weeks away,” he said. That would make Perfetti a long shot to be ready for this first-round series.

Regardless of the lineup, Bowness said he wants his group to come out with the confidence they showed down the stretch, not waiting for the Golden Knights to dictate the style of play. He compared it to last year when his Dallas Stars took the heavily-favoured Calgary Flames to overtime in game seven of their series, before ultimately bowing out.

“When we got in trouble against Calgary last year, we were giving them too much respect and sitting back too much,” said Bowness.

“Especially with our team, we’re a better team when we’re aggressive and playing on our toes. What you learn from that, we went to seven games, we went to overtime, and we missed two open nets I think — that’s how fine a line it was. I know during that series, getting after them, when I found we were giving them too much respect was when we were sitting back. We’re going to be watching that very closely.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyre

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Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.