Jets know Tampa has big gun in Stamkos

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This article was published 22/10/2015 (3631 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the case on most nights that the Winnipeg Jets have their hands full with the quality of opponents.

Friday’s game at the MTS Centre brings one of the league’s elite snipers to town as centre Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning arrive for their only visit of the season.

Stamkos, now 25, is off to another fine start, with five goals in the Lightning’s first seven games. He scored 43 times in 2014-15 and helped his team all the way to the Stanley Cup final.

Jets coach Paul Maurice underlined the challenge for the his team’s next game, complimenting Stamkos’s elite abilities.

“Where it gets to be a bigger challenge is when you add experience,” Maurice said after today’s practice at the MTS Centre. “He’s been in the league now and has the experience and knows when to finish his checks.

“He’s quite a bit more physical player than when he came into the league. He’s now leading that on the ice. He can tell when his team needs that push and he gets on the body a little quicker and harder.”

It’s not all fear and quaking for the Jets, Maurice added.

“We have experience, too, in terms of the league and trying to shut that down,” he said. “But now you’ve got a guy that’s kind of right in his prime. He’s physically very strong, great speed, good shot, knows when to drive a team a certain way.”

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Tampa Bay, 4-2-1, to start the season, is into Game 2 of a five-game stretch against Central Division teams.

The Jets, 4-2-0 so far, haven’t played since last Sunday’s 4-2 home loss against St. Louis, matching their longest break of the schedule’s first half.

“It’s the hand we’re dealt so take advantage of it and get some rest,” said defenceman Jacob Trouba. “It’s a little bit similar to all-star breaks and the Olympic break, just getting back to your game at practice and you have to start ramping it up at practice and then tomorrow morning, get your legs back under you and get your intensity back up.

“We’ll be ready to go at 7 o’clock.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca