Winnipeg Jets at Columbus Blue Jackets

Greetings from Ohio, where the Winnipeg Jets playoff push will require some serious pushback against their former head coach who made the word resonate after a disappointing showing in the first round playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights back in 2023.

The Jets will close out this four-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are now led by Rick Bowness, who stepped away from being behind the bench in the spring of 2024 after Winnipeg was bounced in five games by the Colorado Avalanche.

Bowness received a call from Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell back in January and was called upon to replace Dean Evason as head coach.

The Blue Jackets responded with a run that initially got them above the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve gone through a rough patch as of late, dropping five consecutive games (0-4-1), including Thursday’s 5-1 loss to Nikolaj Ehlers and the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I loved playing for Bones,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “He’s such a great guy and a great person and obviously has a ton of experience. I’ve been vocal about how much he’s helped my game.

“First and foremost I’m happy he’s back in the NHL and that he’s healthy and doing well and their family is doing great. It will be kind of fun to play against him. I’ve maintained contact over the last couple of years and he’s such a great person, just a great hockey guy. He’s been in the game forever and it’s great to see him back.”

As happy as the Jets are to see Bowness back behind the bench, their focus will be on trying to build on what they saw in the third period of a 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars — and look for a much better start than the one that saw them give up two goals in 89 seconds during a first period where they struggled mightily to generate quality scoring chances.

“At this time of the year, with where we’re at, you turn the page,” said Morrissey. “We’re a desperate team. We’ve been playing desperate hockey and with that level of urgency in our games since the break and we’ve done a really good job of not falling into bad habits or letting one game affect you, good or bad. Just coming out ready to work, to play and compete. Obviously, Columbus is in a similar position to us, fighting to get in. So both teams have a lot to play for here and I expect that compete to be really high.”

With seven games left in the regular season, the Jets enter Saturday’s action three points behind the San Jose Sharks (who also hold a game in hand) in the chase for the second wild card berth in the West.

“That’s all we can do,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel, asked about his teams ability to regroup some tough efforts since the Olympic break. “We talk about the importance of every game. It wasn’t a good game for us in Dallas.

“Obviously, you’ve got to start on time. We’ve got to take care of our business, we know what we have to do. We’ve been able to shed these games when they haven’t been good, so we’ll focus on what we have to do to be better.”

The Blue Jackets dipped below the playoff line in the East on Thursday and they’re now mere percentage points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card spot, but they trail the New York Islanders by one point for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

“They’re defending extremely well,” said Arniel, who caught up with Bowness for a visit on Friday night. “They come at you in waves of five and you’ve got to work for your offence and work to get inside against them.”

Given the situations both teams find themselves in, artificial urgency shouldn’t be required — the intensity should be at a fever pitch in this battle for two critical points.

Connor Hellebuyck is set to make his sixth consecutive start between the pipes for the Jets, while the Blue Jackets counter with Jet Greaves.

The Jets are forced to make a change to the defence corps after Elias Salomonsson landed in concussion protocol after taking a reverse hit from Jason Robertson in the second period on Thursday.

The loss of Salomonsson means that Jacob Bryson returns to the lineup on the third pairing with Haydn Fleury.

Although Bowness said there were a few game-time decisions to sort through, all signs point to feisty winger Mason Marchment returning to the lineup and playing on the top line with Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko.

Here’s some additional information to get you ready for the matchup:

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

MAILBAG CALLOUT

With the calendar flipping to the final month of the regular season, the Jets monthly mailbag is open, so please send your questions to Mike and Ken by replying to this email or reaching out via social media.

FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: Bowness, without question, is one of my favourite people I’ve had the pleasure of covering over the years in sports. He’s kind, sincere and brutally honest while offering up terrific soundbites for those of us in the media game. He’s also a heck of a coach, as we’ve been reminded these past few months with what he’s done in Columbus.

Personally, I’d love to see him get the Blue Jackets in the playoffs.

His fingerprints are still all over the Jets in terms of what he was able to accomplish during his two seasons behind the bench. Bowness brought in a desperately needed new culture which included stripping Blake Wheeler of the captaincy and handing it to Adam Lowry. He brought the team together in ways they simply hadn’t been before. He preached defensive responsibility which led to back-to-back Jennings Trophies. And he unlocked the best version of Morrissey, who has become one of the top defencemen in the NHL.

