FROM THE PRESS BOX
KEN SAYS: You can be sure that Jets captain Adam Lowry was able to breathe a sigh of relief after snapping his 24-game goal-scoring drought in Sunday’s victory.
Lowry has been frustrated at times this season as he’s worked his way back from off-season hip surgery, which cost him the first 12 games of the campaign.
He put the work in during his rehabilitation but the recovery process can be challenging, especially when dealing with a compressed schedule in an Olympic year.
Lowry has kept his complaints to himself, but he knows the Jets count on him for complementary offence — even if his primary responsibility is to play a shutdown role and be a strong penalty killer.
And while the Jets captain has often joked he usually goes through one of these lengthy slumps, even during his career-high 16-goal season last year, the offensive issues for the entire group would have made this one tougher to stomach.
Winnipeg Jets captain Adam Lowry (Brook Jones / Free Press files)
This prolonged stretch without denting the twine ended at an opportune time and moved him to five goals and 19 points in 58 games.
Lowry has been playing some of his best hockey of the season of late, on a line with Gabe Vilardi and Cole Perfetti.
The trio combined for Lowry’s goal and Vilardi also scored a one-timer from the slot on the power play to equal his career-high total for goals (27).
As for Perfetti, he’s been firing shot attempts at a high rate here, though he’s been clanging a lot of iron lately — with several Grade A chances rattling off crossbars and posts with regularity during the three-game road trip.
That he’s embracing the role of a triggerman is an important development and if the opportunities continue, there’s a good chance he could still finish in the 14-to-16 goal range during the final dozen games (he’s currently at nine).
The Golden Knights haven’t been scoring a bunch lately, held to one goal in the three games prior to Sunday’s victory while getting blanked twice, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous.
Jack Eichel continues to lead them offensively, with 24 goals and 74 points in 63 games, which leaves him tied for 17th in NHL scoring.
Winnipegger Mark Stone has been highly productive when healthy, with 21 goals and 62 points in 49 games (leaving him averaging 1.27 points per game).
Oakbank product Brett Howden has battled injuries this season and has been limited to nine goals and 17 points after producing 23 goals and 40 points in 2024-25, while fellow Manitoban Keegan Kolesar has four goals and 17 points and 51 penalty minutes in 71 games.
Neither one of them has enjoyed games that have gone beyond regulation, as the Jets are 6-12 in extra time and 2-6 in the shootout while the Golden Knights are 8-14 in extra time and 1-6 in the shootout.
Needless to say, that’s a lot of points left on the table by teams that have more than enough firepower to get the job done either in three-on-three or in the penalty shot contest.
MIKE SAYS: I’m not surprised Hellebuyck is starting, even though I floated the idea of going back to Comrie in the column I wrote yesterday. The Jets are nothing if not loyal — and perhaps a bit stubborn.
If nothing else, Hellebuyck is overdue for a strong performance. His last three have been sub-par, with 13 combined goals against.
Speaking of overdue, Winnipeg’s dynamic duo of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor are coming off a strangely silent road trip. Scheifele went pointless in all three games, while Connor registered one assist.
The Jets went 1-1-1 in spite of that, but they’ll need their two top scorers to kick it up a notch here going forward. Scheifele was on track to hit 100 points this year, but a three-game drought makes that a bit tougher.
The Golden Knights may not be their usual dominant selves right now, but a Sunday win in Dallas is a step in the right direction. They always seem to raise the game against Winnipeg, so the Jets shouldn’t expect this to be an easier night than usual at the office despite their opponent’s recent struggles.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
- Rosen-Barron-Lambert
- Koepke-Toews-Nyquist
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-Salomonsson
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-DeMelo
GOAL
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola, D Bryson
INJURED: D Miller (lower-body), LW Niederreiter (lower body), F Namestnikov (lower body)
GOLDEN KNIGHTS
FORWARDS
- Barbashev-Eichel-Stone
- R. Smith-Marner-Dorofeyev
- Howden-Hertl-Kolesar
- C. Smith-Dowd-Sissons
DEFENCE
- McNabb-Theodore
- Lauzon-Andersson
- Hanifin-Korczak
GOALIE
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Hutton, LW Saad, RW Bowman
INJURED: G Hart (lower body), C Karlsson (lower body), RW Rondbjerg (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets coach Scott Arniel on the return of D-man Neal Pionk during the weekend:
“I thought he really helped us. He stepped in and played like Neal Pionk can play for us. It was big to have him and it helped us get three of four points. We need all hands on deck coming through the stretch run, especially on our back end. Having him back there certainly solidifies our Top 4. It helps with our power play, it helps with our PK and those are the minutes that he kind of eats up.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is on his way back from the road trip, so Ken will handle an early notebook, plus the game analysis. You can find the stories in Wednesday’s paper and online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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