Morrissey masterminds Jets’ comeback

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This article was published 03/03/2024 (762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Josh Morrissey did it again.

On a night where goals appeared to be tough to come by, the Winnipeg Jets All-World defenceman had four shots on goal, eight shot attempts and two points as he led his team in ice time (24:30), providing the type of spark that is essential in a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday at KeyBank Center.

“He’s been unreal at both ends of the ice,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “He plays so many important minutes against the best lines, the power play. He never disappoints you. He always seems to have that ability to rise to the occasion that’s needed, whether that’s a really good defensive play or joining the rush and making the big goal he did tonight. He’s an elite athlete with elite competitive skills.”

Most of those competitive skills were on display in this one.

His vision was readily apparent as he found Nino Niederreiter on the backdoor for a redirection that tied the game 1-1.

The competitive spirit and hockey sense was on full display on the tying goal at 10:38 of the third period, as he jumped up in the play, accepted a pass and then found a way to sneak his wrister through the pads of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as he was being hooked by Henri Jokiharju.

“He has a pretty solid hook (on me), but it’s kind of let go right as I shot it and I didn’t really know where it was going with the hook that was on,” said Morrissey. “Sometimes those are hard to stop. So thankfully, it squeaked through and obviously, nice to get one.”

Morrissey’s ability to continue to elevate his game has not gone unnoticed.

“It’s pretty unbelievable. It seems like he was making plays happen and getting assists every time he touches the puck lately,” said Jets forward Morgan Barron. “For him to score that big goal tonight, while I think there was a stick across his torso and the ref had his hand up, it’s not easy to do. We’ve kind of come to expect it from him, to be honest with you.”

The Jets rebounded nicely after a disappointing loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday to secure four of six possible points, improving to 39-16-5 on the season as they prepare to face the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday at Canada Life Centre.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired.

1 Third-period domination — By scoring four times in the third period on Sunday to go with the five goals in the final frame on Saturday, the Jets finished the weekend 9-0 against their opponent over the final 20 minutes of regulation.

That’s an impressive differential by any measure.

“It’s been great. Those comebacks really kind of turned the momentum of the season,” said Barron. “We’ve been winning some games lately, but probably haven’t been playing our best hockey. To dig deep and pull out two wins against good teams, it’s not easy to do. I think it speaks to the quality of the guys we have in this room.”

With the victory, the Jets moved back into a tie (for points) with the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division, while still holding three games in hand.

2 The response — Forward Cole Perfetti didn’t have to wait long to have an opportunity to put the first healthy scratch of his NHL career behind him. After sitting out on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, Perfetti returned to the lineup on the fourth line with David Gustafsson and Barron.

Perfetti snapped a stretch of 15 games without a point by earning the primary assist on the game-winning goal from Barron, who beat Luukkonen with a wrister from distance after Perfetti chipped the puck off the glass and into the neutral zone.

“You know, I’ve been really impressed with the way he’s handled everything,” said Barron. “He’s still young. I’ve been through that and a lot of other guys have. It’s a pretty normal part of the growing process. But he’s been really positive through it all.”

You know, be scratched even for that one game. Just really proud of him. Sometimes it seems like that next point, which for him I guess was his career high as well, to be stuck on there for a while… he made an unbelievable play, just a hard-nosed play to get that puck out and ultimately he got the assist. So I’m happy for him.”

3 The latest to double digits – Barron became the ninth member of the Jets (including Sean Monahan, who scored his eighth with the Jets and 21st of the season into the empty net to close out the scoring) to hit double digits in goals.

That’s the latest example of showing what it means when a team has the ability to spread the wealth and not be reliant on just one or two lines to provide offence.

“(Barron) has been great in his role all year and provides energy for us, provides a spark and he’s got a great shot,” said Morrissey. “You know, when he gets that opportunity we want him to rip it and so obviously, it’s great to get that secondary scoring and scoring up and down the lineup. And certainly, (a) big strength of our group this year is our depth and our ability to produce throughout the lineup so as everyone knows, that gets much more important down the stretch into the playoffs and those guys throughout our lineup have been massive for us and our success so far this year.”

The ability to have different players step up is one of the reasons the Jets find themselves where they are in the standings.

“I obviously feel like we’re at our best when we’re able to roll our four lines,” said Barron. “We’ve had tons of different guys kind of come in and out of the lineup over the course of the year, but I think it’s just a testament to how deep we are as a group and different guys being able to get it done.”

4 He’s here, here’s there, he’s everywhere – The ability to bounce around the lineup is something that comes with the territory for Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov, but there is a reason for that.

Namestnikov, who played all three forward positions in Saturday’s win over the Hurricanes, is someone Bowness has come to count on in almost every situation.

“He doesn’t skip a beat out there,” said Bowness. “When I know another line is not going, I usually put Vladdy on the line where they’re not going.”

That sounds like what Paul Maurice used to do with Mathieu Perreault, when he earned the human jumper cables nickname for his ability to spark whatever line that he was on.

On Sunday, shifting Namestnikov around meant a reunion with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, as Nikolaj Ehlers was reunited with Monahan during the second period.

Namestnikov made an important play to keep the puck in at the offensive blue line and get it to Scheifele on the tying goal by Morrissey, then added an empty netter for good measure.

Asked post-game what prompted the move, Bowness was concise and essentially mirrored what he said prior to the contest.

“When I don’t like what I see, then I make that change. Simple as that,” said Bowness.

5 Dillon returns – The other lineup change for the Jets saw the return of defenceman Brenden Dillon, who missed Saturday’s game due to illness. Dillon was back on the second pairing with Neal Pionk and finished with two shots on goal, a hit and was on the ice for three goals (including the empty-netter), while logging 25 shifts for 17:47 of ice time. Dillon also made multiple trips down the tunnel as he continued to battle through a flu bug.

“Yep. He’s dealing with some… He’s banged up a bit,” said Bowness.

6 The potential target? – One of the Sabres to keep an eye on during the next week is forward Zemgus Girgensons. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and plays the type of versatile game that would allow him to slot in on the fourth line of a contender. He plays all three forward positions and the cost of acquisition won’t necessarily be at the same level as a middle-six forward. Girgensons has seven goals and eight points in 44 games this season and spent the past 10 campaigns with the Sabres, who chose him 14th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. That means that he’s searching for his first playoff appearance. He’s hit double digits in goals on four occasions – including a career-best 15 goals and 30 points in 2014-15 – but he kills penalties, would bring some size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) and isn’t afraid to go to the hard areas. He could be one of those under-the-radar additions that ends up making a quiet, yet effective contribution during a playoff run, whether that’s for the Jets or another contender. Girgensons had four hits and drew a penalty on Dillon for tripping in his 11:35 of ice time on Sunday.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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