Hab yourself a merry little Monday

Opinion

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This article was published 23/12/2019 (2086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

’Twas the game before Christmas — and you can expect Bell MTS Place to be filled with plenty of holiday spirit tonight as the Montreal Canadiens pay their annual visit, with hardcore fans across the city dusting off the bleu, blanc et rouge.

That’s just fine with the Winnipeg Jets, who are looking to head into a three-day break on a winning note and say a raucous, albeit divided crowd, should help keep the focus high at a time of year where distractions often come into play.

“The buzz in the building in Winnipeg matters. It gets going. Right around the national anthem, they’ll be cheering for both teams. It’ll be good. It’s going to be an exciting game,” head coach Paul Maurice said following Sunday’s practice at Bell MTS Iceplex.

His squad, now 21-13-2 on the season and in third place in the Central Division, was in a pretty festive mood during the 45-minute skate, no doubt fuelled by a dominating 6-0 victory on Saturday afternoon in St. Paul over the Minnesota Wild.

There was plenty to like about that performance, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Blake Wheeler became the franchise’s all-time leader for points, Connor Hellebuyck had a 31-save shutout, Jansen Harkins made his NHL debut and registered an assist and Patrik Laine scored twice.

It also moved the Wild to five points back of the Jets, where a regulation loss would have had them within one. Now the trick is to bottle up those good vibes and find a way to do it all over again against a 17-13-6 Montreal team that sits just outside the Eastern Conference playoff line.

“There’s Habs fans everywhere, so it’s going to be loud on both sides. It’ll be exciting. You want to finish off right before you go into a break. (Saturday) was a big stepping stone for us. You never like losing two in a row, but once you get into that three-game skid, it really creeps into your head,” said defenceman Nathan Beaulieu, who was drafted by Montreal in 2011 and played five seasons with the organization.

“It’s always special. I have a lot of good memories in Montreal, I know I’m going to see a lot of those guys (Sunday), a lot of good friends over there. It’s a joyful time of the year, but (tonight) will be a battle.”– Jets defenceman Nathan Beaulieu

“It’s always special. I have a lot of good memories in Montreal, I know I’m going to see a lot of those guys (Sunday), a lot of good friends over there. It’s a joyful time of the year, but (tonight) will be a battle,” he said, noting Brendan Gallagher and Shea Weber are two of his closest pals.

Beaulieu didn’t hit the scoresheet against Minnesota, yet he was awarded the post-game victory helmet by Wheeler for taking on Wild forward Luke Kunin in a spirited third-period scrap.

The Jets clearly saw this as avenging a pre-season hit from Kunin on Bryan Little which left the veteran Jets centre with a concussion.

“A lot of teams I’ve been on, we preach culture everywhere you go. But I feel like this is the first time I’ve really been on where we practice it. This is a very, very tight-knit group in here and we take care of each other. I think that’s why we’ve had such success at the beginning of the year,” said Beaulieu.

“It’s like a family aspect in here, and we’ve got a lot of guys working towards the same goal. It’s worked out well for us this far.”

Maurice said his group has demonstrated how much they care for each other in a variety of ways, citing Beaulieu’s fight, and two big shot blocks in the final couple minutes of the 6-0 rout from Bourque and Adam Lowry just to try to preserve Hellebuyck’s shutout.

“The most important thing that happens with your NHL team is that room takes on a life of it’s own in a very positive way. And that’s being connected,” said Maurice.

“What I believe we have here, right now, and it’s being built, is a respect for each other. And not just the guys that score, or not just the points guys. Everybody’s individual role on this team, the guys that are there to block shots, the guys that sometimes have to police the game a little bit. There’s a great respect being built for that. And that’s important. What’s most important is it has nothing to do with the coaching staff.”

Winnipeg lost two straight games on home ice last week, against Carolina and Chicago, prior to the road victory in the Twin Cities. They’ll want to stop that mini-skid at Bell MTS Place, especially with a particularly tough part of the schedule set to begin after Christmas including a home-and-home with the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues followed by a New Year’s eve date with the mighty Colorado Avalanche.

“I think the more we compete and the more we find that consistency, we’re a good team,” said defencemen Anthony Bitetto, who had two assists against Minnesota. “I think the biggest for us is just that work ethic. When we play hard and take pride in defending hard, I think that’s crucial for our team.”

Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Luca Sbisa and Gabriel Bourque all missed Sunday’s skate, but Maurice said he expects all will be fine to play against Montreal. The Jets will welcome former defenceman Ben Chiarot back to town after he signed a lucrative free-agent deal with the Canadiens over the summer. Ex-Jets forward Joel Armia is also on the club and having a strong season.

“They’re a good team. They’re fast, they’re going to play hard. It’s their game before the break, too. They want to finish on a good note. It’s going to be a challenge,” said Bitetto.

 

PERREAULT CLOSE TO RETURN – Veteran winger Mathieu Perreault could be ready for a post-Christmas return to action. Perreault has been in concussion protocol since Philadelphia’s Joel Farabee caught him with a blindside head shot on Dec. 15, which earned a three-game suspension.

“Because it’s Montreal it would mean so much for him to play in this game, but it’s not going to be Montreal. Then there will be three more days here (of a break). It is possible that he might be ready for St. Louis (on Dec. 27), but even with that one, having a few days off. We’re being very, very cautious with any kind of symptoms, but he’s had good days, so he’s not far off,” said Maurice.

THE WAITING GAME – Goalie Eric Comrie has been given an extra holiday break, excused from the Jets while they try to sort out where he’s going to play next. Comrie was re-acquired on waivers from Detroit last week, but the Jets can’t just ship him to the Manitoba Moose without first having to waive him, yet again. That would allow the Red Wings to swoop in and assign him directly to their AHL club in Grand Rapids, which was their intention.

For now, he sits and waits as the third goalie on the NHL club. Comrie was originally waived by Winnipeg, picked up by Arizona, then traded to the Red Wings where he made a couple starts before being waived again and snatched up by the Jets, who’d love to find a way to get him to the Moose to work in tandem with Mikhail Berdin. But the path to get him there remains unclear at this time.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg