Petan, Moose mates make most of Jets’ lineup mayhem

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This article was published 14/11/2016 (3280 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets don’t really have an unlimited pool of talented players waiting patiently in the minors, it just seems like that of late.

Another example of this came Monday morning when the club placed rookie forward Kyle Connor (upper body) on injured reserve and recalled centre Chase De Leo from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. It’s nothing new for the Jets, who have dealt with injuries to key personnel with effective help from the farm.

In the last two weeks, forwards Marko Dano, Nic Petan and Andrew Copp have received call-ups. On Sunday, it was winger Quinton Howden debuting for his hometown NHL team.

“When you get brought up you want to play and act like you fit in and you belong in this position,” Petan said after Winnipeg’s 3-2 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings Sunday. “I think, for the most part, the three or four of us who’ve been up, we’ve played and held our own pretty good.”

Those contributions have not just been bottom-six minutes. On Sunday, Dano started the game on Winnipeg’s No. 1 forward unit with Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine and scored a power-play goal, his fourth point in six games.

Petan, meanwhile, centred the No. 2 line and also played a key role with the second power-play unit, chipping in with an assist on Adam Lowry’s power-play goal. It was Petan’s fourth point in five games. He’s also been working at a 58.3 per cent clip in the faceoff circle.

Copp has contributed some strong minutes on the penalty-killing unit.

Petan said the club’s hectic game schedule has made it impossible to fine tune its special teams. The Jets have had to settle for video review as they prep for Tuesday’s showdown with the Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks (7 p.m., TSN3, TSN1290) at MTS Centre.

“(We’re) just keeping it simple,” Petan said. “Low to high, shots on net. We had tons of shots on that power play… So, it got (the Kings) skating around quite a bit and we moved the puck real quick.”

Added Jets head coach Paul Maurice: “Petan really makes so much of that happen with that unit.”

Petan played 26 games with the Jets in 2015-16 but his AHL seasoning appears to have made him better prepared this time around.

Could he actually be a better player in the NHL than he is in the minors?

“It’s tough to answer but it is a different game,” said Petan, who had 17:58 of ice time Sunday. “The AHL is just a touch slower and up here, guys know where you are. Where I think guys are, they’re there. Just that split second, it’s a touch faster.”

He’s also hoping to find the net — and soon.

“More shots on net,” he said, when asked where he’d most like to improve. “I’d like to get the first (goal) of the season but the team’s winning, so there’s no complaints here.”

More lineup juggling

Connor, who left Sunday’s game after Kings forward Kyle Clifford slammed him head first into the boards, must miss at least one week after being placed on IR.

Clifford was handed a five-minute major for boarding and the Jets scored twice on the subsequent power play.

De Leo, 21, had three goals and seven points in 12 games with the Moose. He made his NHL debut last season, playing two games as a call-up for Winnipeg.

Deadly duo

The Kings held Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele scoreless in regulation and overtime Sunday, but L.A. head coach Darryl Sutter saw first-hand how dangerous the pair can be during the shootout.

Both scored, with Laine’s superb goal evoking memories of Teemu Selanne, another Finn with astonishing finish.

“I was looking at that stick (of Laine) and it reminded me of Teemu’s stick,” Sutter told the Los Angeles Times. “I coached Teemu (in San Jose), so I go, ‘Oh, here it comes.’ Those two kids, Scheifele and Laine, coming into the game, they combined for 21 goals… Those kids are really good players.”

Lineups

Blackhawks

33 Scott Darling G

50 Corey Crawford G

 

2 Duncan Keith (A) D

4 Niklas Hjalmarsson D

6 Michal Kempny D

7 Brent Seabrook (A) D

8 Nick Schmaltz C

11 Andrew Dejardins LW

14 Richard Panik LW

15 Artem Anisimov C

16 Marcus Kruger C

19 Jonathan Toews (C) C

22 Jordin Tootoo RW

32 Michal Rozsival D

38 Ryan Hartman RW

42 Gustav Forsling D

48 Vinnie Hinostroza LW

51 Brian Campbell D

64 Tyler Motte LW

70 Dennis Rasmussen C

72 Artemi Panarin LW

81 Marian Hossa RW

88 Patrick Kane RW

Head coach: Joel Quenneville

Assistant coaches: Kevin Dineen, Mike Kitchen

Goaltending coach: Jimmy Waite

 

Jets

34 Michael Hutchinson

37 Connor Hellebuyck

 

4 Paul Postma D

5 Mark Stuart D

7 Ben Chiarot D

9 Andrew Copp C

13 Brandon Tanev LW

17 Adam Lowry C

19 Nic Petan LW

21 Quinton Howden LW

22 Chris Thorburn RW

26 Blake Wheeler (C) RW

27 Nikolaj Ehlers LW

29 Patrik Laine LW

33 Dustin Byfuglien (A) D

39 Toby Enstrom D

44 Josh Morrissey D

55 Mark Scheifele (A) C

56 Marko Dano RW

77 Chase De Leo C

85 Mathieu Perreault C

91 Alex Burmistrov C

 

Head coach: Paul Maurice

Assistant coaches: Jamie Kompon, Charlie Huddy, Todd Woodcroft

Goaltending coach: Wade Flaherty

 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14