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It wasn’t pretty but the Winnipeg Jets managed to snap a five-game winless slide on Saturday night with a much-needed 2-1 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, the hosts have a chance for a second straight win, with the odds very much in their favour.
Not only do the San Jose Sharks arrive for this Valentine’s Day date with the second-worst record in the NHL, they’re also without leading scorer Tomas Hertl and captain Logan Couture owing to injuries. Oh, and they’re playing tonight for the first time in 14 days after an extended All-Star and player break.
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What could go wrong?
“Their record may not show it, but they play really good. They play us really hard,” Jets forward Cole Perfetti said following an optional Wednesday morning skate. “They work really hard. They’ve got a young group, very skilled. It’s not going to be easy by any means tonight. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. We need these two points, so we know what we have to do.”
Indeed, one of San Jose’s 14 wins — and one of Winnipeg’s 14 regulation losses — came back on Dec. 12 in the Bay Area, as the Sharks skated away with a 2-1 triumph. The Jets took the rematch by an identical score on Jan. 4.
Jets centre Gabriel Vilardi (13) scores past San Jose Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, top right, and defenceman Jan Rutta on Jan. 4. (Jeff Chiu / The Associated Press files)
Jets coach Rick Bowness said his team, which has already played three times since the All-Star break, should be looking to pounce.
“I was talking with Tomas Hertl at the All-Star break and that’s the first thing he said. ‘We don’t play for two weeks until we see you.’ So, they’re aware of it. They’ve had a couple of days of practice. It’s rare,” Bowness said of the Sharks’ extended hockey hiatus.
“We focus on ourselves. We just have to make sure that we get out and get after them right away. We want to put a lot of pressure on them right away. We want to make them defend and we want to pressure them all over the ice.”
It’s Connor Hellebuyck vs. Kaapo Kahkonen in the goalie battle. Forward Rasmus Kupari is Winnipeg’s lone healthy scratch, while defenceman Brenden Dillon serves the final game of his three-game suspension.
Here’s some other information to get you set for puck drop:
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KEN SAYS: The Sharks have the worst goal differential in the NHL this season (-92), but you’d never know it by how tough they’ve played the Jets this season. This is the rubber match of a three-game set and both teams have scored three times and allowed three goals.
The Jets got back to playing a sound defensive structure against the Penguins, though they had a lapse in the second period when Hellebuyck turned aside 15 of 16 shots he faced.
The Jets are looking to get more from the second line. Sean Monahan has yet to record a point in his three games. He’s looking more and more comfortable in the system and had a glorious chance that rattled off the iron. He was also incorporated into the penalty kill and that’s another area where he’s going to contribute. This game should provide an opportunity for the trio — Gabriel Vilardi and Perfetti — to generate offence and keep working on their chemistry.
With Hertl and Couture sidelined, the Sharks will be looking to Mikael Granlund (five goals, 29 points) and Fabian Zetterlund (14 goals, 21 points) to help drive the offence, along with William Eklund (eight goals, 24 points), who scored the game-winner against the Jets on Dec. 12.
Sean Monahan is looking more and more comfortable in the system. (John Woods / Free Press files)
MIKE SAYS: This looks like a major mismatch, but take nothing for granted. Fun fact: San Jose has gone 5-3-2 in its last 10 games, which is better than Winnipeg’s 4-5-1 record in that span.
Still, this feels like a game the Jets could use to “get right” in several areas, especially when it comes to lighting the lamp at both five-on-five play and, especially, on the power play. They’ve got a tough upcoming schedule, with road games against sizzling Vancouver and red-hot Calgary, so this really feels like one they can’t afford to lose.
While much of the focus will be on the top-six forwards, I’m curious to see more of the bottom six. The trio of Vlad Namestnikov, Morgan Barron and Alex Iafallo has the potential to be one of the better fourth lines in the league, and they’ve had some impressive flashes in their brief time together. Nino Niederreiter finally broke a lengthy scoring drought (15 games) on Saturday, and you could see his confidence soar. If his third line, along with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton, can start tilting the ice the way they were earlier in the year, the Jets will really start making life miserable for opponents once again.
As Bowness said on Tuesday, his team will need confidence in all four lines once March arrives and they basically play every other night.
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