Injuries give low-profile Jets chance to soar

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This article was published 02/08/2020 (1866 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — Andrew Copp called it the “next-man-up mentality.” And the Winnipeg Jets’ depth is likely going to get tested following a worst-case start to their qualifying round series against the Calgary Flames.

Both Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine left the 4-1 loss with injuries and were being evaluated on Sunday. Scheifele’s leg injury appears to be serious, while Laine’s arm/hand ailment could spell disaster if it causes him to miss any action.

That opens the door for someone like Jansen Harkins to get into the lineup and try to light a spark. He was in the pre-game skate on Saturday night, with Nikolaj Ehlers a bit of a question mark due to a lingering issue, but was scratched when Ehlers was cleared to play.

His post-season debut is likely to come during Monday’s Game 2, set for 1:30 p.m. CT.

“He’s made big strides. You saw what he could do in the American League, being named to the all-star team. He was dominating that league on a nightly basis. For him to come up and get his feet wet, you really started to see the confidence grow. We had a few injuries and he started to play a lot more minutes and he really generated some good offence, whether he was playing with Copp and Roslovic or with Appleton and Roslovic,” Jets centre Adam Lowry said Sunday.

“I think you can see the skill there, and the smarts. He’s one of those guys who is quick to areas, he’s quick to make good offensive plays. If he draws in, that’s what we’re going to look for, him building off the regular season that he had for us. Trying to provide a little bit of that spark and bring that quickness to the lineup.”

Harkins, 23, appeared in 29 regular-season games, with two goals and five assists. The 47th overall pick from the 2015 draft may have taken some time to develop, but he showed plenty of versatility to move up and down the lineup. He quickly gained the trust of coach Paul Maurice.

“There’s a story of a guy that… I don’t know if benefit of the doubt is the right word. He didn’t get one shift, one look, one game that he didn’t completely earn. I remember sending him down at the end of training camp thinking this guy has done almost everything he possibly can for himself. I’m not saying he was ready to play in the NHL, but he was bigger, stronger, faster and he was starting to piss all of the veteran guys off in training camp because he wouldn’t come off it in practice, he was still finishing checks and grinding,” said Maurice.

“The older guys are getting ready for the season and they don’t want to get popped in practice and when he came in, he made the most of his opportunities. So everything that Jansen Harkins (got), he didn’t get there because he was drafted high and we needed to give him a chance. We certainly didn’t develop him in the NHL, he earned his chance by paying his dues in the minors.”

If the Jets need to add a second forward to Monday’s lineup, veteran Gabriel Bourque would likely get the call. Other forwards on the post-season roster include rookie David Gustafsson, Mark Letestu and Logan Shaw.

“I think that’s been our calling card all year, being able to handle adversity right from the first day of training camp. If you even want to go back into the summer a little bit. We’ve handled it as well as we can all year in terms of on-ice performance. But we’ve handled it mentally even better, I think. It’s going to be another hurdle for us, but like I said, we’ve been doing it all year,” said Copp.

“If we miss any of those guys, it’s going to be a collective effort for sure but we’ve handled circumstances all year and we’re going to rely on that next-man-up mentality and that team play we’re capable of playing.”

LET’S GET PHYSICAL: There’s no question Calgary came out intending to impose its will on the Jets when it comes to physical play. Although the stats sheet shows the Jets out-hit the Flames 34-30, the eye test tells you Winnipeg often came out on the wrong end of encounters.

“They would have had the advantage to that. The end result really wasn’t much in terms of zone time or turnovers that ended up coming back at us. It was just guys finishing their routes. When we’re at our best we’re on the body, but we’re not built right now to be running people around the rink as a priority of our game,” said Maurice.

He believes his team plays better when there’s an edge, attributing it to a heavy dose of weighty games in the Central Division against rivals such as St. Louis, Nashville and Minnesota. They’ll have to be on guard in that department.

“I think we knew what they were going to try and do. They have a couple of really tough players and some that kind of follow their lead. We knew they’re a hard forechecking team. That’s part of their game, part of their style. Usually in the playoffs, physicality ramps up,” said Lowry.

“We have some guys in this room that can use their size and use our physicality to try to match that, and the other guys use their speed. (Saturday’s) game, we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be and I think that kind of slowed us down and allowed their physicality to be an advantage for them. Whereas if we’re a little sharper (Monday), and we’re able to come out of our zone a little cleaner, some of those hits that they made won’t be there and we’ll be controlling the puck a little more in their zone.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg