Little slump no small matter

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This article was published 03/02/2016 (3743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are two kinds of scoring slumps in the NHL — the kind where you’re not getting any quality chances and the kind where you’re getting chances but not burying them.

Winnipeg Jets centre Bryan Little — who has just one goal in his last 15 games — is definitely in the second category.

Case in point: Tuesday night’s 5-3 Jets loss to the Dallas Stars in which Little had a breakaway, a partial breakaway and too many glorious chances in front of the net to count and yet still came away with zeroes on the scoresheet and a fat minus-three for his efforts.

So it has gone for Little, who has scored just once since Dec. 27 and hasn’t registered a point of any kind in his last six games.

What gives?

So what gives? How does a guy who put up a team-leading 14 goals in his first 35 games score just one in his last 15 and turn what, at one point looked like it could be a career season, into a search and rescue mission?

Good question, said Little.

“I feel like I’m playing well and we’re getting scoring chances,” Little said following practice at the MTS Centre Wednesday. “It would be one thing if I wasn’t getting any shots or not doing anything out there.

“But we’re getting chances — real good chances. And I think it’s just a matter of relaxing when you do get those chances.”

Once almost inseparable as the centre of the Jets top line between Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler, Little has played with a series of different linemates in recent weeks as injuries and the Jets’ struggles have forced head coach Paul Maurice to haul out his line blender.

This week, Little is centring a line between Mathieu Perreault and Drew Stafford on what is now the team’s defacto second line, behind a new — and wicked fast — top line of Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Wheeler.

Whatever the reasons underlying Little’s slump, it’s costing his club in a big way as they struggle to find ways to generate offence. The Jets have mustered just one goal in five of their last eight games and, not surprisingly, have just a 1-4 record to show for those games.

Add it up and Little’s struggles right now are both a symptom and a cause of Winnipeg’s offensive malaise.

So what’s the plan?

“You’re not going to tell a guy to score harder,” said Maurice.

“He’s got good moves on (his) scoring opportunities. It’s not like the puck is rolling off his stick into the corner or he’s pumping it into a guy’s chest. He’s making the moves that worked for him in the past and they’re close to being good and getting it done.

“So you just fall back to the standard cliche with guys like that — you’re (more) worried when they’re not getting anything.

“He was in alone twice (against Dallas) and the guy made a pretty good save on the one for sure.”

Little says he’s learned from experience just to take a deep breath at moments like these and not make the problem worse.

“I think every season I’ve had a point like this. I’ve been through it before and I think I’m better at handling it than when I was younger.

“You get upset and you kind of take it home with you and it kind of gets worse. It can get worse and carry on longer than you want to. You come to the rink with your head down.

“Whereas now, I was frustrated and upset after the game (Tuesday night), but you leave it there and you come in today with a new mindset.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek