FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: What’s a hockey team have to do to draw a penalty around here?
No doubt the Jets are asking themselves that question, as power play opportunities have been few and far between lately.
They had none against Colorado on Saturday — the second straight game since New Year’s Eve in Denver, when the Avalanche were absolute angels and stayed out of the sin bin — after getting just two looks against Los Angeles and one in the previous game against Nashville.
Winnipeg has just seven total chances in their last six combined games, which certainly is one way to cool off the NHL’s most potent power-play unit.
Head coach Scott Arniel said that’s the price you pay for being near the top of the league standings, where other teams are coming at the Jets with their A-game on a regular basis — whether it’s how they defend the front of their net, disrupting Winnipeg in the neutral zone or being on their best behaviour.
“That’s another thing teams aren’t doing. They’re not taking stick fouls, they’re not giving us opportunities to get on the power play,” he said.
“That’s what we do the last couple years against Edmonton or Washington, those kinds of teams. You say ‘Do not let these guys change the game on their power play.’ And that’s one of the things coaches are saying, I’m sure.”
I asked Arniel if there’s a way to coach your team into drawing more fouls.
“We’re not diving. We’re not going to do that,” he replied. “I think that when we play fast, when we move offensively you draw a lot of penalties off the cycle. So having that motion and movement, you can maybe grab them that way.
“Other than that, we do a pretty good job of not allowing them the other way, checking with our legs and keeping sticks off people.”
KEN SAYS: Count me among those curious about how the newly constructed second line of Adam Lowry, Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iafallo is going to look in their second game together.
Arniel said he was intrigued by the possibilities and he’s keeping the trio intact. Will he use them primarily against Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller? That’s another thing to keep an eye on this evening.
It will be interesting to see if Lowry continues to be used in a similar manner to how Rod Brind’Amour uses Jordan Staal as the 2C with the Carolina Hurricanes.
If that’s the case, it opens up a few other possibilities on the trade market as the March 7 deadline approaches.
After sitting out consecutive games as a healthy scratch, Heinola not only gets back into the lineup but will get his first opportunity of the season to be on the power play. That’s an area where he’s been able to shine at the American Hockey League level and the additional puck touches help further boost his confidence at five-on-five.
Winnipeg Jets’ Dylan Samberg (54) passes the puck in front of Vancouver Canucks’ J.T. Miller (9) during a game last season. The two teams face off tonight, Puck drop is 7 p.m. (Ethan Cairns / The Canadian Press files)
Heinola may have played his best game of the season in his last outing against the Nashville Predators, so this is an opportunity to try to earn a longer runway.
The Canucks are an interesting study and they’ve dealt with several injuries to key players — including No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko — to go along with the outside noise surrounding two of their star forwards.
Former UND Fighting Sioux forward Brock Boeser is on an expiring contract, just like Ehlers is, and there’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding their respective futures.
With Demko still searching for his form, the Canucks are going back with Kevin Lankinen in goal after he blanked the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Lankinen is on one of the best-value contracts in the NHL after inking a one-year deal for the league minimum ($875,000), going 16-7-6 this season with a 2.51 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 29 outings (including 28 starts).
Speaking of value, forward Kiefer Sherwood was another excellent offseason addition for Canucks GM Patrik Allvin. Sherwood is third in goals on the Canucks with 13; only fellow UFA signing Jake DeBrusk (17) and Boeser (15) have more.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Lowry-Iafallo
- Niederreiter-Kupari-Perfetti
- Toninato-Gustafsson-Barron
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Stanley-Heinola
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Coghlan
INJURED: D Miller (fractured larynx), D Fleury (lower body), F Appleton (lower body), F Namestnikov (lower body)
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
FORWARDS:
- DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
- Hoglander-Miller-Garland
- Heinen-Suter-Sherwood
- Di Giuseppe-Blueger-Lekkerimaki
DEFENCE:
- Hughes-Hronek
- Soucy-Myers
- Forbort-Juulsen
GOAL
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Sasson, D Desharnais, D Brisebois
INJURED: F Joshua (leg)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey on the mentality of his first-place club and not allowing comfort or complacency to creep in:
“The NHL is the best league in the world and the parity in the league is there. As much as you can be on the top of your game, you’ve got to fight really hard to keep your game at that level. Every single night teams are coming in looking to beat you. It is a league where you could be playing a 32nd-ranked team in the league, standing-wise, and there’s no free points, there’s no free games.
“It’s obviously great when you feel like certain things in your game are clicking. But in my experience, the old analogy ‘it’s hard to kind of get to the top and it’s harder to stay there,’ and I think that’s relative to your game, as well.”
Josh Morrissey is fourth among defencemen in scoring this year. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press files)
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken is expanding on the storyline of Morrissey getting a close-up look at his elite blue-line peers and will have an early piece focusing on this, with plenty of insight from Josh Morrissey, Cale Makar, Scott Arniel and Canucks coach Rick Tocchet.
Mike will have the Jets versus Canucks game story from Canada Life Centre. You can find both pieces on our website tonight and in Wednesday’s print edition.
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