FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: There’s been a lot of “tough talk” around the Jets this week in the wake of two straight games where traditional non-fighters dropped the gloves. Mark Scheifele didn’t fare too well against Brett Howden on Tuesday night, but avoided any damage.
Barron, unfortunately, wasn’t as lucky as he took a beating against Josh Manson.
There’s no question the Jets are a bit easier to play against these days in terms of physicality now that Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn are off the roster. I suspect that’s an area general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will look to address in the summer as he tries to reshape this roster.
Does it mean the Jets need to employ a knuckle-dragging sloth? Of course not. But if you can find a player or two who bring a little steak to go along with some sizzle, that would be super.
Thursday’s game really got chippy in the third period, with Cole Perfetti in the middle of a few behind-the-play scrums. I’m curious if any of that spills over here to the rematch.
It seems like there could be another Jets forward who is nursing something, since the team made two emergency call-ups from the Moose. That could mean both Zhilkin and Ford get into the lineup, although we won’t know until close to puck drop.
On the back-end, I’d love to see Elias Salomonsson go back to that second power play unit. He was taken off once Neal Pionk returned from injury, but I really liked the dynamic he brought. Even if it means going with two defencemen – Pionk and Salomonsson – I think it’s worth doing.
You could always take Gus Nyquist off, since he has just one goal all year (and it didn’t come on the power play).
Say this about the Jets: They have played well against the Avalanche all season. While I suspect a playoff series between them would be short and not-so-sweet for Winnipeg, the three regular-season meetings have all been highly competitive.
KEN SAYS: Scheifele took care of the scoring on Thursday, notching both goals on a night he passed Thomas Steen to become the all-time games played leader in franchise history. Scheifele, chosen seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Draft, is up to 34 goals for the season, and his two points gave him a career high (88), with 10 games left to build on that total.
Scheifele enters Saturday’s action eighth in the NHL in scoring, one point behind Martin Necas of the Avalanche, and is on pace to reach 100 points for the first time in his career.
Scheifele’s ability to continually get better into his early 30s as the league continues to get younger is impressive.
“It doesn’t surprise me. I think with all these elite players in the league, they’re always looking for an edge,” said Lowry.
“They’re always looking at how they can optimize themselves off the ice, on the ice, how they can always improve. And Scheif’s no different. He takes tremendous care of his body. He’s always putting in the work before practice, after practice, working on things, so when he gets into games, he’s able to execute. And I know he’s getting up there in age. But I think he’s one of those guys that’s going to continue pursuing perfection, can continue pursuing ways to make his game better. And I think we’ve seen that he’s taken another step offensively for us this year.”
Speaking of taking another step offensively, MacKinnon was a force in Thursday’s game, chipping in two critical goals while piling up seven shots on goal and 10 shot attempts.
Although the depth of the Avalanche is a pivotal part of their success this season, MacKinnon has the ability to take over a game himself, so trying to contain his impact is a top priority in this game.
“He’s a guy that always wants to get better. He could put up 300 points and he’ll look to find something he can critique and fix, said Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri.”He’s got higher standards than most people. The fact that your best player is great and he’s always looking to be better pushes the rest of the group.”
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
- Rosen-Zhilkin-Lambert
- Koepke-Toews-Nyquist
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-Pionk
- Samberg-Salomonsson
- Fleury-DeMelo
GOAL
Healthy scratches: D Heinola, D Bryson, F Ford
Injured: D Miller (lower-body), LW Niederreiter (lower body), F Namestnikov (lower body), Barron (concussion protocol)
COLORADO AVALANCHE
FORWARDS
- Landeskog-MacKinnon-Necas
- Lehkonen-Nelson-Nichushkin
- Colton-Kadri-O’Connor
- Kelly-Drury-Kiviranta
DEFENCE
- Kulak-Makar
- Toews-Malinski
- Manson-Burns
GOALIE
Healthy scratches: D Blankenburg, F Brindley, F Bardakov
Injure: C Roy (upper body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog on seeing Jets C Jonathan Toews return to the NHL:
“We talked a little bit (last off-season). I know he’s gone through his stuff and I’ve gone through mine. Very different, but at the same time, it’s rooted in the love for the game and wanting to come back and wanting to compete. Him, more so than anybody, could have easily packed it up and been done and gone on to the next chapter. But it speaks volumes about him as a player and as a competitor to want to come back and keep competing. Ultimately, I’m sure he wants to win a Stanley Cup. It’s funny what you realize once you’ve left the game for a little bit. Once you get that perspective, there’s not many things that can replace it. I’m happy to be competing against him again.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken will be meeting the Jets in Chicago for the final three games of the road trip, but will be covering this one remotely. You can find his game analysis online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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