FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Jets coach Scott Arniel likened Friday night’s game to the closest thing his team has seen resembling playoff hockey so far this season. I’m not sure that bodes well for the Jets, then, considering how little they were able to generate offensively. Just 19 shots and only two high-danger chances, according to Nature Stat Trick. Only some solid play from Eric Comrie, some terrific penalty killing and a timely power-play goal of their own helped salvage a single point.
I won’t make too much of this, but it’s worth noting that both Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor stayed out far too long to start overtime and it ended up being costly. I’ll always appreciate the risk/reward approach the Jets take in the three-on-three sessions — compared to how some teams are content to just sit back seemingly playing for the shootout — but this can be marked down as a self-inflicted wound. An earlier change and perhaps the Jets wouldn’t have gotten burned like they did. Long shifts have been a problem in the past for Winnipeg’s top players.
It was another eerily quiet outing for the second line of Vlad Namestnikov, Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers against the Kings. At what point do the Jets consider tweaking that trio — either from within (Alex Iafallo is doing a great job filling in for the injured Mason Appleton on the third line, and Morgan Barron has been really good lately on the fourth line) or by summoning one of Nikita Chibrikov or Brad Lambert once again from the Moose?
Speaking of the postseason, the Avalanche are the most recent reminder of the local club’s shortcomings in that department. The Jets are 0-4 so far this season on the second game of a back-to-back — the most recent loss being that 5-2 New Year’s Eve meeting in Denver — so the odds are against them.
But the fact they saved Hellebuyck for this one tells you they are taking a more aggressive approach. Not having to fly to the next city after Friday night’s home game should theoretically help the cause, but we’ll see how it plays out on the ice. It’s worth noting that if the playoffs started today, it would once again be Winnipeg versus Colorado in the first round. I’m also not sure that would bode well for the Jets.
Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele (second left) defends against Los Angeles Kings’ Warren Foegele (left) as goaltender Eric Comrie (1) watches the puck during Friday’s game. (John Woods / The Canadian Press)
KEN SAYS: It was impossible not to notice the impact Dylan Samberg made in his return to the Jets’ lineup after missing 21 games with a broken foot. Samberg played 22:35 and was not eased back into things, making an immediate impact on the second pairing.
“He was fantastic, for sure,” said DeMelo. “He was great on the penalty kill. He made some big blocks. It was like he never left.”
Samberg’s return was also good news for Neal Pionk, who looked more like himself after rotating through a revolving door of defence partners since late November.
“There’s chemistry there that they’ve built in the first half of the year,” said Arniel. “You could see that very quickly. Their familiarity on rushes, their coverage, their communication – whether it’s on the breakouts or whatever. There were a lot of good things that you saw. It certainly helps when you get to play with somebody that you’ve had some history with.”
Opportunity is once again knocking for defenceman Dylan Coghlan, as he remains in the lineup on the third pairing with Logan Stanley. There were a couple of challenging moments for the duo during the contest, but they got better as the game moved along.
Coghlan recognizes there’s an opportunity here for him to jockey for position on the depth chart and he seems to be building trust with the coaching staff after seeing limited action in the first half of the season.
“There were a couple of situations in the first (period) that they got themselves caught in our end. But at the end of the day, they kept it simple,” said Arniel. “When you can, move that puck to the forwards and get yourself up on the rush. Both of them had a couple of good looks to get shots to the net. We’re in a back-to-back and they’ve got to play tonight. They’ve got to give us some minutes. Our big-4 kind of ran with a lot (of ice time). It’s imperative that those guys give us good minutes.”
The Avalanche are still led by the Big Three of Nathan MacKinnon (68 points), Mikko Rantanen (60 points) and defenceman Cale Makar (49 points) and they’re going to be a handful for the Jets to try and contain in this one.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
- Barron-Gustafsson-Kupari
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Stanley-Coghlan
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola, F ToninatoINJURED: D Miller (fractured larynx), D Fleury (lower-body), F Appleton (lower-body)
COLORADO AVALANCHE
FORWARDS:
- Drouin-MacKinnon-Rantanen
- Colton-Pärssinen-Lehkonen
- Kiviranta-Mittelstadt-O’Connor
- Felhaber-Kelly-Innala
DEFENCE:
- Toews-Makar
- de Haan-Manson
- Middleton-Malinski
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: —INJURED: G Wedgewood (lower body), D Girard (undisclosed, day-to-day), LW Landeskog (knee), F Nichushkin (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar on trying to get traffic in front of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck:
“You’re not beating him on the first shot too often. With the year he’s having and the way their team defends the net front, it’s pretty tough to get there. But, you’ve got to pay attention to it and make it a point of emphasis to get there to try and create some screens, tips, rebounds, secondary scoring chances. It’s got to be part of our game plan, though it’s not just solely that. There’s got to be a bit more to it than that. But the more pucks you can put there and the more traffic you get, the better chance you’ve got (to score).”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken will handle the game analysis in this Central Division showdown as the Jets play for the fifth time on this season-long eight-game homestand. You can see the finished product online.
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