FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: While sitting in the press box Friday night at Nationwide Arena, I couldn’t help but notice just how much chatter there was from fellow scribes — both to me and around me — about the state of Winnipeg’s game. To say the Columbus beat reporters and broadcasters were impressed would be an understatement. I heard a similar sentiment in Detroit during Wednesday’s game, just as I did on opening-night in Edmonton.
See a trend here? The Jets are taking the NHL by storm with an aggressive style of play that is a lot of fun to watch (and cover). This is a very good hockey team, which isn’t exactly breaking news, but even the most optimistic fans and pundits couldn’t have imagined this strong of a start, including a ridiculous plus-26 goal differential through 11 games.
How long can they keep it going? Who’s to say, but there’s no question the next few weeks are going to be very telling as the quality of opposition takes a noticeable jump.
Winnipeg has a whopping 10 players with at least nine points this season, an accomplishment no other team can lay claim to, and that type of depth is paying off.
At the risk of coming across as nitpicking — Arniel joked yesterday that’s what us media types love to do — the Jets penalty kill has sprung a bit of a leak by surrendering three goals in the last two games. Cause for concern? Not yet, but something to keep an eye on. Arniel called the PK a “work in progress,” noting a more aggressive approach comes with some risks as well.
“We’re always working on these things, just trying to tinker with them,” he said. “When you get aggressive, though, you’re going to create some holes and it’s how you get back and cover those spots back up again. That’s part of the process that we’re still taking to them and continue to work at. There’s some things that we continue to talk about and work on and hopefully that can continue to evolve as we move forward.”
Hey, nobody’s perfect — and the Jets have been darn close to that through 11 games.
KEN SAYS: That the Jets have already put up six goals on five different occasions this season borders on mind-boggling, but it’s a simple reinforcement that explosive offence comes from sound defending.
Winnipeg is getting contributions throughout the lineup, including ample offence from the defence, but one area they could use a bit more from is the fourth line. Although the trio of Rasmus Kupari (one goal), Alex Iafallo (three assists) and Morgan Barron (one assist) has been effective, they’ve only combined for one goal and it came in the season opener.
Both Iafallo and Barron were double-digit goal scorers last season, and if they can start turning some of their quality looks into goals, that additional complementary scoring will make the Jets even more dangerous.
It’s going to be incredibly strange to see the Lightning roll into town without longtime captain Steven Stamkos. He’s been the face of the franchise for a long time and I’ll always remember the ovation he was given in Winnipeg after scoring his 60th goal during the inaugural season of the Jets 2.0 era.
Victor Hedman was a natural to be named captain and remains a minute-muncher on the blue line. The Lightning continue to be led offensively by Nikita Kucherov, who has nine goals and 18 points in 11 games this season.
Former Winnipeg Ice forward Conor Geekie will have the opportunity to play his first professional game in his home province and no doubt there will be plenty of folks from Strathclair and the surrounding area making the trek to support him. Geekie has two goals and three points in 11 games and he’s currently playing alongside Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, two incredibly responsible two-way linemates who will help ease his transition to the NHL game.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Barron-Kupari-IafalloDEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Stanley-Miller
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Coghlan, D Fleury, F Gustafsson
INJURED: D Heinola (ankle), F Anderson-Dolan (foot)
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
FORWARDS:
- Guentzel-Point-Kucherov
- Hagel-Cirelli-Geekie
- Eyssimont-Paul-Chaffee
- Girgensons-Glendening-Atkinson
DEFENCE:
- Hedman-Moser
- McDonagh-Cernak
- Lilleberg-Perbix
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Raddysh
INJURED: None
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg on responding so well to a tough outing against Toronto:
“You know it’s gonna happen. It’s an 82-game season. You’re gonna have games like that, and just gotta learn to forget about them. It’s a new day, and it’s what we treated it as and kind of a fresh start there, and just went out and played our game and played well, and then built confidence from there.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken and Mike are on scene at the downtown rink today to provide double coverage. Ken will focus on the present and handle Jets vs Lightning game duties, while Mike will take a glimpse into the future with his first instalment of our monthly Jets prospects report. You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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