FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Cole Perfetti predicted the dam would soon break in our one-on-one chat earlier this week in Los Angeles. Sure enough, he potted a pair of goals on Friday night – his first in 12 games – to officially shed the monkey off his back.
“I was real proud of Cole. He’s been struggling,” said Arniel. “The biggest thing is where he went and scored that first goal. It was to the net-front against a team that’s real hard. Vegas doesn’t let you get inside, and he went right in there and got that first one. I liked the way he competed on pucks.”
Cole Perfetti scores on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill in the first period, Friday. Ian Maule / The Associated Press
Now the key is maintaining that momentum, especially at a time when several other offensive stars are fighting it right now.
The Jets could really use a strong game from the No. 1 line. Mark Scheifele has just two assists to show for these five road games. Kyle Connor has gone four straight without a goal. And linemate Gabe Vilardi has just one point (a goal) in the last four outings.
To me, however, the real issue with the Jets right now is defence, not offence. Obviously losing Dylan Samberg to a broken foot leaves a big hole, but this normally stingy squad is giving up way too much in terms of odd-man breaks and rush attacks – three of which ended up in the back of their net Friday. They really need to clean that up, and it wasn’t surprising to see it be a major focus of Saturday’s practice and video session.
Don’t look now, but the Jets have company on top of the NHL standings. Those surprising Minnesota Wild are now tied with them at 36 points. Dallas currently sits third in the division with 28, which underscores why this is such a big “four-pointer.” It also makes sense why Hellebuyck got some additional rest Friday night, especially with the travel and short turnaround here, in order to be ready for Dallas (and, presumably, the St, Louis Blues on home ice Tuesday night).
This has been quite a trip, and I’m looking forward to getting home on Monday. I’m also excited to share a behind-the-scenes feature I’ve been working on that will run in Saturday’s Free Press and looks at what it takes to keep an NHL team healthy, happy and performing at a high-level for such a long stretch on the road.
KEN SAYS: After dropping consecutive games to tough Pacific Division opponents, the Jets are hoping to improve on their outstanding 7-1 record against Central Division opponents as they close out this stretch of nine of 10 games on the road on Sunday. The Jets have yet to lose three consecutive games this season.
Another impressive performance was delivered by Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, who had the primary assist on both of Perfetti’s goals while handling just under 26 minutes of ice time. Morrissey is up to 22 points in 24 games this season and will continue to be leaned on even more than usual as Samberg remains on the shelf.
There was plenty of online angst about why Heinola wasn’t in the lineup on Friday after two strong games to start the season after missing a quarter of the season with the ankle issue. But Heinola had played four games in the previous six days, so there’s going to be some load management required here as he works his way back to full speed.
You can be sure the Stars will be hungry to try and even the season series and make up some ground in the standings, as they currently trail the Jets by eight points (while holding two games in hand).
“There’s a lot of similarities to us with how they play,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin told reporters on Saturday.
Winnipeg Jets’ Rasmus Kupari celebrates after scoring on Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger in the first period of their game in Winnipeg on November 9. Fred Greenslade / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
The Jets chased Oettinger in the last meeting, so you can be sure that Hellebuyck’s presumed Team USA backup will be looking for a strong showing. Oettinger is currently sporting a 12-4 record, a .912 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average in 16 games, while MoneyPuck has him ranked 10th in the NHL in goals saved above expected (5.9). For the sake of comparison, Hellebuyck is second in the NHL in goals saved above expected with 12.1 in his 18 starts.
The Stars continue to be led by veteran centre Matt Duchene, who has 12 goals and 27 points in 22 games this season and has 17 goals and 36 points in 44 career games against the Jets – with a variety of Central Division opponents.
Calder Trophy candidate Logan Stankoven will miss a second straight game with a lower-body issue but Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said he would travel with his teammates on this upcoming road trip.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Namestnikov-Iafallo
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Barron-Kupari-Gustafsson
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Fleury-Pionk
- Heinola-Miller
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Stanley, D Coghlan
INJURED: D Samberg (broken foot), F Ehlers (lower-body, day-to-day)
DALLAS STARS
FORWARDS:
- Robertson-Hintz-Johnston
- Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
- Steel-Benn-Dadonov
- Back-Bourque-Blackwell
DEFENCE:
- Heiskanen-Lyubushkin
- Harley-Petrovic
- Lindell-Lundkvist
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Dumba, D Smith
INJURED: RW Stankoven (lower-body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets forward Alex Iafallo on reaching the end of the long road trip:
“We definitely have to have a good game and try to get a win out of this. Our expectations are high, so we’ve got to keep pushing to get to that next level. Obviously we had a good start to the season but this long road trip, we’ve got to come together and finish it with a good end. The boys are going to be ready to do whatever it takes.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is in Dallas and will have two pieces out of today’s game, including the usual analysis with post-game soundbites, along with a sidebar story. You can find both online at www.winnipegfreepress.com
|
