FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: The Jets have been getting way too cute lately, straying from the meat and potatoes style that made them so effective. And so there was a direct message sent during the morning skate as Arniel put his troops through a half-ice three-on-two drill that you wouldn’t typically see on a game-day.
“A hundred percent,” said Arniel. “Talked about it, showed some video this morning. We talked about where we want to make one more play. And our mindset earlier, and I hate going back to the beginning of the year, but our mindset out of training camp is attack, whether it’s attack five-on-five or on our power play. And sometimes you’ve just got to get some of those drills that kind of reinforce that and that’s what we wanted to do today since we don’t have a lot of practice time.”
Chibrikov should help bring a bit more steak, rather than sizzle, given his hard-nosed style of play.
Forward Nikita Chibrikov comes up from the Manitoba Moose to play his second career game tonight. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)
“Chibby’s a little ball there, he goes after the puck, he’s got some bite to him,” said Arniel. “He goes inside. I’m sure he’s going to disrupt some people tonight. But I love the fact he shoots the puck, too. He loves to shoot the puck. He gets himself in a position for that.”
The Jets are an impressive 9-3-0 on home ice this year but have dropped two consecutive games that haven’t exactly been barnburners, getting outscored 8-2 by the Blues and Blue Jackets. No doubt all the hometown fans who are paying good money to attend are hoping for a better performance against the Bruins.
KEN SAYS: The top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi has been doing a solid job of winning its matchups at five-on-five, but Sunday was not one of them as they were outscored 2-0 in the third period of the 4-1 loss. It’s important to recall we are just one game removed from that trio delivering the game-winning goal against Chicago and the line has scored 18 and allowed 17 for the season. Being plus-1 in this department is a number that needs further improvement but they were 9-2 down (minus-7) early in the campaign, so it’s been trending in the right direction.
One defensive zone turnover and another just inside the defensive blue line ended up in the back of the net. Mistakes are going to happen, but puck management is something that always has to be a priority, even for the most dynamic and creative players. That line has been much more cohesive since Scheifele got back taking draws. Extended offensive zone time shifts have been more prevalent and that’s when the trio is most dangerous. You can expect them to be ready to regroup in this one.
It’s been a difficult challenge on the offensive side of the puck lately for Vladislav Namestnikov, who has one assist in the past seven games and two assists in the past nine games. With Lambert sent back to the minors, Namestnikov shifts back to the middle and should be more comfortable there.
The Bruins are playing an inspired brand of hockey as players got the message that mediocre simply wasn’t good enough. David Pastrnak is a treat to watch and he’s one of the purest snipers in the game. Strathclair product Morgan Geekie was a healthy scratch earlier this season but has worked his way back onto the second line. He has four goals and nine points in 24 games.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti–Namestnikov-Chibrikov
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Barron-Gustafsson-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Fleury-Pionk
- Stanley-Heinola
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Miller, D Coghlan, F Kupari
INJURED: D Samberg (broken foot), F Ehlers (lower-body)
BOSTON BRUINS
FORWARDS:
- Geekie-Zacha-Pastrnak
- Marchand-Lindholm-Brazeau
- Frederic-Coyle-Kastelic
- Koepke-Beecher-McLaughlin
DEFENCE:
- Oesterle-McAvoy
- Zadorov-Carlo
- Lohrei-Peeke
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Wotherspoon, F Johnson
INJURED: D Lindholm (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets captain Adam Lowry on why his team has been getting away from its attack mentality in recent games:
“I think sometimes you don’t want to deliver pucks if people aren’t at the net. Sometimes, too, you want to make that one extra play. You feel like your opportunity might not be as great and you want to get somewhere better.
“Sometimes, to create that chaos, to create those next plays, you’ve got to force teams to collapse. You’ve got to force teams to make reads off loose pucks and things like that. I think that’s something we definitely need to get back to, you know, being a little more direct. If we have plays, we still have to try to make the plays, obviously, but delivering pucks to the net… It can hit a body, sometimes it forces a guy to lose a guy and take a penalty. That’s kind of how we need to start generating some more offence.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken has an early story coming that looks at the swap of Brad Lambert for Nikita Chibrikov, including a chat with the young Russian forward who was excited to get his second taste of NHL action. Mike will have the game analysis of Jets vs. Bruins. You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com and in Wednesday’s print edition.
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