FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It’s always entertaining and enlightening to speak with Gabe Vilardi, who doesn’t subscribe to canned answers or cliches when dealing with the media and often asks as many questions of us as we do of him. And the Jets winger didn’t disappoint this morning as the subject of an early-season slump (14 shots but no goals and just four assists through seven games).
“I feel like I’ve had a lot of opportunities, and obviously I’m not scoring. Whether that’s luck or just bearing down and being more deadly with your chances, I think it’s a little bit of both,” Vilardi told me.
“It is very frustrating, I’m not going to lie and say that it’s not. I think at the end of the day, though, there’s flows to the season. And you go through your streaks where it seems like everything’s going in, and then you go through the streaks like this one where it seems like nothing is going in, you can’t catch a break, whether it’s a stick lift or goalies making a crazy save. You just kind of remind yourself of the flows of the season.”
Adding to his personal frustration is the fact linemates Mark Scheifele (seven goals, 10 points) and Kyle Connor (three goals, nine points) aren’t experiencing similar offensive droughts.
“I think if I could score those guys would have 20 points apiece right now,” said Vilardi. “It’s been frustrating, but at the end of the day when you’re getting chances it’s tough to be overly critical and concerned.”
At this point, a Calgary reporter noted that the entire Flames team is probably experiencing a similar feeling, as they’ve scored just 13 total goals in eight games this year. Vilardi was asked if he and his teammates need to be on guard for that.
“I mean, obviously they’re going through their things and then we’re going through our things. So, I’m not going to sit here and say I feel bad for them. Like they don’t feel bad for me,” was Vilardi’s reply.
As I mentioned above, he’s definitely unique.
The Jets could definitely use more from Vilardi, who needs to get back to the basics of what makes him so effective.
“If you look back at any highlights on Gabe, all of his stuff happens 10 feet from the net, whether it’s around the back of the net, front of the net, tipping pucks, getting rebounds, popping sticks. He’s got to be more consistent with that,” said Arniel.
“He knows it, we’ve talked about it and then, he’s just got to stick with it. If you’re looking to score goals, don’t get farther away from the net. Get closer to the net. We’re trying to get him in that frame of mind.”
Gabe Vilardi has 14 shots but no goals and just four assists through seven games. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files)
KEN SAYS: The Jets were shut out just once last season, 5-0 by the Florida Panthers on the road, and while it wasn’t a back-to-back scenario, Winnipeg responded by smoking the defending Stanley Cup champions 6-3 in the return engagement three nights later.
Obviously, this is a different opponent, but the point is the Jets don’t get blanked often and they don’t like to lose consecutive games. So, you can expect them to be a bit sharper and generate a few more second and third chances in this one.
One of the things the Jets have been really good at since Arniel arrived on the scene as an associate coach is self-assess and move on. The debriefs are thorough and honest. A standard has been established and the Jets recognize when they’ve hit the standard and when they might have more to give.
It wasn’t like the Jets laid an egg against the Kraken either — they just weren’t crisp in some of the areas they usually are, especially in the offensive zone, where zone time was prevalent but some additional high-danger chances needed to be created.
The Jets generated some offence from the point, as Neal Pionk (five shots on goal, 12 shot attempts) and Josh Morrissey (four shots on goal, seven shot attempts) did a great job of getting pucks to the net.
But some additional traffic will be required in front of Wolf to get the Jets offence back on track.
The Flames are in the midst of a tough go and their inability to score goals has caused some frustration, but they’re a hard-working team and they battled hard when these two teams met earlier this week.
Comrie was fantastic in his first start of the campaign against the New York Islanders — and he needed to be sharp early, making three saves, including a point-blank one-timer mere seconds into the contest.
With the stated goal of getting Comrie more starts and Hellebuyck a bit more rest over the course of the condensed schedule, the Jets’ backup needs to stack strong performances for the plan to work to its fullest.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Niederreiter-Toews-Nyquist
- Iafallo-Namestnikov-Pearson
- Koepke-Barron-Ford
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Stanley-Pionk
- Fleury-Miller
GOAL
INJURED: D Samberg (wrist), C Lowry (hip), F Perfetti (ankle)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Schenn, F Chibrikov, F Lambert
CALGARY FLAMES
FORWARDS
- Huberdeau-Kadri-Farabee
- Honzen-Backlund-Coleman
- Sharangovich-Frost-Coronato
- Lomberg-Zary-Klapka
DEFENCE
- Bahl-Andersson
- Bean-Weegar
- Hanley-Parekh
GOAL
INJURED: F Pospisil (undisclosed)
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Pachal, F Kirkland, F Hunt
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Alex Iafallo on getting a chance right away to avenge a disappointing loss to Seattle yesterday:
“Back to backs are nice. We will be ready to rock. We have got to get that win tonight.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
We’ll have the latest edition of Dump & Chase, our weekly NHL column. This one leads off with Winnipegger Jason Botterill, who is in his first year as general manager of the Seattle Kraken.
Mike will also have the game analysis of Jets versus Flames. You can find both pieces online later today and in Saturday’s print edition.
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