FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Home, sweet home. The Jets have certainly played well in their own backyard this season, with a 12-3-0 record so far at Canada Life Centre. Now, the chance to really get settled in as they begin a stretch that sees them play 10 of the next 11 games at the downtown rink.
“That’s incredible. You thought that they would never come honestly, the way we’ve been playing on the road,” forward Mason Appleton said following the morning skate. “So that feels real good. You kind of get in a routine, being in your own beds real, real nice, especially this time of year where you’re coming off such crazy road trips like that. So yeah, we’re all excited to be at home.”
This should be a fun matchup featuring two of the better No. 1 lines in all of hockey. On the Winnipeg side, you have the sizzling hot trio of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi. For Ottawa, that means the always dangerous Brady Tkachuk along with Tim Stutzle and veteran Claude Giroux.
Expect Appleton’s shutdown line, along with Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter, to be matched against them for much of the night.
“That’s kind of a line that’s got a little bit everything. Got high end skill. They got the hard grit, and they got good finish, too,” said Appleton.
“So I think that’s a line you just you hopefully can keep the puck on your stick as long as you can, and kind of beat them down low and kill them that way. But when they get the puck, obviously they’re elite, so, you know, we’ll have to defend hard and close guys off and be in the right spots, and, yeah, make it really hard on them.”
Another thing I’ll be watching for is the crowd count. The Jets already have five sellouts this year, including the past two home games, after recording none prior to Christmas last year. They ultimately finished with 10 as attendance really picked up in the second half, so a similar surge this year would be good news for an organization needing a box office boost.
No doubt there will be plenty of folks from St. Malo on hand to watch local product Travis Hamonic suit up for his 875th career game. The 34-year-old defenceman has been a great mentor to many of the young prospects coming up through the Ottawa pipeline.
Ottawa Senators defenceman Travis Hamonic (23) (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press files)
KEN SAYS: One thing that caused me to do a double take in the Toronto press box on Monday afternoon was when veteran journalist Tim Wharnsby mentioned to me that the Jets were only ahead of last season’s pace by a single point through 36 games. It’s important to remember the Jets posted the second-best record in franchise history last season and were fourth-overall after 82 games.
Given the historic 15-1 start, I figured that there would be a bit more distance when it came to the Jets putting points in the bank. But when you dig beneath the surface and examine the impact of the injury to Dylan Samberg (who has missed 15 games with a broken foot), you have to be impressed that the Jets are ahead of last season’s pace at all.
Yes, injuries are part of the game, but the Jets’ ability to navigate this stretch without a guy like Samberg that’s shown his value as a second-pairing guy and key PK contributor is a testament to the depth brought in by Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
The value provided by Scheifele and Connor stretches beyond the numbers, but as the Jets get set to return from the break, it’s time to show some additional appreciation for the start each player is having and provide a little context.
For Scheifele, his hat trick and four-point outing against Toronto moved him to 21 goals and 42 points in 36 points.
He’s delivered 10 consecutive 20-plus goal seasons and is on pace to eclipse his career-bests for goals (42, set in 2022-23) and points (84, which he set in 2018-19). In the first year of the seven-year extension he signed in October of 2023, Scheifele has been outstanding so far this season.
As for Connor, he’s always been a scoring machine and he’s coming out of the holiday break with 21 goals and 47 points in 36 games.
He’s leading the Jets in points and is on pace to establish new marks for goals (47) and points (93) as well. The Michigan product has delivered eight consecutive seasons of 20 goals or higher and is well on his way to hitting 30-plus for the sixth time.
Connor has also worked hard on his 200-foot game and his ability to use his speed to apply back pressure with regularity has been a significant development this season.
The Senators are playing some of their best hockey of the season, despite being in the midst of one of the most taxing portions of the schedule, due to the world junior hockey championship. They’re clearly on the rise and pushing to be a playoff team.
Keep a close eye on defenceman Jake Sanderson.
I had an opportunity to watch him when he was playing for the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks and he’s an incredibly gifted skater that is coming into his own. He’s got two goals and 20 points in 34 games this season.
Speaking of UND alum, centre Shane Pinto is off to a slow start (six goals, nine points in 26 games), but he’s got three goals and four points during his past four games.
Former Manitoba Moose captain and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner is part of Green’s coaching staff and is running the defence and the penalty kill.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Pionk-Miller
- Stanley-Heinola
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Gustafsson, D Coghlan
INJURED: D Samberg (broken foot), D Fleury (lower-body)
OTTAWA SENATORS
FORWARDS:
- Tkachuk-Stutzle-Giroux
- Reinhardt-Norris-Batherson
- Cousins-Pinto-Greig
- Gregor-Ostapchuk-Gaudette
DEFENCE:
- Chabot-Jensen
- Sanderson-Hamonic
- Kleven-Bernard Docker
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Matinpalo
INJURED: G Ullmark (back), G Forsberg (lower-body), F Perron (upper-body), F Amadio (upper-body), D Zub (foot)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets captain Adam Lowry on what to expect from post-holiday hockey:
“I think there’s some more urgency. Obviously the playoff picture starts to shake out. Sometimes in October, April seems real far away and you might feel like you have time to make up some of those points.
“I think the hockey gets better, generally, as teams get to their structure. They’ve kind of ironed out the kinks or some of their weaknesses earlier in the year, so ice is harder to come by, it’s harder to generate some chances. Generally the teams that feel they’re in the race, they add, and so the top half of the league seems to improve. It’s a tough league to win in. I would say I think it’s more the urgency of how critical the points are and how the end is seemingly coming up, you get team’s best most nights.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike will have game analysis of Jets vs. Senators, which you can find online at winnipegfreepress.com.
LAST CALL FOR MAILBAG: Mike and Ken will have the latest edition of their monthly Jets mailbag going online on Sunday. If you have a question for the hockey scribes, simply hit reply to this email and send it their way.
|
