Break couldn’t come at a better time for injury-riddled Jets

Depth paying dividends with regulars sidelined

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TORONTO — The chance to exhale is just around the corner and it’s become abundantly clear the player-bye week and NHL all-star break probably couldn’t be coming at a better time for the Winnipeg Jets.

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TORONTO — The chance to exhale is just around the corner and it’s become abundantly clear the player-bye week and NHL all-star break probably couldn’t be coming at a better time for the Winnipeg Jets.

Unlike the Christmas break, when the Jets were riding a wave of momentum and needed only a bit of time to regain their collective groove.

On the heels of a 1-0 overtime loss Wednesday to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Jets have one more game to play before many of them head off to exotic locales for a little rest, relaxation and recuperation.

Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS files
                                Might Ville Heinola get into the Jets lineup Saturday if Josh Morrissey isn’t ready to play?

Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS files

Might Ville Heinola get into the Jets lineup Saturday if Josh Morrissey isn’t ready to play?

The rematch Saturday with the Maple Leafs figures to provide plenty of entertainment value, given the hotly contested nature of the opening game.

The injuries have been piling up for the Jets, who could be without as many as four regulars when the puck drops just after 6 p.m. at Canada Life Centre, with top defenceman Josh Morrissey the most recent player heading to the infirmary with a lower-body injury.

Although an official update isn’t going to be provided until Friday, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Morrissey is held out for precautionary reasons, though there’s still a decent chance he’s able to suit up.

The same goes for forwards Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi and David Gustafsson.

The Jets have relied on their depth plenty this season, with eight defencemen, 15 forwards and two goalies already getting work through 46 games.

Until recently, the Jets have been mostly healthy but now, with the injuries compounding to two-thirds of the top line, to a blue-liner in the Norris Trophy conversation and to a fourth-liner that was coming into his own, it’s fair to say this is the toughest test for a group that has leaned in heavily to the solutions — not excuses — mantra.

The Jets defence corps did an outstanding job after Morrissey left the game Wednesday — after he was struck in the groin area by a Matthew Knies drive — with three players logging north of 25 minutes.

“I’m almost not impressed because I see it so consistently,” Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit said, when questioned post-game about the blue-line crew stepping up after the injury to Morrissey. “Especially from the forwards, too, with the amount of back pressure that they give us. The (defence) can be confident and keep a good gap. It’s something we see every game.”

Morrissey is virtually impossible to replace, given his ability to drive offence from the back end and be a minute-muncher, so it will be up to the group as a whole to navigate the waters for as long as he’s out (if, indeed, he is out until after the break).

Will the Jets simply tap one of Declan Chisholm or Logan Stanley on the shoulder for Saturday or does Ville Heinola get the call now that he’s got five American Hockey League games under his belt on the road back from the ankle injury that cost him a spot in Winnipeg’s opening-day lineup?

The case can be made on both sides of the coin, though the value of leaving Heinola down for several more games with the Manitoba Moose — until early February when the Jets return to action — to help get him back up to speed might be the prudent thing to do right now.

That picture should be a little clearer by Friday, though there’s another issue the Jets will need to address against the Maple Leafs.

While the Jets’ forwards were able to generate enough chances against goalie Ilya Samsonov on Wednesday to score multiple times and conceivably win the game, the inability to find the back of the net isn’t just a one-off — even if it’s too early to suggest it’s a solid trend.

During a road trip on which the Jets collected three of a possible six points, they scored only three goals.

Since a 5-0 blowout win Jan. 9 over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg has dented the twine nine times in six games. This isn’t cause for panic, especially with Scheifele (who leads the Jets with 41 points in 41 games) missing five of those outings.

Dry spells are going to happen over the course of an 82-game schedule, even for the most dynamic teams. At a time when the Jets have no other choice but to turn to its depth, many of the snipers and the complementary scorers have gone a bit cold.

Nino Niederreiter has gone 12 games without a goal, Alex Iafallo and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby have gone 10 games without scoring, while Morgan Barron (who had a glorious rebound chance on the 2-on-0 rush with Adam Lowry against the Maple Leafs) hasn’t scored in nine games.

Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS
                                Nikolaj Ehlers skates arounf Maple Leafs defenceman TJ Brodie Wednesday in Toronto. The rematch is Saturday night in downtown Winnipeg.

Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Nikolaj Ehlers skates arounf Maple Leafs defenceman TJ Brodie Wednesday in Toronto. The rematch is Saturday night in downtown Winnipeg.

Cole Perfetti is having an excellent season but has been held to one assist over his past six games, while Kyle Connor scored an empty-netter in his return after missing 16 games with a knee injury but hasn’t recorded a point in the past three outings.

Connor was visibly frustrated on Wednesday, slamming his stick on his way back to the bench on multiple occasions as he uncharacteristically had trouble handling the puck.

Rasmus Kupari, who has yet to score and has one assist in 20 games since joining the Jets, created several of the more dangerous chances Wednesday and could be a candidate to swap spots with Dominic Toninato on the line with Perfetti and Iafallo.

This isn’t a team that struggles to score, as they’ve averaged 3.14 goals per game and already have six players in double digits for goals, with a handful of others on the cusp of joining them.

They’ve received solid offensive contributions from the defence corps to help augment the attack.

When the even-strength goals are tough to come by, the power play is often an area that can help pick up the slack, but the well-documented struggles with the man-advantage have returned during a two-for-28 stretch that has been puzzling to witness.

The penalty kill has risen to the occasion, erasing 26 of the past 27 shorthanded situations, providing a spark on numerous occasions.

“It’s just getting that extra clear, that extra zone denial, that extra faceoff, whatever it is,” said Barron. “I’ve kind of said it from the start, our process hasn’t changed from the start of the year, our systems haven’t really changed. We had a lot of success on the kill last year and it’s pretty similar personnel, so I was confident it was going to turn around and I’m confident it’s going to continue in that direction.”

Another element that has inspired confidence for the Jets is goaltending, which remains elite, whether it’s Brossoit or workhorse starter Connor Hellebuyck between the pipes.

So, if the Jets can continue to commit to team defence and the offensive weaponry re-emerges, the Jets should be fine, even as they deal with some adversity on the personnel front.

A reset is on the horizon, but the heavy lifting is just beginning for a team with lofty goals and plenty left to prove.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld

Ken Wiebe

Ken Wiebe
Reporter

Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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