Rick Bowness has returned behind the bench as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. (Jay LaPrete / The Associated Press files)

But Bowness also grew fed up, at times, with this group’s inability to be consistent — a character flaw we’re still seeing to this day. He always called it like it is, taking a “tough love” approach that was sorely needed around here.

In many ways, I think the Jets still miss what Bowness brought to the table, even if many of his teachings and lessons have been adopted by Arniel, who served as his understudy for two years.

It seems Bowness is now running into some of those same frustrating consistency issues with Columbus, and I chuckled a bit when I read some of his post-game comments from the other night when they were held to just ten shots on goal in a 5-1 loss to Carolina.

Bowness publicly shredded his club in a similar way we’ve seen in the past with Winnipeg. All that was missing was a reference to a lack of “pushback” — although maybe that’s coming tonight should the Blue Jackets not respond the way he’d like against an equally desperate Jets team.

All I know is it makes for a heck of a Saturday night matchup, one I expect both teams to have a little extra fuel in the tank for.

KEN SAYS: Well, since the story of how Bowness helped unlock Morrissey’s overall game is well documented, you can bet the Jets top blue-line will try to be in the middle of everything in this one.

With the Jets getting blanked in Dallas, they’ll need to defend well against the Blue Jackets but they’ll also need to generate more offence and Morrissey can help on that front with his ability to drive play.

Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey is up to 13 goals and 52 points this season. (Kyusung Gong / The Associated Press files)

Morrissey made a brilliant pass to Kyle Connor in the slot on Thursday for a scoring chance that rattled off the iron and it won’t be a surprise if he’s actively joining the rush in this matchup.

The smooth-skating D-man is up to 13 goals and 52 points, a nod to his consistency as he’s been north of 50 points in each of the four seasons dating back to when Bowness joined the Jets.

Morrissey also enjoys the challenge of going up against other top D-men around the league and he’ll be facing one of the front-runners for the Norris Trophy in Zach Werenski. Werenski has put together a remarkable season, with 21 goals and 57 assists for 78 points in 69 games — which leads his team in scoring and leaves him behind only Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton for the top spot among defencemen.

“He’s special. He’s been in the league and he’s always been in the top rankings when it comes to the top D, especially offensively,” said Arniel. “He’s really done a great job over the last few years of being an all-around defenceman. He goes against the other team’s best forwards, does the shutdown job, but then his offensive instincts — his skill, watching him at the Olympics — his ability to get that shot off, find holes. He’s behind our net. You have to know where he is and try to find him. He’s going to be jumping in the rush, you can’t get beat up the ice by him. An elite player that will be in there right until the very end here for the Norris I’m sure. You have to know when he’s on the ice, just like you would a top forward.”

Speaking of solid D-men, Dominion City product Denton Mateychuk has shown no signs of a sophomore slump, accumulating 13 goals and 30 points in 69 games with the Blue Jackets while continuing to improve his defensive play.

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Koepke-Toews-Lambert
Rosen-Barron-Ford

DEFENCE:

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury-Bryson

GOAL

Hellebuyck
Comrie

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola, F Nyquist

INJURED: D Salomonsson (concussion protocol), D Miller (lower-body), LW Niederreiter (lower body), F Namestnikov (lower body)

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

FORWARDS:

Marchment-Fantilli-Marchenko
Jenner-Monahan-Garland
Sillinger-Coyle-Heinen
Aston Reese-Del Bel Belluz-Wood

DEFENCE:

MateychukWerenski-
Provorov-Fabbro
Zamula-Gudbranson

GOAL:

Greaves
Merzlikins

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Christianson, F Johnson

INJURED: D Severson (upper body), D Smith (knee), F Olivier (upper body), LW Voronkov (hand), F Lundestrom (undisclosed)

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Blue Jackets defenceman Denton Mateychuk on the impact of Rick Bowness:

“He brings a calm presence and you see the way guys react to what he says. It’s very well thought out and you can see that. When you see that, you buy into it and everybody wants to run through a wall for him and we’re very fortunate to have a leader like that.”