FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It was quite the sight walking into the arena this morning: all of the empty seats were filled with giant Alex Ovechkin heads on sticks. They are being given to fans tonight to celebrate the fact the “Great 8” recently surpassed 900 goals and 1,500 games played.
You know Ovechkin, who has terrorized the Jets over the years, is licking his lips at the prospect of adding to his totals on his big night.
“He’s had a heck of a career, obviously. Hopefully we can keep him off (the scoresheet) tonight,” said Jets forward Tanner Pearson.
The stuff of Winnipeg Jets’ nightmares. (Mike McIntyre / Free Press)
Here’s a fun game: can you identify who is currently centring the Jets’ second line? How about the third and fourth lines? It’s a bit of a mystery with the way Arniel has configured what I’m going to call his “bottom nine.”
As you can see later in this newsletter, I’ve listed them in what I think it the most likely order, which would mean Adam Lowry is now a second-line centre, Cole Perfetti is a third-line winger and Jonathan Toews is a fourth-line centre.
Not sure I would have had any of those developments on the bingo card, but here we are.
It actually doesn’t matter so much what order you want to put on these lines. The important thing is that they all find ways to contribute. The Jets simply can’t be a one-line team if they are going to have any kind of sustained success, and there are a lot of guys who really need to get going.
They no longer have the luxury of hoping the injured Connor Hellebuyck can steal a game for them — the way he’s done so often over his career — and they need to give Comrie some offensive support.
“No matter who’s in the net, we still have to play a certain way in front of them,” said Arniel. “We can’t allow Grade A (chances) like we did in the first stretch of this year.”
In addition to Pionk not being able to go play tonight, there was some additional tough injury news regarding the blue line.
Haydn Fleury, who suffered a concussion on Nov. 11 against the Vancouver Canucks, is not on the road trip with the team. He had been skating last week ramping up for a return but suffered a setback and remains in protocol.
KEN SAYS: The much-anticipated debut for Salomonsson has my attention. The 2022 second-rounder has many of the traits that can help improve a defence corps. Had Salomonsson not missed part of last season with an upper-body issue, he might have made the Jets out of camp.
But after a strong start to the AHL campaign, Salomonsson has an opportunity to not only be a fill-in, but perhaps do enough to force his way onto the third pairing. In the short term, Salomonsson needs to defend well, play with an edge and execute some clean exits. Anything after that is a bonus.
Up front, after the industrial-sized turn-of-the-line blender, I’m curious to see how Morgan Barron clicks with Toews and Gustav Nyquist.
Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron. (Matt Krohn / The Associated Press files)
Barron’s speed and tenacity on the forecheck should help generate some chances for the veteran forwards. Toews has one goal in his past nine games, while Nyquist is searching for his first of the season to go with six assists in 16 games.
Secondary scoring has been an issue of late for the Jets and it will be interesting to see whether these new combos unlock anything.
As for the Capitals, that slow start for Ovechkin has been left in the rearview mirror as he’s scoring regularly and nearly averaging a point per game, with 10 goals and 21 points.
But also keep your eyes on rugged winger Tom Wilson, who has his sights set on making Canada’s Olympic team. Wilson has 12 goals and 23 points in 23 games while playing a physical game and killing penalties effectively.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
- Pearson-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Barron-Toews-Nyquist
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Salamonsson
- Stanley-Miller
GOAL
INJURED: G Hellebuyck (knee surgery), D Fleury (concussion protocol), D Pionk (lower-body)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Schenn, F Koepke
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
FORWARDS
- Ovechkin-Strome-Beauvillier
- Protas-Sourdif-Wilson
- Duhaime-McMichael-Leonard
- Milano-Lapierre-Frank
DEFENCE
- Fehervary-Carlson
- Chychrun-Roy
- Sandin-Mcllrath
GOAL
INJURED: C Dubois (abdominal)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Chisholm, D Van Riemsdyk, F Trineyev
Notable quotable
Defenceman Colin Miller, who has been a healthy scratch for 15 of the first 21 games this year, on getting back into the lineup and making the most of it:
“It’s super mental. You just have to make sure you’re not overthinking things, make sure you’re ready to go when you get the chance. There’s been more time out than in, so it’s a lot of time to think and overthink things. It’s about just making sure that when you do get in, stick to the things that you know you’ve always been good at and the game slows down after that.”
What we’re working on
Mike is on scene in Washington. He will have an early story coming on Miller, who spoke candidly about what a challenging start to the season this has been on a personal level. And he will have the Jets versus Capitals game story including reaction from the locker room.
You can find both pieces on our website later today and in Thursday’s print edition.
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