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It wasn’t easy, but the Winnipeg Jets managed to start the weekend off with a 3-2 overtime victory over the NHL’s worst team, the Chicago Blackhawks, thanks to some regulation razzle-dazzle from Nikolaj Ehlers and a game-ending bank shot from Kyle Connor during the three-on-three session Friday night in the Windy City.
Now, a date with the league’s coldest club, the Arizona Coyotes, who come to town having lost 11 straight outings (0-10-1). The Jets have already beaten the Desert Dogs three times this season by a combined score of 16-7. But that doesn’t mean they can come out for a leisurely Sunday skate and expect the visitors to be easy prey.
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“They’ve lost 11 in a row and we beat them 6-2 in there earlier in (January). So yeah, they’ll be hungry. They’ll be coming hard. And they are rested,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said following Saturday’s optional practice, in which 15 of the 22 rostered players hit the ice.
“Listen, they’re a good hockey team. They had a great start. They’ve gone through some tough times but they’ve got a good coaching staff that will keep pushing them and they’ve had some tough breaks in those 11 games. There’s games they could have won easily that they ended up losing. So yeah, it will be an ornery bunch. It will be a very hungry bunch coming in.”
Connor Hellebuyck vs Connor Ingram is the goalie duel for this one.
The Jets will make one lineup change, with defenceman Nate Schmidt, a healthy scratch for the past two games, replacing Logan Stanley, who made a costly error on the first Chicago goal.
Neither team held a morning skate due to the late afternoon puck drop.
This is the start of a two-game homestand for the Jets, with the St. Louis Blues paying a visit on Tuesday night.
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: You can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Cole Perfetti. The 22-year-old is clearly struggling with his confidence right now, having gone a dozen games without so much as a point.
I asked him about his mindset on Saturday, and the well-spoken young man gave us some candid insight.
“Just keep on going. Helping any way that I can. Obviously right now that’s not on the scoresheet,” he told me.
“If I can help in any other way to help this team win, that’s kind of my goal. Just keep going. Keep on going, trying my hardest and giving everything I’ve got. I’m anxious for it to turn for me personally, but at the same time just do whatever I can. If it’s not on the stats sheet, then away from the puck, any situation that I can help. That’s kind of my mindset right now. Just work my hardest, play the right way, try to play a 200-foot game and be relied on in any situation. That’s kinda my mindset right now.”
Bowness has tried to throw Perfetti a lifeline, moving him down the lineup to play on the fourth line with Vlad Namestnikov (with whom he’s had some good chemistry in the past) and Morgan Barron. I thought that line was really good against the Blackhawks, and the veteran bench boss agreed.
“Let’s put him down a position and take a little pressure off of him. It helped him. He looked good on that line,” said Bowness. “Plus, when you’re on that line, you’re playing against different people on the opposition. You’re playing against the other third-pairing D and you’re playing against, mostly, the fourth-line guys. So that takes a little bit of pressure off as well, that you’re not out there against the top couple of lines and the top couple of D-pairings.”
Perhaps Perfetti can snap the lengthy drought today.
The equally slumping Alex Iafallo moved into Perfetti’s spot on the second line with Ehlers and Sean Monahan, and that trio was really clicking. Now, if only the Jets could find an even-strength spark with the top line of Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabe Vilardi.
Although they’ve been putting up points lately, mainly on the resurgent power play, they’ve had some real tough nights when it comes to five-on-five play, especially against what should have been a fairly soft match-up in Chicago.
“They can be better and they know that and they’ve been off a little bit,” said Bowness. “Can they tighten it up a little bit? Yeah, they can. And they know that.”
MATT SLOCUM / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILESWinnipeg’s Cole Perfetti doesn’t have a point in 12 games and has only one assist in his last 15.
KEN SAYS: It’s important to take another moment to appreciate the season that Jets D-man Josh Morrissey is putting together. By chipping in three more helpers in Friday’s overtime win, Morrissey is up to seven goals and 41 points, marking a second straight season he’s eclipsed 40 points.
While it looks like he won’t hit the same heights as last season, when he finished with a career-best 76 points, Morrissey continues to supply ample offence from the back end while playing taxing minutes. His defensive effort against Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno led directly to the overtime winner from Kyle Connor.
Speaking of Connor, he’s clearly still working his way back from the knee injury that sidelined him for 16 games. He hasn’t been as dangerous at five-on-five, but is still finding a way to chip in, with eight points over the past four games.
He leads the Jets with 21 goals, including six game-winners (which also leads the team) and his overtime winner was the eighth of his career. And since Mark Scheifele had one of his strongest showings of the season, notching a goal and four points against the Vancouver Canucks, he’s gone three games without a point and recorded just two shots goal during that stretch. Look for him to be more impactful in this game.
One of the most important developments from the other night was Ehlers showing some chemistry with Monahan. Let’s see if the two players take another step forward on that front on Sunday.
The Coyotes are going through a tailspin, but have some offensive weapons that require attention, including Clayton Keller, who leads the team with 52 points. The Jets have done a good job of limiting Keller’s offence against them over the years, as he has only four goals and six points in 18 career meetings.
Dylan Guenther is a player on the rise. The forward who was dominant for the Edmonton Oil Kings a few years ago for Jets assistant coach Brad Lauer has notched six goals and 11 points in 19 games since he was recalled from the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League. He was fun to watch in the Western Hockey League and is someone to keep an eye on for years to come.
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