FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: I’m not sure what the Jets have planned for an encore, but if it’s anything like the drama of the first-round, we’re in for a sweet hockey treat.
I still can’t believe everything that went down in that series, punctuated by a truly incredible finish straight out of a sappy Hollywood movie.
I spent a good chunk of Monday going over the Cole Perfetti game-tying goal for a story that I wrote, literally stopping it frame-by-frame over the final 10 seconds or so. The number of little things that had to go right is mind-blowing.
It showed, once again, how hockey is the ultimate team sport.
All eyes will once again be on Connor Hellebuyck, who mentioned Tuesday feeling like the “weight of the world is off my shoulders.”
I truly believe that, with the proverbial first-round dragon now slayed.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see him settle down here and revert to normal form, which would be very good news for the Jets.
No doubt he’s heard the whispers that Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger has suddenly supplanted him as the best American goalie and the likely No. 1 at the Winter Olympics next February — based entirely on how the playoffs have started — and will want to do everything possible to show that smallest of sample sizes was in need of a quick market correction.
Assuming Scheifele does return to the lineup, Winnipeg will ice its deepest forward lineup since way back on March 23 against the Buffalo Sabres.
Since then, there hasn’t been a single game where Scheifele, Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers have all been healthy at the same time.
The trickle-down to that is a loaded fourth line tonight of Morgan Barron, Alex Iafallo and Brandon Tanev.
“The biggest thing is that it’s good to see that we’re getting healthy. Getting Gabe back in that series, getting Nik back in that series, was big. I’m sure Dallas is thinking the same thing, with their injuries and getting their top guys back,” said Arniel.
“At the end of the day, it certainly helps your group when you have that depth and that’s the biggest thing for me. That depth is now back there. As you guys know, I’m pretty confident, as Pete is with his group, to throw four lines out there and to throw them against anybody at any time.”
Prediction: Jets in 7. I’ve also got Vegas in 6, Carolina in 6 and Toronto in 7. (I went 5/8 in the first round).
KEN SAYS: The return of Scheifele figures to provide an incredible boost for the Jets, even though they will be without Morrissey for one more game.
Having Scheifele back between Connor and Vilardi lengthens out the lineup and allows Arniel to reunite the identity line of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton as well.
Vilardi is working hard to get up to speed after missing the first four games last round and being back with his familiar linemates should help him take the next steps here.
Lowry finished the opening round with three goals — the Game 7 series clincher to go along with two empty-netters — and he will likely spend a lot of time going up against either Roope Hintz or Wyatt Johnston.
Appleton was one of the Jets’ leading scorers in the opening round with six assists and the Lowry line is one that can be incredibly disruptive on the forecheck.
Doing that successfully will be a critical component to trying to advance to the third round.
The play of the Jets’ defence corps after losing Morrissey deserves one more investigation.
It was a complete effort. The pairing of Neal Pionk (46 minutes and change) and Dylan Samberg (44 minutes) carried the heaviest load and they figure to do the same in Game 1 here.
Fleury was one of the unsung heroes, playing more than 33 minutes in what was just his second game of the postseason.
Fleury played with an extremely high level of confidence and used his mobility to his advantage. He made a number of important plays throughout the course of the contest, defended hard and was involved in the series-clincher, which included the point shot from Pionk that went in off Lowry.
DeMelo had a great effort, as did Luke Schenn, who saved his best game of the series for the deciding game.
Miller is set for his second game of the playoffs and he was effective when replacing DeMelo in Game 3 in St. Louis.
He’s going to start on his off-side with Schenn, so it will be interesting to see how the deployment looks as the game moves along.
The Stars are riding high after ousting an Avalanche team that a number of pundits were predicting could win the Stanley Cup.
Dallas played like a team that advanced to the Western Conference final last spring and knocking out the Avalanche without Heiskanen and Robertson shows how committed they are to their structure.
This is going to be another epic battle.
Prediction: Jets in 7. My other picks for Round 2 are: Golden Knights in 7, Capitals in 6 and Panthers in 7. (I went 6/8 in the first round).
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Tanev-Barron-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-DeMelo
- Miller-Schenn
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: G Driedger, D Heinola, C Kupari, C Gustafsson, C Toninato, F Anderson-Dolan
INJURED: D Morrissey (upper body), D Stanley (undisclosed)
DALLAS STARS
FORWARDS:
- Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen
- Robertson-Johnston-Marchment
- Benn-Duchene-Seguin
- Back-Steel-Dadonov
DEFENCE:
- Harley-Lyubushkin
- Lindell-Ceci
- Bichsel-Petrovic
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Dumba, D Smith, C Bourque
INJURED: D Heiskanen (knee), F Blackwell (undisclosed), D Lundqvist (shoulder)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets coach Scott Arniel on quickly turning the page:
“St. Louis is off the table now. So now it’s about Dallas and what they do well, where we can maybe exploit them. It’s just a situation that there were some things that happened in that series that we’ve got to clean up. But also something comes from the opposition, what they do. Dallas, there’s some similarities, but there’s also some big differences, too. We looked at them, we spent some time the last couple of days, just showed our team yesterday some areas that we’ve got to be good at, whether that’s in our end, their end, through the neutral zone. But also some areas we’re hoping to exploit, too. They’re probably doing the exact same thing on the other side. You’ve got to move off of your last opponent and move onto the next one.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike has an early story coming on Luke Schenn, who spoke Wednesday about the heavy emotional toll that playing a hard-fought seven-game series against his brother took on the entire family. Ken will have game analysis of Jets versus Stars, while Mike will have a post-game column coming as well. You can find them online at winnipefreepress.com and in Thursday’s print edition.
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