Keeping a level head will be key to Jets’ success this season, says Little

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This article was published 08/10/2017 (2896 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — The problems facing the Winnipeg Jets seem to be happening, quite obviously, in the NHL club’s own end of the rink.

Give up 13 goals in just two games and it’s pretty clear to all that protection around the net is inadequate. Just ask the folks on Twitter who live and die with defenceman Dustin Byfuglien’s wanderlust.

But the Jets maintain it’s the space between their ears that’s the real trouble spot.

Winnipeg has suffered back-to-back lopsided defeats to begin the 2017-18 NHL season. On Saturday night, Calgary thrilled its fans with a 6-3 come-back triumph over Winnipeg in the Flames’ home-opener. Three nights before, the Jets disappointed their supporters after getting thumped 7-2 by the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs in the kick-off to the season for both teams.

The Jets had smooth take-offs in both contests, out-playing and out-chancing the Leafs before self-destructing and yielding three goals in the final four minutes.

In Calgary, Winnipeg scored shorthanded, on the power play and five-on-five to grab a 3-1 first-period lead but became unravelled as the Flames fired five unanswered to take command.

Veteran centre Bryan Little said it’s not the Xs and Os the squad is struggling with — instead, there’s a panic that infiltrates when the club starts to feel the tide turning.

“It’s just handling the momentum changes in the game, and you saw that (Saturday) night,” he said. “We had another great first period, then they started to creep back into the game. They start to get some energy and they were flying around, and we kind of froze. We didn’t really know what to do.

“That’s the biggest thing, how to handle and respond to those situations. When you get scored against, making sure you have a couple of really good shifts right after that, just to keep yourself in the game.”

He said maintaining a level head under duress is a difficult thing when winning is so vitally important for a club that hasn’t, historically, experience much success.

Little said it’s on the veterans to demonstrate a calmness in their play — and that should spread through the entire group.

“It’s on the older players… to let (younger Jets) know we can weather this. It’s on the younger guys, too. They need to grow up fast. They’re some of our better players in this dressing room. We’re asking a lot of them to be mature and play a veteran-style of game. I think we’re going to need that if we’re going to have success.”

Josh Morrissey, in just his second NHL season, said carving out an appropriate response when the opposition pushes back is the responsibility of every player.

That means sticking to a game plan that was working early, and not improvising when pressure builds.

“It’s managing the puck in certain situations in the game. You feel that once they score, obviously, you have a two- or three-minute window where the other team presses pretty hard and that’s where you have to respond with simple plays and not give them anything easy,” said Morrissey.

“When the other teams gets momentum and you lose a little bit, it sounds crazy but that’s when you have to be a little bit calm and have some composure.”

The Jets continue the search for their first victory tonight when they face the Edmonton Oilers at 8 p.m. CT.

Head coach Paul Maurice was asked how one teaches a team to be unflappable.

“There’s a lot of pieces that go to that. Experience is one of them, experience in the good and the bad and living through it,” he said. “There are momentum shifts in every game, and it’s not the change in momentum that gets you in trouble, it’s your reaction to it — the mistake that you make after it gets to even, not really the mistake that got you to even where you change your mindset. Simple hockey, right? That’s what we’re trying to get to.”

The pressure players are putting on themselves has become a burden, Maurice said.

“It’s a good bunch of guys. They’re trying to make the playoffs in October. It’s like we’re playing the deciding game every night, and when it got away from us we’re carrying too much weight,” he said. “We’ve got to play harder, compete harder, but we’ve got to do it through relaxing and playing the game and occasionally breathing. You’ve got to take one in every once in a while and hit the re-set button, go out and play.”

Connor Hellebuyck will take over the Jets crease against the Oilers, giving Steve Mason a reprieve after the recent onslaught, said Maurice.

“Steve’s had enough. I mean, he made some great, great saves (Saturday) and he’s not getting a lot of breaks around him and in front of the net, either. So, Helley goes in. It’s the right time.”

He wouldn’t discuss any other personnel moves. Forward Marko Dano and defencemen Ben Chiarot and Tucker Poolman were healthy scratches in Calgary.

Two of the club’s leaders, captain Blake Wheeler and defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, were absent from practice, but Maurice indicated it was a ‘maintenance day’ for both and they’ll play tonight.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell