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SAN JOSE — There won’t be a history lesson required as the Winnipeg Jets make their second and final visit of the season to SAP Center to face the San Jose Sharks.
The last time these two teams met was on Dec. 9 and the Sharks got a late power-play goal and a brilliant goaltending performance from Mackenzie Blackwood to come away with a 2-1 victory.
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“In the first 10 minutes, they jumped on us,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry, recalling the first meeting. “As the game went on, we got back to our forechecking and our style of pressure, turning pucks over and things like that. We weren’t ready to start off the hop and we gave up an uncharacteristically high number of chances that you can’t afford to, against any team in this league.
“They made it tough getting to the net, there weren’t a lot of second opportunities, Blackwood played phenomenal. We’re going to have to be ready to work. We’re going to have to be ready to compete. Sometimes, when you play these teams who have lost a large number of games consecutively, you have to be ready to stay on top of them. If the other team is playing loose, that doesn’t give us the green light to open it up and turn it into a track meet and trade chances.”
Since that time, the Jets have collected points in nine consecutive games (7-0-2) and are riding a four-game winning streak, while the Sharks have dropped nine in a row in regulation and have been outscored by a considerable margin.
The Jets open a three-game road trip that includes games against the Sharks, the Anaheim Ducks and the Arizona Coyotes.
They’ve got some special visitors on the swing as this is the dads/mentors trip and they’ll be looking to build on an 11-1-2 run that began in early December.
Based on the morning skate, Jets head coach Rick Bowness is going to maintain a switch he made Tuesday night in the third period against Tampa (a 4-2 Winnipeg win), with Mark Scheifele and Vlad Namestnikov switching spots. Namestnikov is now with Nikolaj Ehlers and Gabe Vilardi, while Scheifele skates between Cole Perfetti and Alex Iafallo. No other lineup changes are expected.
“We’ll start that way. We can flip-flop them at any time during the course of the game if we don’t like what we’re seeing,” said Bowness. “That was an easy switch, just because they’re all familiar with each other.”
The Sharks didn’t hold a morning skate, so there could be a question mark or two with their lineup.
Connor Hellebuyck will make his 28th start of the season in goal for the Jets, while the Sharks are expected to go with Blackwood.
From the press box
KEN SAYS: It almost goes without saying we’ll be watching closely to see if the Jets are able to sort out some of the special-teams woes that have been apparent for much of the season.
There were some quality looks created with the man advantage — an in-tight backhand chance from Vilardi at the top of that list — but the top unit hasn’t scored in more than a month now on the power play. And that needs to be rectified sooner rather than later.
As for the penalty kill, the Jets gave up a pair of goals to the Lightning and remain 27th out of 32 teams (73.8 per cent efficiency), slightly ahead of the Sharks.
Having said that, the five-on-five play for the Jets remains exceptional and they’ll look to keep that going against the Sharks, who have been led offensively by Tomas Hertl (13 goals, 28 points) and Mikael Granlund (four goals, 25 points).
As someone who was in the building and experienced the incredible buzz in 2016 after the Sharks captured the Western Conference final over the St. Louis Blues and advanced to the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, it’s odd to see the Sharks in the midst of a complete rebuild and see empty seats in their home rink. This is a passionate fan base and they’ve got their fingers crossed they win the draft lottery this season and have the opportunity to welcome Macklin Celebrini into the fold for next season.
Tomas Hertl has 13 goals and 28 points. (Jeff Chiu / The Associated Press files)
MIKE SAYS: Cue the “Jaws” theme? On paper, there’s no reason to think the Jets won’t keep rolling tonight. But, as we saw just last month, what happens on the ice sometimes plays out a little differently — especially when the Sharks goaltender has an otherworldly performance. Danger! Danger!
That said, the Jets have a chance at making franchise history. They’ve never gone 10 consecutive games without a regulation loss, so this presents a golden opportunity to do just that.
Scheifele, Vilardi and Ehlers were the hottest trio in the NHL prior to the holiday break, but they’ve had four fairly quiet games since. Now, with the top-six line juggling, we’ll see if they can get going. Ehlers’ big goal on Tuesday against Tampa (off a nice play by Namestnikov) was a solid step in that direction.
I’m curious to see whether or not the Jets display some early jump. This is their fourth game in six nights, and they’re facing a quick turnaround with another tilt Friday night in Anaheim. However, with the fathers/mentors along for the ride, I suspect that might provided a little extra boost. No question they’ll want to make them proud.
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