Morrissey’s big assist from bench

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/10/2023 (723 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Awareness comes in many forms and this double dose — from one player on the ice and another lending a helping hand from the bench — ultimately led to the game-winning goal.

Josh Morrissey won’t get credit on the scoresheet, but his ability to hand his stick to Adam Lowry during a Winnipeg Jets penalty kill during the third period and the resulting marker from Mason Appleton proved to be the difference in a 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon over the Florida Panthers.

Lowry lost his own stick when stealing the puck from Matthew Tkachuk and as the puck came up the right-wing boards, the Jets captain considered just kicking it outside the defensive zone before heading to the bench for a line change.

But after realizing he had a bit more time, Morrissey handed Lowry a stick, which allowed the Jets to go up the ice on a two-on-one rush.

Using the new lumber, Lowry delivered a saucer pass to Mason Appleton, who beat Sergei Bobrosky with a quick shot at 14:17 of the third period.

“Unbelievable handoff. It was so smooth I didn’t even know it was him until we got back to the bench,” said Lowry. “I was going to kick it down the ice and all of a sudden there is a stick in my stomach. I felt like a running back hitting the hole. It was a super heads-up play.

“He was quick on the draw too. But it’s just one of those things, where it happens once in a while where guys get other sticks from the bench, usually your own, go down and score but it’s pretty rare with someone else’s. But yeah, just a great assist from J-Mo.”

Morrissey was just trying to stay engaged in the game.

“I’m not on the PK a ton, so I just try to stay sharp,” said Morrissey. “I can’t remember exactly how he got to his feet there or how it popped into his feet there, but obviously he had no stick. I was looking right at him, at his eyes, and at first, it looked like he was going to kick it because he thought he might just have to get it down (the ice). Then he made a great play of realizing that he had some time and I just fed the stick right in the bread basket, which maybe forces his hand.

“He made an unreal pass after and it’s a nice goal by (Appleton). That was fun. It was a spur of the moment thing. You just try to get him the stick. I know he’s a lefty, so I’m trying to get him a lefty stick, even though his is quite a bit longer. I don’t know, maybe after that backhand sauce, he’ll consider switching to mine.”

After executing the handoff, Morrissey went back into spectator mode before joining in the celebration after the red light went on.

“There was a lot of excitement on the bench. We were all waiting in anticipation and then (Appleton’s shot) goes in and we just went nuts,” said Morrissey. “It was awesome. No assist on the play. No plus, nothing like that. But, cool to feel like you’re part of the goal. Maybe they should add one for me.”

Morrissey wasn’t the only Jets player who felt that way.

“I think he deserves one actually for that,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele, who had a goal, assist and fight to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick. “Just unbelievably smart thinking and even Lowry, just to have the wherewithal to put it together with his stick and then make a nice pass.

“J-Mo, he threw (the stick) right into his chest. I don’t think Lowry was focusing on it, so if the stick is just hanging there, he probably doesn’t grab it, but it hits him in the chest. Now I have to take it. Just a great play all around.”

Appleton praised the alertness of Morrissey and the pass from Lowry with a borrowed blade.

“The bench was elite on that one,” said Appleton. “If you see me, I was like ‘I don’t know if this was going to work’ so I started coming over (to Lowry) and then they completed that handoff to perfection and we had a two-on-one then and then (Lowry), to take a stick that’s four inches shorter and has a different curve and throw a perfect sauce pace right onto my tape, it was nuts.

“At the time, it was so bang-bang that you didn’t really think about it. Then, when I got back to the bench and started thinking about it, it was hilarious that it worked out like that.”

Count Jets head coach Rick Bowness among those impressed with how the series of events unfolded.

“You’re into the game, that’s what it says about that. He was, right off the bat,” Bowness said of Morrissey. “He’s been great the last two games, he really has. He’s picked up right where he left off last year. To be that alert on the bench, fortunately it was a left-handed shot, right?

“Probably a little different in the height of the stick between what Adam uses and what Josh uses. But good for (Morrissey) to do that. Again, go back to Adam making that play with a stick he’s never used before and a lot shorter stick than he’s used to playing with and he still made a great play.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: WiebesWorld