FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: There are times in this wacky business when the storylines just fall into your lap. Friday night, for example, when Cole Perfetti raised eyebrows in the morning by telling us scribes he needed to start getting his nose dirty and playing like “a prick” on the ice given that he was struggling to produce much offensive (14 games, no goals, two assists). So how did he respond? By netting his first career-hat trick (Hat-Prick? Prick trick?) and leading the Jets with eight shot attempts and three hits.
“Points and goals, sometimes, are a streaky thing. You’ve got to bring other things to the table and Cole does that,” DeMelo said Saturday.
“He’s a very detailed player, super smart. A very cerebral player. Even when he’s not scoring, he’s doing things for our group to help us win. It was nice to see him get rewarded. He went to those dirty areas and got rewarded for it. We know the pressure he puts on himself to put points up; he’s done that at every level. Not that you expect it, but that’s his standard he’s set for himself. He holds himself to a high regard, so hopefully that kind of kickstarts him a little bit, gives him a little more some puck luck and continues to work at it.”
You also had Ehlers, absent from the morning skate due to illness, unsure of whether he’d be able to play and only giving the green light at the last minute. How did he respond? By scoring a highlight-reel goal and reeling off a pair of assists to hit exactly 500 points in his career.
Then there was Hellebuyck, who recorded an incredible 30th personal win of the year in just his 39th start as he continues to lap the goalie field in terms of statistics. Consider this: Entering play on Saturday, only two teams had at least 30 wins — Hellebuyck’s Jets, of course, and the Washington Capitals. That is truly wild.
What might today’s game bring?
Looking ahead, the storylines will be coming fast and furious as the Jets hit the road for the next three games (Kenny will be on that trip for us). You have the Jets facing old friend Patrik Laine on Tuesday in Montreal, the re-match on Thursday in Boston of that December game where the Jets pummelled the Bruins only for Trent Frederic to concuss David Gustafsson, and then a Saturday night date in the shadows of the White House which pits the No. 1 team in the West vs the No. 1 team in the East. Oh, and old friend Pierre-Luc Dubois will be involved as well in addition to that Ovechkin guy continuing his pursuit of the all-time goal-scoring record.
KEN SAYS: Jets left-winger Kyle Connor is having a remarkable season. Not only is he leading the Jets with 60 points in 50 games, his defensive-zone commitment has been noteworthy. However, Connor is going through a rare cold spell — relative to his incredibly high standard. Connor has eight shots on goal during a four-game pointless streak, so one would expect he will be looking for a few more opportunities to be dangerous today.
DeMelo has quietly put together a nice offensive stretch, chipping in points in three of the past five games — including two helpers on Friday against Utah HC. Although his dump-in off the stanchion would fall into the category of a fortunate bounce, leading to the first goal of the season for Gustafsson, DeMelo made a smart read in the neutral zone to get the sequence started. Extending DeMelo on a four-year extension before he hit free agency was a smart move for Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
Speaking of Gustafsson, he’s got points in consecutive games after going without one through his first 16 contests this season. He’s playing with confidence and often puts his linemates in a better position, even if he’s not piling up points. Gustafsson has endured some challenges this season but he’s settling into a groove and is one of the players who has stepped up in the absence of Jets captain Adam Lowry.
David Gustafsson is one of the players who has stepped up in the absence of Jets captain Adam Lowry.(Jay LaPrete / Associated Press files)
The same goes for Rasmus Kupari, who had a potential goal wiped out by an early whistle on Friday. Although he’s gone 11 games without a goal and has one assist during that stretch, Kupari is using his speed effectively and doing a great job in the faceoff circle. Now centring Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton, the trio held a decisive edge when it came to shot share and generated plenty of zone time.
As for the Flames, winger Andrei Kuzmenko is finally finding his scoring touch after an incredibly slow start to the campaign. He scored twice on Saturday against the Wild and has three markers in his past three games — including one against the Jets on the previous Saturday. Martin Pospisil snapped a 25-game drought against the Wild as well.
With Kevin Bahl suffering a suspected concussion after taking a hit from behind from Jakob Lauko in the first period on Saturday, the Flames will be leaning heavily on D-men MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Niederreiter-Kupari-Appleton
- Barron-Gustafsson-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Stanley-Miller
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola, D Fleury
INJURED: C Lowry (upper body)
CALGARY FLAMESFORWARDS:
- Huberdeau-Kadri-Pelletier
- Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
- Pospisil-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko
- Bishop-Rooney-Lomberg
DEFENCE:
- Hanley-Andersson
- Weegar-Miromanov
- Bean-Pachal
GOAL:
INJURED: D Bahl (concussion), F Mantha (knee), F Kirkland (knee), F Zary (lower body)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: C Kerins
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets coach Scott Arniel on what went right, but also wrong, for his team the last time they faced Calgary:
“Wolf was really good. We did a good job of getting into Calgary’s zone and getting zone time, but probably us having multiple threats in the sense of whether it was traffic at the net, battling to get inside for the rebounds. When Wolf sees pucks, I thought he saw a lot of what was coming at him and we can do a better job of screening him and taking away his vision and that might help us get those numbers up.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike and Ken will have double coverage of today’s Flames versus Jets tilt, with Mike writing the game analysis and Ken providing a live sidebar. You can find both pieces on our website and in Monday’s print edition.
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