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They’ve mastered the art of the third-period comeback — big back-to-back rallies this past weekend in Carolina and Buffalo serving as Exhibits A and B — but the Winnipeg Jets would be wise to try and carry that kind of late-game momentum into the start of tonight’s contest against the Seattle Kraken.
The same Kraken, we should note, who didn’t arrive in town until about 3 a.m., having faced off last night against the Calgary Flames (8:30 p.m. CT puck drop) in a heated, physical and, at times, downright nasty affair they won by a 4-2 score.
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Getting an early jump on a weary opponent could be a key to success.
“Regardless of if they played last night, there’s so much at stake right now you overcome fatigue, you overcome sickness, you overcome everything and lay it all on the line and we fully expect that from that crew tonight,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said following an optional morning skate in which approximately two-thirds of his roster hit the ice.
Yes, the Jets have the benefit of a bit more rest than their opponent, but they’re not exactly at 100 per cent either.
Forward Gabe Vilardi will miss a third straight game with an upper-body injury, and defenceman Nate Schmidt will come out as he battles a flu bug that is working its way through Winnipeg’s roster. Logan Stanley draws back in.
“Nate’s been really battling it. He was really sick in Buffalo,” said Bowness. “So we’re taking Nate out and putting Stan back in, giving him a chance to recover here the next couple of days.
“There’s a couple of guys I’ve talked to, they want to play through it. Nate, probably he could play through it. But we’ve got an extra body here and Stan’s been playing well, so let’s give Nate a good chance to get rid of this thing.”
Seattle, which is desperately trying to stay in the Western Conference wildcard playoff race, didn’t have a morning skate, so we’re guessing a bit at their lineup. One major question is the health of top defenceman Vince Dunn, who was injured in the third period against the Flames after being drilled from behind by Calgary’s Martin Pospisil, who received a five-minute major and will have a hearing with the NHL’s department of player safety later today.
We do expect Joey Daccord to get the call in net, and he will face Connor Hellebuyck.
“No easy games in this league,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “We’ve been on that end, I think twice last year we were in a different city and we had to go into Seattle and play a 5 p.m. game on Sunday.
“There’s no easy games in this league, these guys will be hungry. It’s the time of the year now where you can’t take anything for granted. If you come in and think it’s going to be an easy game, you’re going to be very disappointed. It’s going to be a tough game tonight, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It’s hard to believe tonight is Game #61 and the Jets and Kraken will be meeting for the first time all year. They’ll play again on Friday at Climate Pledge Arena, and then in the second-last game of the year (Apr. 16) back here in Winnipeg. This will leave the Washington Capitals as the only other NHL opponent Winnipeg has yet to face this season.
Here’s some fun facts for you about Winnipeg’s remaining schedule:
Including tonight, there are 22 games remaining, with a perfect 11/11 split of home vs away.
A dozen of those remaining games are against teams currently outside the playoff picture (including the three against the Kraken), while the other 10 are against clubs currently holding down a spot.
However, eight of the next 11 games for Winnipeg come against current non-playoff teams.
Does any of that matter? Likely not. As Bowness often says, it’s more about Winnipeg’s structure and overall play than who the opponent is which will determine success or failure.
Speaking of which, there’s plenty of angst around here about Nikolaj Ehlers, who continues to bounce on and off the top line. His move up to play with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor helped spark Winnipeg’s huge comeback in Carolina, but by the second period in Buffalo, Bowness had seen enough and moved him back down with Sean Monahan and Alex Iafallo.
What gives?
“When you see things you don’t like, you’ve gotta make a change. I’m comfortable moving Nik back and forth. I’ve said this before, he’s better on the left wing,” Bowness explained this morning.
“There’s some nights when he’s really going and yeah, get him out there as much as you can play him. But he’s very effective, when he’s on, on the right side. When he’s off a little bit, he’s still very effective on the left side. If it’s not going, I have no problem making those moves.”
Pressed further, it appears puck management is the biggest issue, with Ehlers prone to some high-risk plays that clearly his coach doesn’t like.
“I want Nik to hang on to the puck as much as possible. He has elite skills, he’s an elite skater, and I feel very comfortable when he’s hanging on to the puck and taking that extra time to make the right play.”
I’ll be watching Ehlers closely tonight, as I imagine many of you will be, as well. We know his coach will be, too.
Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey was recognized as the NHL’s third star of the week for his performance against the Sabres on Sunday. (Jeffrey T. Barnes / The Associated Press)
KEN SAYS: It was a big weekend for the cardiac kids, as the Jets rallied on consecutive days in the third period to turn a stretch of stress and potential question marks into a pair of victories to close out a successful road trip.
There were plenty of things that stood out about Sunday’s game against the Sabres, including the continued brilliance of Josh Morrissey, who was recognized as the NHL’s third star of the week.
It’s tough to differentiate between which play was more impressive: his pass to Nino Niederreiter for the redirection goal, or his heads-up play to join the rush and deliver the game-tying goal after taking a nifty feed from Mark Scheifele.
Niederreiter has three goals during the past two games and that’s an important development. Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and an assist and looked good after his promotion to the top line.
This wouldn’t be complete without a quick comment about how much I appreciated the honesty and insight provided to me by Cole Perfetti in discussing what it was like for him to go through being a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career. Perfetti has gone through a rough patch offensively and he finally snapped a 15-game stretch without a point, chipping in the primary assist on the game-winning goal by Morgan Barron, who became the ninth member of the Jets to hit double digits in goals.
The Kraken are an interesting team, still on the periphery of the playoff picture, seven points back going into this game, so they’ve got plenty to play for — including showing GM Ron Francis that he shouldn’t put up the For Sale sign.
They’ve been led offensively by Jared McCann (26 goals, 49 points in 60 games) and you have to be aware of Dunn — assuming he plays — who continues to develop after going to the Kraken in the expansion draft after starting his career with the St. Louis Blues.
It’s been a down year offensively for Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers (eight goals, 25 points in 56 games), but he’s fun to watch.
Former Jets winger Brandon Tanev is someone who could fit the style of player the Jets could be looking for heading into Friday’s NHL trade deadline, given his tenacious style of play and fearlessness on the penalty kill — even though his offensive production has dipped (five goals, 10 points).
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