Jets welcome chance to catch their breath Scheifele day-to-day, Ehlers likely and Connor possible as team prepares to meet Islanders By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 5:35 PM CST Monday, Jan. 15, 2024

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There hasn’t been a lot of time to stop and smell the roses. Or, more accurately given the time of year around here, shovel the snow. Life has just been that busy lately for the Winnipeg Jets.

“It really has been a tough schedule,” associate coach Scott Arniel said following Monday’s practice. He, of course, was referring to the club’s hectic stretch of nine NHL games over a 15-day span that ended Saturday night with a tough 2-0 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. “We were going at a pretty good clip here.”

Now, finally, a chance to relax, recover and, for what had been hockey’s hottest team, hopefully, to resume the type of play that led to a franchise-record eight consecutive wins (over just 13 days) prior to being grounded by the Flyers.

“Rest is a weapon,” said defenceman Dylan Samberg.

“We had a big stretch there, lot of games in not a lot of days. Every team goes through it and I feel like we did really well during that stretch and can’t complain.”

No, they can’t, considering the Jets (28-10-4) are the No. 1 team in the NHL right now based on point percentage.

Winnipeg wraps up a four-game homestand against the New York Islanders on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and then plays just four times over the next 20 days which includes a four-day player break followed immediately by the five-day All-Star Weekend break.

“From here to the break, it’s just stay focused. Don’t look at your vacation plans and don’t get too far ahead of yourself. Finish our business, these next five games, get it done,” Arniel said, of the collective mindset.

“We don’t have to tell the players — everyone who was here last year — they know how after the break, how our game sort of changed a little bit.”–Scott Arniel

“There are some good teams we’re going to be facing. So, if we can just stay focused, we can do a lot of good things here and finish on a strong note to get to the break.”

The one “R” word the Jets will aim to avoid is regression. They’ve had strong first halves in recent years — including last season — only to fade badly.

“We don’t have to tell the players — everyone who was here last year — they know how after the break, how our game sort of changed a little bit,” said Arniel.

“We’re not there yet but we still have some work to do here before we get to the break. The big thing for us is to get to the break, and get to it the same way we’ve been playing. Stay consistent with our work ethic. Stay consistent on how we approach each team.”

This lighter load will also allow plenty of practice time, which has become a rarity lately. The Jets spent Sunday away from the rink but held an on-ice workout downtown Monday, and have a couple more scheduled later this week as well.

“We haven’t had a chance to do this in a long time. To get in, get a workout in, get on the ice and have a chance to have a full practice,” said defenceman Nate Schmidt. “It didn’t feel like we were in Groundhog Day of waking up and it’s a game-day. Having a little bit different routine here gives you a bit of life.”

Although their play remained rock solid, the Jets took a few hits on the injury front over this recent span. Mark Scheifele suffered a lower-body injury last Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks and missed his first game of the season two nights later.

He didn’t skate on Monday and is still considered day to day, with a chance of playing Tuesday.

Nikolaj Ehlers suffered an upper-body ailment last week but played through it against the Flyers. He was also absent Monday.

“I’d like to think he’d be back in (Tuesday). It’s sort of more maintenance,” Arniel said.

Then there’s the question of leading goalscorer Kyle Connor, who was flying around the ice in his first full practice wearing a regular contact jersey. Activating him in time to face the Islanders, just over five weeks after suffering a knee injury expected to keep him out six-to-eight weeks, hasn’t been ruled out.

“We’ll see how he is (Tuesday) and go from there. It’s nice to see him back, obviously,” said Arniel.

“(Monday) was the first one where he was right in the middle of everything. Whether it was power play or five-on-five, those are specific things for him and some of the other players not having been able to do that lately. So, it was good for him to be in situations that were real game-like. We’ll let him wake up (Tuesday), see how it’s like, and go from there.”

Although their eight-game win streak and 14-game point streak both ended Saturday, the Jets did extend a streak of consecutive games without allowing more than three goals to an incredible 32, which is just three short of the modern-day NHL record held by the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild.

“Defence first, that’s our mentality,” said Samberg.

“From Day 1, that’s really what we’ve been focused on, if you can shut them down and generate more opportunities for yourself. I feel like we’ve been doing that really well lately. Obviously, you’re not going to score a lot every night, but we’ve been in all these games.”

Indeed, Winnipeg’s last two regulation losses, which came 15 games apart, were by scores of 2-1 and 2-0.

“(The streak) hasn’t been talked about in our room. We just talk about how well our goaltenders have played and how well our team defence game is,” said Schmidt.

“It’s not really just one guy, it’s a group of forwards that are committed to it as well. Our centres have done a really great job with our defencemen, and our communication in the D-zone. We want to keep this thing going. That’s kind of been our MO.”

“(The streak) hasn’t been talked about in our room. We just talk about how well our goaltenders have played and how well our team defence game is.”–Nate Schmidt

Schmidt believes this year’s team has the focus and discipline to handle whatever comes its way, including an abrupt shift in schedule from heavy to light.

“If you’re playing well and playing every other day… that’s hard to be able to keep that going, you have to be mentally tough to keep that going,” said Schmidt.

“The flipside of that is if you’re mentally tough enough and you get the rest in between, that’s the best of both worlds, to get your guys back and healthy and being able to work on things in practice. The (next few weeks) is followed up by a meat grinder on the back half of the year. So you take your rest and take your timing because it’s going to fly by.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg