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Beware the wounded….penguin?
The Winnipeg Jets are coming off their most explosive night of the young season as they harpooned the San Jose Sharks 8-3 on Friday night to remain perfect. Now they’ll look to pounce on what should be a surly Pittsburgh squad that suffered an embarrassing loss to the Carolina Hurricanes less than 48 hours ago that wasn’t nearly as close as the 4-1 final score suggests.
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“You’re sort of going to get that lion with the thorn in the paw kind of deal,” assistant coach Davis Payne predicted on Saturday.
It should be a special afternoon at Canada Life Centre. Not only is this the annual visit from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but the Jets will also pay tribute to Bryan Little in what should be a touching pre-game ceremony. The 36-year-old is signing a ceremonial one-day contract, then officially retiring with the franchise that drafted him 12th-overall in 2006.
“He was a guy who just went to work every day. He was a consummate professional that just came in every day with a purpose,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele.
“That’s something that we all respected and loved about it. He just did it in his own space and you knew he was there to work every day. Learning from a pro like that was huge for me as a young guy, just trying to break in and learn what it takes to be a pro. He was awesome.”
There’s more guesswork than usual about today’s lineups, owing to the fact neither club held a morning skate.
Could Eric Comrie make his first start of the year and give Connor Hellebuyck a well-deserved rest? Might forward David Gustafsson and/or defenceman Dylan Coghlan, who have been healthy scratches for the first four games, be inserted into the lineup for the likes of Rasmus Kupari and/or Haydn Fleury? None of the above would surprise us, but we won’t ultimately know until the pre-game warmup at 1:30 p.m.
As for the Penguins, it appears they may bench struggling forward Michael Bunting (just one assist through six games) in an early message-sending move from coach Mike Sullivan. And with three healthy goalies now on the roster, it’s not clear who gets the call in net.
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: My two favourite Bryan Little memories:
We’re in San Jose in January 2018 and the game against the Sharks has gone to overtime. This is a problem because the local airport has a strictly-enforced curfew which means a huge fine should a charter take off past deadline. And the slow-moving affair needing extra time is going to make it tight for the Jets to avoid a whopper of a financial penalty.
Knowing how quick the turnaround will be, I leave my press box seat near the end of regulation and end up standing in the Zamboni runway to see No. 18 win it for the visitors just 18 seconds into the three-on-three session. Just a couple minutes later, I’m brought into a rather chaotic Winnipeg room to grab a few soundbites from the scoring hero, who is talking while he’s ripping off his gear and packing it into his bag. Little jokes that it reminds him of his minor-hockey days and, as always, was very gracious with his time. I believe we finished our talk as he hustled down the hallway to get onto the waiting bus headed for the airport.
The second highlight is from October 2019 at Mosaic Field in Regina, where it’s a scene straight out of a movie. A sold-out stadium, huge snowflakes falling and Little scoring in overtime once again to give Winnipeg a thrilling victory over the Calgary Flames. None of us knew it at the time, but the 217th goal of Little’s NHL career would also be his last.
“That was a fun time. That game obviously had snow and that atmosphere was fantastic,” Scheifele said yesterday. “That’s a game I’ll remember and obviously for it to end with him scoring the game-winner was amazing and something I’m sure he’ll always remember and will always be on my mind, too.”
It’s great Little is going to get his moment in the spotlight. He deserves it.
KEN SAYS: There certainly wasn’t much to pick apart from the Jets’ decisive win over the Sharks, but they’ll be facing a stiffer test today. By scoring four times at five-on-five, the Jets doubled their total for the season in that department and by adding four more markers on the power play, they raised their efficiency rating to 50 per cent – which is tops in the NHL. That moved the Jets goal-differential to plus-13, which is also the best in the NHL.
Ehlers and Cole Perfetti combined for 10 shots on goal and 12 shot attempts in what was their most dangerous-looking game of the campaign with linemate Vladislav Namestnikov. And while a chunk of their damage was done on the power play, their even-strength play was an important development for the Jets. Perfetti recorded the first four-point game of his career (two goals, two assists), as did Namestnikov (one goal, three helpers), while Ehlers scored twice and added an assist to move to five points in four games this season.
As for the Penguins, it’s always a treat when you get an opportunity to see Crosby come to town. My first in-person viewings of Crosby date back to December of 2004, when Canada’s greatest world junior team held its training camp in Winnipeg and Gimli before heading across the border to Grand Forks, N.D. Crosby was already a household name, but his maturity as a 17 -year-old was just so impressive to witness. He looked every questioner in the eye before giving his response and handled the role of a hockey ambassador extremely well for a teenager. His on-ice play was downright dominant and that’s continued into what is his 20th NHL season.
It was great to see Crosby sign an extension with the Penguins this fall, which means he should be making at least three more regular season trips to Manitoba – including this one. What he’s accomplished already in his career has been remarkable to witness and he seems to keep finding ways to get better. Crosby has also made a habit of producing against the Jets during his career, delivering 18 goals, 42 assists and 60 points in 44 career games since entering the NHL in 2005 after he was chosen first-overall by the Penguins.
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