Visiting Jets take a bite out of Coyotes

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This article was published 10/11/2016 (3247 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Early indications suggested a Thursday night meeting with the Arizona Coyotes was not going to result in another lopsided victory for the Winnipeg Jets.

Converted left-winger Andrew Copp scored for the visitors on their first shot of the game just under five minute in, yet so little good came out of the rest of the period as the Jets trudged through quicksand against the feisty desert dogs.

But Winnipeg cranked up the energy level in the second period — sparked by captain Blake Wheeler’s first goal in a dozen games — and really hit its stride in the final frame in a 3-2 victory over Arizona before an announced crowd of 11,185 at Gila River Arena.

The victory came 48 hours after the Jets (7-7-1) ran roughshod over the Dallas Stars to the tune of 8-2.

Earning two points at the Coyotes’ (5-8-0) expense wasn’t nearly as easy.

“We struggled with, I don’t know, maybe coming off an eight-goal night that we were going to do this a little differently,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “But it’s a good sign when you can make the necessary adjustments in your game, or come out and have a (first) period you’re not very excited about and then build on it and play your best period with a 2-1 lead.

“We weren’t moving our feet when we were trying to move the puck in the first, and you’re not going to do that against a (Arizona coach) Dave Tippett team, ever. So, we got skating a little bit better and simplified some of the things we did and we got some really good zone time in there and were pretty good in the offensive zone.”

Maurice said his club was fortunate to survive far too many blunders during the first half of the hockey game.

“Careless, you were bang on with that,” he said. “But we had some real fine offence in the third. You put it in a blend and we come out even on a fairly solid road game. If you talk about our first period, we struggled. But again, that happens. It happens on the road.”

Coyotes veteran winger Radim Vrbata tied the game at 9:48 with a hard shot past goalie Connor Hellebuyck. But midway through the second frame, centre Nic Petan — thrust into a Top-6 role with injuries to Bryan Little and Mathieu Perreault — made a splendid play, attracting a couple of defenders below the goal line before sending a pass to Wheeler, left alone in the slot.

“It was a great play. I found a little space there and it’s a great heads-up play for him to see me,” said Wheeler. “Any time you can get a puck in the slot, it’s a good feeling.”

Bottom 6 support

 

Against Dallas, the sizzling trio of centre Mark Scheifele, right-winger Patrik Laine and left-winger Nikolaj Ehlers seized the spotlight. Two nights later and about 3,000 kilometres away, the line had a solid though less-glitzy performance.

Ehlers scored his fourth goal of the year with just over three minutes left in the contest for a 3-1 Jets advantage, making Coyotes blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson pay for a horrible turnover, while Schiefele and Laine each had assists in the game. But they gave way to the lunch-pail third unit of Copp, centre Adam Lowry and right-winger Brandon Tanev as Winnipeg’s most effective unit.

Copp, the club’s regular fourth-line centre last season, began the 2016-17 campaign with the Moose but was recalled during a recent spate of injuries.

The 22-year-old has had an impactful return, particularly in the offensive zone.

“That’s really what I tried to focus on after being sent down,” he said. “Keep that offensive confidence. Keep playing with the puck. And down there (in the AHL), it gave me a lot of puck touches, and now coming up here and playing more than a six- or seven-minute role has been so important for me.”

Said Maurice of the Lowry line: “Very consistent, from start to finish, that line. They played the game, and the (Alex) Burmistrov line as well, both played a hard game and they spent time in the offensive zone because of it. I thought the other two lines, it took a period before they got going a bit.”

Arizona forward Tobias Reider scored a meaningless goal with two seconds left in the game.

Coyotes starting netminder Louis Domingue made 24 saves.

Hellebuyck again

The Jets turned to Hellebuyck for the fourth straight game and he delivered a 23-save performance to run his personal record to 5-4 this season.

“I’m definitely taking that steady climb, and every game is building confidence,” he said. “When we score eight goals and then follow up with another win, I think that just not only builds my confidence but it builds my trust in my teammates and builds the whole team’s confidence.”

With an injury to goalie Ondrej Pavelec last year, Hellebuyck became the main man for a lengthy stint.

He said he’s comfortable with a hefty workload.

“I love playing a lot and I think I’m conditioned for it,” he said. “I think I prepare the right way.”

No Trouba — yet

The Jets iced the same lineup that shot down the Stars on Tuesday.

Defenceman Jacob Trouba’s season debut almost assuredly comes Friday night when the Jets collide with the Colorado Avalanche in Denver at 8 p.m.

Trouba, who signed Monday after a lengthy contract dispute, has now skated three times with the club and looks ready for a legitimate test Friday against the Avs.

Though offering no guarantee the 22-year-old from Rochester, Mich., will be inserted into the lineup Friday, Maurice hinted strongly it would happen.

“You’re more open to put a new player in on back-to-backs with fresh legs, that kind of idea,” he said, noting several factors will go into his decision.

“The performance of the players that are in the lineup now has to be important, and just getting him on the ice and getting him some time here, getting him comfortable,” said Maurice. “Sooner rather than later. It’s going to be a tough call based on (Tuesday’s) game, and really for some of them, when the player has to come out, we want it to be the right time.”

Trouba inked a new two-year, $6-million deal this week and rescinded an earlier trade demand.

He’s in his fourth season with the Jets after the club selected him ninth overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. He played one year with at the University of Michigan before making the leap to the NHL in time for the 2013-14 campaign.

After the clash in Denver, Winnipeg heads home to face the Los Angeles Kings at 1 p.m. Sunday at MTS Centre.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell