‘We know what we have to do’

You’ve got to hand it to the Winnipeg Jets — they aren’t going down without a fight.

Quite literally, in some cases.

On Tuesday, it was leading scorer Mark Scheifele dropping the gloves to defend Kyle Connor after a questionable hit from Vegas forward Brett Howden.

On Thursday, Morgan Barron answered the bell, squaring off with Colorado defenceman Josh Manson just seconds after absorbing a high, heavy hit.

Let’s be clear: neither Scheifele nor Barron is a natural fighter, and both came out on the wrong end of their bouts. Scheifele, fortunately, escaped unscathed. Barron wasn’t as lucky — he’s now in concussion protocol and will miss at least the start of the team’s four-game road trip, including Saturday’s rematch with the Avalanche in Denver.

The altercations have reignited a familiar debate: are the Jets, as currently constructed, tough enough? After all, this is a team that moved on from brash blue-liners Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn at the trade deadline.

Are opponents starting to take liberties with a Winnipeg team some may view as vulnerable?

“I don’t think any additional liberties,” captain Adam Lowry said following Friday’s optional practice at Canada Life Centre.

“Guys are going to play our star players hard. Brett Howden, not a real seasoned fighter, it was just a guy playing hard and catches one of our best players and our other best player doesn’t like it. The Manson one that is just two big bodies, obviously Barron was upset with the hit and standing up for himself.”

Translation: The very same thing might have occurred even if Stanley and/or Schenn — or some heavyweight version of them — were on the roster right now.

“Losing those guys, yeah, we are losing some of the fighting aspect, but there isn’t a ton of that in the game anymore and the guys in the room, if the game goes that way, we can step up and handle that business,” said Lowry, who is no stranger to playing a physical style.

“I just think it is guys standing up for themselves and their teammates. There is a lot of respect earned from guys in the room going up against a real tough customer, playing hard right to the end.”

And you won’t find any debate surrounding the Jets over whether they look like a team that has already checked out despite being outside the playoff picture. They continue to play hard — and for each other — even when things don’t go well, such as Thursday’s tough 3-2 loss to the Avalanche which snapped a three-game point streak.

“We did a good job of getting it close but any time you play on your heels against the Avs they are so fast and so dangerous,” said Lowry.

“When you are not playing a tight checking or hard forechecking game you start to give them some space and when thy get rolling around in the O-zone with three or four guys high, sometimes it’s tough to stop that when you have those numbers away from your net and they start slinging some pucks and generating some chances.”

The Jets will try to limit those chances in the rematch. They remain five points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot, currently held by the Nashville Predators, with 10 regular-season games remaining.

The next four occur in enemy territory: Winnipeg will move on to face Chicago, Dallas and red-hot Columbus on this trip.

“We know what we have to do. We take care of business and I think we’ll be in,” said goaltender Eric Comrie, who is riding a personal six-game winning streak and will likely get at least one start in that span.

“I think we just have to take care of what we can do. I was talking to Lows about it the other day, he said, ‘You can’t make every game a do-or-die game because it puts so much pressure on yourself.’ You have to go out there and focus on your process and have your process be right and let results take care of themselves.”

The Jets made a pair of roster moves on Friday following the injury to Barron, which left them with just 11 healthy forwards on the roster.

Danny Zhilkin and Parker Ford were both called up from the Manitoba Moose.

Zhilkin, 22, made his NHL debut in January, going without a point in four games. He has 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 54 AHL games this season. Ford, 25, has played in 11 games with the Jets so far this season, registering one assist. He has 21 points (6G, 15A) in 45 games with the Moose.

NHL teams are only allowed five regular AHL callups after the trade deadline. Winnipeg has already used two on Elias Salomonsson and Brad Lambert. Zhilkin and Ford do not count because they are under emergency conditions, meaning the team is in danger of falling below the minimum number of healthy players.

Both Zhilkin and Ford can play centre, so expect one to step into the spot Barron was holding down on the third line between rookies Lambert and Isak Rosen.

Veteran forwards Nino Niederreiter and Vlad Namestnikov are both currently working their way back from injuries and have been skating in non-contact sweaters. They are on the road trip and could be options within a week or so, according to head coach Scott Arniel.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff recently said he’d like to give defenceman Tyrel Bauer — one of the toughest players in the AHL — a chance to make his NHL debut at some point down the stretch. For now, Bauer remains with the Moose.

“I think we’re playing a lot better as a team,” Comrie said of bringing confidence on the road.

“If you look at our defensive metrics, we’re playing quite good right now. Like we’re defending really good. At the end of the day that makes a big difference for goalies, when your team defends in front of you. And we’re defending very well.”

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