When Jets winger Mathieu Perreault starts scoring, opponents should be concerned

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This article was published 11/12/2015 (3581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHICAGO — Mathieu Perreault leaned back in his stall in the Winnipeg Jets locker-room Thursday and spoke about his scoring touch as if it were pure chance, a phenomenon that comes and goes with no warning.

“Sometimes you take a shot and it goes post and in, the other time it hits the post and doesn’t go in,” he said after the morning skate. “That’s just how this game goes.”

Hours later, the Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-4, and it became evident within moments of the opening faceoff Perreault’s offensive gifts had made it to the MTS Centre.

He assisted on the Jets’ first goal 27 seconds into the game. By the early stages of the third period he had collected two more helpers.

Then, moments later and with the Jets up 4-2, he stepped over the blue-line and ripped a shot to the top right corner, beating goalie Curtis McElhinney for his fourth point of the night and what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

“We got to question (Perreault’s) offence before the Chicago game (Friday),” Jets coach Paul Maurice said after the game, making light of a question earlier in the day about Perreault’s slow start in the goal category.

Thursday’s goal was just his fourth through 29 games. At this rate he’ll finish the year with 11.

Perreault’s linemate, Mark Scheifele, has already registered that many; much of that do with the fact he has Perreault and Drew Stafford flanking him on the second line. Stafford has nine goals, five coming since the trio was put together in mid-November.

“That’s probably one of the better lines I’ve been part of in my whole career,” said Perreault, who spent much of his final season as an Anaheim Duck playing alongside Teemu Selanne. “I try and give them the puck and let them shoot, because they have great shots. Maybe that has an impact on the fact I haven’t scored much.”

The question to Maurice wasn’t to suggest Perreault isn’t producing. After all, the Jets’ left-winger sits third in team scoring with 23 points in 29 games.

If he can stay healthy this season, he’s primed to reach the 60-point mark for the first time; his best campaign came as a member of the Ducks when he collected 43 points in 69 games.

Last year, the 27-year-old finished with 18 goals, tied for fifth on the Jets despite injuries limiting him to 62 games — a total that expands to 24 over an 82-game season, which would have put him in a tie with Blake Wheeler for the team lead.

Instead, the question put to Maurice was intended to spur talk about the other, and equally beneficial, parts of Perreault’s game.

For example, at 5-10 and 188 pounds, he has an edge to his game not many of his size do. He’s not afraid to get dirty in the corners, or throw an open-ice hit if the chance comes along.

“For not a big-statured fella, he might be one of our hardest forecheckers, or our hardest-grinding guy,” said Maurice. “He’s hard on the puck, spends a lot of time on the ice over the course of the game trying to hit guys that are bigger than he is.”

It’s a part of his game that developed as a means of survival. It wasn’t always a certainty Perreault would be a regular NHLer. When he started his career in Washington, and again when he moved on to Anaheim, he needed to separate himself; to become more versatile if he was going to last more than a couple of seasons.

Prior to arriving in Winnipeg, Perreault had never made more than US$1.1 million in any of his first five seasons, playing mostly in a third-line role or in the AHL.

Now, in a city where he’s never felt more comfortable, playing in a role that includes top-line minutes as well as first-unit power play, he’s more equipped to see the bigger picture.

“I’m very pleased at where my game is right now and I feel like I’ve been creating a lot,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter who scores the goals as long as you’re helping your team win, and this is what I feel like I’ve been doing.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton