FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Jared Bednar has been behind the bench here in the Mile High City for nearly a decade and led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup in 2022. So I was curious to pick the brain of the respected head coach this morning about how Arniel handled Winnipeg’s latest loss by publicly blasting his club.
Bednar was his usual stellar self, providing some quality context and insight into the situation.
“My take on it is, from an outsider looking in and looking at the way they play, you’re going to have games where you’re bad. It’s an 82-game season. It’s a marathon. We’ve played multiple games in the last two weeks that were bad and we’re still pushing,” Bednar began.
“As coaches you hang on to the losses and the losses bug you. You expect to win every night and you expect your team to play well every night, and when they don’t, you get mad and players get mad.”
The key, he explained, is to channel that anger in a positive fashion, which he fully expects the Jets to do — he clearly respects the team.
“Will they play hard? Yes, I expect them to bounce back to their best game again. It’s up to us to go beat them,” he said.
Bednar then went on to praise the Jets for what they’ve done so far this season — first tipping his cap to Hellebuyck but then saying it’s more than just elite goaltending.
“They’re No. 1 in the league in suppressing scoring chances off the rush, off the D zone. They’re not giving you any space,” he said.
“You’re going to have to go earn everything you get and then some. Because when you do earn some, then you’ve got to beat Hellebuyck. So they take a tremendous amount of pride in it, it’s where their game has improved, too, and why they’re a top team in the league at this point this year.”
Although he hasn’t been quite as vocal as Arniel, Bednar isn’t exactly thrilled with the play of his group lately, as they wrap up a five-game homestand in which they’ve gone 2-2-0 so far.
“We need everybody. That’s the problem with our game here recently. One night Mackinnon’s line is playing really well, the one night it’s Mittelstadt’s. We really haven’t put the whole package together on his homestand, even in a win,” he said.
“We’re at the point in the year where it’s a rough stretch against top opponents in our division and in our conference. The reality of it is, we need everyone to play well on a given night to have a chance to win, and we need to start pushing towards that again.”
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) saves the shot from Colorado Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen (96) as Jets’ Dylan DeMelo (2) defends during the Jan. 11 game. The two teams are having their fourth and final meeting of the season tonight. (John Woods / Canadian Press files)
KEN SAYS: In case you were wondering why the Jets cancelled a scheduled practice in Denver one day after suffering that ugly loss, it’s time to turn to Page 41 of the coach’s manual. That’s in Chapter 7, under the heading of what to do after calling out the team following an effort that was not up to standard.
There was a time when an old-school coach would put his team through a conditioning skate as a form of punishment in this circumstance. Those days are mostly long gone. And with the Jets just opening a stretch of seven games in a 13-day span, Arniel opted to provide a day for rest and recovery. But part of the deal when something like that happens is that it puts the onus squarely on the players to respond with a quality performance.
“It was one of those days to look yourself in the mirror and strap your boots on,” Jets forward Alex Iafallo told Mike this morning of what the unexpected day away from the rink meant.
There haven’t been many poor showings by the Jets this season, and they’ve made a habit of responding when those rare off nights occur. That will be essential for them against a high-octane Avalanche squad that will be a bit ornery after losing a matinée affair to the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
This is not about finger-pointing or the blame game, but Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg had a couple of uncharacteristic miscues that led to goals on Monday. Given how well he’s played this season when he’s been in the lineup, it’s a safe bet that he’s going to be sharp in this one. Samberg has done an excellent job at even strength and given the penalty kill a massive boost since returning from a broken foot six games ago.
Jets centre Mark Scheifele and his linemates are likely to get a steady dose of the MacKinnon unit in this one, so they’re going to be required to try and contain the NHL scoring leader. If the Scheifele trio is able to generate some offence, that will be a bonus for the Jets.
The Jets have done a dynamite job of containing MacKinnon this season as he’s been limited to one assist in the three prior meetings, so it’s safe to assume he’ll be motivated to make a massive impact in the final head-to-head battle of the regular season. MacKinnon is up to 18 goals and 74 points in 48 games this season.
It’s been a relatively quiet offensive stretch for Cale Makar, who has been held without a point in six of the past eight games for the Avalanche (notching two goals and an assist during that span). Makar is one of the most dynamic players in the NHL and he had a scare on Saturday when he blocked a shot with his foot. The smooth-skating blue-liner logged more than 30 minutes of ice time for the fourth time in 48 games this season on Monday, recording four shots on goal.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Vilardi
- Niederreiter-Kupari-Perfetti
- Barron-Gustafsson-Appleton
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-Stanley
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola, D Miller, F Toninato
INJURED: C Lowry (upper-body)
COLORADO AVALANCHE
FORWARDS:
- Colton-MacKinnon-Rantanen
- Drouin-Mittelstadt-Lehkonen
- Kiviranta-Kelly-O’Connor
- Innala-Parssinen-Ivan
DEFENCE:
- Toews-Makar
- Girard-Manson
- Middleton-Malinski
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D De Haan
INJURED: LW Landeskog (knee), RW Nichushkin (lower body), LW Wood (upper body), D Kylington (undisclosed)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets forward Mason Appleton on life, for now, without captain Adam Lowry:
“Lows is a huge loss. He’s our captain, our backbone in a sense. He does a lot of things all over the ice. He’s been scoring too and defending really hard. It’s a huge loss for us and as soon as we can get him back, that would be great.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is in Denver and will have an early story looking at the loss of Lowry due to injury and how the club plans to handle his absence. He will also have game analysis of Jets versus Avalanche from Ball Arena. You can find both pieces online here and in Thursday’s print edition.
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