Veterans take heat off Laine

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This article was published 30/09/2016 (3326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On a night Winnipeggers came to celebrate the NHL debut of sensational rookie Patrik Laine, some veteran Jets were dominating the action in a 5-1 pre-season victory over the Edmonton Oilers at the MTS Centre Friday.

Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien, Toby Enstrom and Blake Wheeler, all making their first pre-season starts, and Adam Lowry did most of the heavy lifting while Laine was finding his way early.

Lowry opened the scoring at 8:39 of the first period, kicking the puck to his stick after a pass from Wheeler before jamming the puck past Oilers goalie Cam Talbot. The play finished a nice sequence that began with a pass from Byfuglien to Scheifele and then to Wheeler.

Armia made it 2-0 at 12:13 of the opening period, roaring across the goalmouth before lifting a superb backhand over Talbot after an excellent cross-ice feed from Scheifele. Scheifele finished with a goal and three assists.

“Yeah, it was a really nice pass by Scheifs,” said Armia. “It was all him. I just had to finish it.”

The Winnipeg power play, which finished dead last in the NHL last season, was still humming at 2:53 of the middle period when blue-liner Toby Enstrom slammed an errant clearing attempt home.

That’s when the 18-year-old Finn, chosen No. 2 overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, started to catch fire playing on a line with Joel Armia and Nic Petan. During a Winnipeg power play, he ripped a shot after Josh Morrissey’s feed from the left side. Talbot made a quick pad save.

In third period, Laine had another glorious chance on a setup from Armia but misfired.

“The first period was kind of hard to play,” said Laine. “I was nervous and couldn’t play my game. It’s always the first game (with a new) team. For me, it’s always hard.”

Getting through his first game seemed to be more of a relief for Laine, who played for Finland at the recent World Cup of Hockey.

“Of course it’s nice to get it over with and focus on the future and help my team to win,” he said. “It’s nice to get some feeling on the power play, but the shots weren’t so good. I have to improve my game a lot. I will improve my game.”

Armia said it’s all a matter of time for some chemistry to develop with Laine.

“It was good,” he said. “There’s still some things we have to work on. Overall it was pretty good. It’s fun to talk Finnish on the ice and know what he’s doing and he knows what I’m doing.”

 

 

Turning on the power

Wheeler, who finished the game with three assists, appreciated a potent power play that went 4-for-5.

“It’s great to score goals, but a really good power play clips at what, 20 per cent?” said Wheeler. “So you’re failing four times out of five. You’ve gotta be creating momentum and we didn’t do a good enough job of that last year.”

The veteran input by the likes of Scheifele and Wheeler was welcomed by Jets assistant coach Jamie Kompon.

“They set the tone, they set the pace, they push the pace and everyone’s got to jump on board,” he said. “They’re watching how fast they play and that’s the kind of game we want to play. We want to play a fast game, want to play with speed and tempo. And everyone’s got to get up to their pace.”

Connor impresses

Rookie winger Kyle Connor, who played on a line with Wheeler and Scheifele, seems to be finding his comfort zone and scored his second goal in as many nights.

“Kyle’s got an innate ability to find that open ice,” said Kompon. “He gets his opportunities that way because he’s got that nose for the net, he’s got such a quick release and such quick hands in tight. It’s very evident that’s why he got drafted where he got drafted. You see that now transforming into the NHL. You’ve got a heck of a player.”

Hope for resolution

Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice was unequivocal. He wants restricted free agent defenceman Jacob Trouba in the Jets’ opening night lineup Oct. 13 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Trouba, 22, has not reported to training camp and has requested a trade.

“We’ve seen it before. It’s unfortunate,” said Maurice during a pre-game news conference after his return to Winnipeg following a stint on the coaching staff of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey. “We’ve also seen these things get resolved. I’m a big Jake Trouba fan. Every player has the right to control his own destiny. I absolutely have no problem with that. I do view him as a Winnipeg Jet. And I look forward to him walking through that door and playing for us again.”

Up next: After a day off, the Jets continue their pre-season schedule in Calgary against the Flames Sunday. The club returns to Winnipeg for a game against the Ottawa Senators Monday.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca Twitter @sawa14