FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It’s probably not a surprise that Florida and Edmonton are still unbeaten in regulation. But who had Winnipeg being the third team without a 60-minute blemish on the record at this point in the season?
That’s why they play the games on ice, not on paper.
While Winnipeg’s top line has remained intact – and why would you tinker, given the success Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Cole Perfetti are enjoying so far – the other three forward trios remain a work-in-progress.
Arniel has changed things up again tonight, moving Barron up to play with Viggo Bjorck and Gabe Vilardi, moving Isak Rosen down to play with Adam Lowry and switching Brad Lambert and Alex Iafallo on the third and fourth lines.
I asked the bench boss if this is a case of trying to be matchup-specific, given the opponent?
“That has a lot to do with it,” he replied. “This group tonight in Anaheim, there’s four lines that are coming. So I like the fact that, not only have some of these guys played together as recent as in Pittsburgh, but also just having the opportunity to roll our four against their four. We’re still five in eight nights, and I’m going to have to do that. It just balances it out a little bit.”
We’ve seen fans here in Winnipeg quickly come to love Skinner. Stevenson certainly impressed in his first game, and the man nicknamed “Mud” will also win people over if he can continue that kind of play.
It’s safe to say both masked men have silenced a lot of the white noise around the Jets given the ongoing Connor Hellebuyck soap opera, which shows no signs of ending.
“Yeah, you know what, they’re both just great guys. It’s been great to get to know them and to have in the room,” Fleury told me.
“I think for both of them it’s a new opportunity to prove what they can beyond what they already have in this league. Just easy guys to play in front of. And you’ve seen the crowd kind of get behind them as well. They’ve played great for us so far and I think they’ll continue to do so.”
Is this the night Bjorck gets his first NHL point? It sure feels like it’s just around the corner. Barron was asked if there’s an internal competition to have a helping hand in that milestone.
“I think everyone would like to do that. I mean, he can do it all on his own, sure, but we’ll see what we can do to continue to help,” he said.
“He’s getting tons of looks and is playing great hockey. It’s just a matter of time.”
KEN SAYS: The loss of Morrissey is an obvious blow for a Jets team that’s off to a great start, but this is one of the reasons the team broke camp with eight defencemen, even with Salomonsson on the shelf recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
It’s also a quick reminder of how important it was to bring in someone like Mario Ferraro, who has played Top-4 minutes for the bulk of his career with the San Jose Sharks.
Ferraro has faced the Ducks a lot during his time in the Pacific Division and he’s got a good idea of the type of speed the forward group plays with.
In addition to his even-strength minutes, Fleury will be the quarterback of the second power play unit.
“I think I’ll just keep it simple,” said Fleury. “Make the right play at the right time is the biggest thing. If that lane’s there to shoot it, deliver it to the net, and let our forwards get to work down low.”
Speaking of Salomonsson, he shed his yellow non-contact jersey on Friday morning, but is still probably at least a week away from potentially returning to the lineup.
One of the other places where Morrissey will be missed is on the power play, where the top unit has been cooking to date, delivering each of the four goals scored with the man-advantage (which is 4-for-10).
Neal Pionk has run the Jets’ top unit at times in the past and the fact he’s right-handed brings a bit of a different look and it could mean the puck is in the hands of Kyle Connor a bit more.
As for the Ducks, top centre Leo Carlsson is off to an outstanding start, piling up a goal and seven points through three games (with five of those points coming on the power play).
Fresh off signing a contract that made him one of the highest paid players in the NHL (with an AAV of US $18 million), Carlsson isn’t showing any signs of carrying any additional burden.
“Leo is getting a lot of attention, be it in the media or (around) the league. We just want to see him get incrementally better from last year to this year,” said Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville. “Improve at the same type of rate as you did last year. He’s going to see the toughest match-up every single night.”
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Perfetti
- Barron-Bjorck-Vilardi
- Rosen-Lowry-Iafallo
- Koepke-Namestnikov-Lambert
DEFENCE
- Samberg-DeMelo
- Ferraro-Pionk
- Fleury-Bauer
GOAL
Healthy scratches: D St. Ivany, LW Niederreiter
Injured: D Morrissey (upper-body), Salomonsson (shoulder), D Brown (lower-body), RW Duehr (lower-body)
ANAHEIM DUCKS
FORWARDS
- Greer-Carlsson-Gauthier
- Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke
- Nesterenko-Poehling-Colangelo
- Malott-Washe-Caulfield
DEFENCE
- LaCombe-Luneau
- Mintyukov-Mitchell
- Hinds-Warren
GOAL
Healthy scratches: LW Vatrano, RW Klepov, D Jensen
Injured: RW Terry (hip), D Moore (lower-body), D Helleson (lower-body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets coach Scott Arniel on life without Josh Morrissey, at least for one night.
“We’re not going to be able to (have) anybody to really replicate how much he plays, in all of the offensive situations that he’s in. But the other night, we went with 5D and I thought they did a fantastic job. (Assistant coach Dean Chynoweth) did a real good job of getting guys out there fresh – because it’s a hard situation. Everybody has to play a game that we talked about right out of training camp. We want to play fast and it’s defending fast, but then it’s also the offensive side. We know Josh is always going to go, but I’ve always said to our D, we want everybody moving and we want everybody (to be) a part of the rush. Four-man rushes make it hard on the opposition. I just think all of those guys are going to eat up some of Josh’s minutes, so just be at your best when you do.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken and Mike have the latest edition of Dump & Chase, their weekly NHL column. And Mike will have game analysis of Jets vs Ducks. Both pieces can be found in Saturday’s print edition and online.
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