FROM THE PRESS BOX
Mike says: The Jets appear to have become a bunch of sore losers. And that, folks, is a very good thing in my eyes. Allow me to explain.
I’m not talking about poor sportsmanship or the type of boorish qualities we would normally frown upon, but rather the way this hockey club tends to react when they don’t meet their own high standard of play.
The latest example came Saturday night at Canada Life Centre, where Nikolaj Ehlers didn’t pull any punches after the shootout loss to Philadelphia.
“I think overall, we make a lot of turnovers. I had one today, a stupid play, right to their guy and if they would have been a little quicker, it would have been a breakaway the other way,” Ehlers began. “So, we’ve got to have some more accountability. That, to me, is the biggest thing.”
The veteran winger was just getting warmed up.
“Obviously, if the play is wide open, you can make the play. But in too many games, way too many games, we force a lot of stuff,” Ehlers continued.
“That creates turnovers, it goes the other way and creates momentum for the other teams and we’re so much better than that.”
I’ll remind you this is a team that is 11-1-1 in its last 13 games and still leads the entire league.
But these types of comments speak volumes about the internal expectations which are born out of some very painful lessons of the past, particularly in the playoffs.
We heard an even more candid assessment from head coach Scott Arniel back on Jan. 20 when the Jets stunk in Salt Lake City.
How did they respond after being publicly called out? By going on a franchise-record winning streak.
And, even then, the Jets weren’t always happy with how they were getting the job done.
Case in point, Mason Appleton describing last Wednesday’s win in Ottawa as “the ugliest one” of the bunch.
The last thing you want when it comes to professional sports is for an athlete and/or a team to get comfortable with average.
That’s how bad habits become the norm, rather than the exception.
We’re seeing (and hearing) the opposite happen when it comes to these Jets, where excellence is expected on a nightly basis.
That should serve them well going forward.
Nikolaj Ehlers believes the team needs more accountability. (David Zalubowski / The Associated Press files)
Ken says: With the offensive well running a bit dry and the Jets held to two goals or fewer in three of the past four games, one would expect the Jets to get back to basics in this one against an Islanders team that doesn’t give up a ton of quality looks.
That means going to the hard areas and playing a bit more of a straight-line game.
Look for Nino Niederreiter to go to the blue paint and spend considerable time in his office.
Niederreiter has gone six games without a point after scoring a goal and collecting two points against the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 4.
The power (play) outage reached six games (and a zero-for-16 span overall) in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout loss, but the quality of chances created was much higher during the two opportunities in the third period.
When the games get tighter, coming through on the man-advantage would be beneficial to the team that continues to lead in the NHL in that department.
“Obviously, we haven’t scored in a handful of games,” said Perfetti.
“With our power play, we came out of the gates so hot, we’ve been really dominant as a power play up to this point. The last couple of games, I don’t think it’s for a lack of attempts or effort. We’re getting the chances, we’re getting the looks, the goalies are making good saves.
“That’s what happens when you’re at the top of the leaderboard. Everyone is going to be bringing their A-game for you and penalty kills are definitely stepping up and playing us in different ways. A couple of teams have given both units different looks on the fly. Teams are doing different things, now it’s up to us to adjust.”
The Jets had best be paying attention when Islanders captain Anders Lee is on the ice. Lee has accumulated 17 goals and 25 points in 25 career games against the organization. Lee is a power forward with a willingness to get to the blue paint and he’s tough to handle when he gets there.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Stanley-Pionk
- Fleury-Miller
GOAL:
Healthy scratches: D Samberg (family reasons), D Heinola, F Gustafsson
Injured: None
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
FORWARDS:
- Lee-Horvat-Pageau
- Holmstrom-Nelson-Palmieri
- Fasching-Cizikas-Tsyplakov
- MacLean-Gatcomb
DEFENCE:
- Romanov-DeAngelo
- Pelech-Dobson
- Boqvist-Pulock
- Mayfield
GOAL:
Healthy scratches: D Perunovich, LW Duclair, LW Engvall
Injured: G Varlamov (lower body), G Hoberg (upper body), D Reilly (chest), C Barzal (kneecap), LW Martin (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo on what to expect from the Islanders:
“We know this team from playing them over the years. They haven’t changed much stylistically in regards to being a stingy team, a team that’s hard to play against, a team that forechecks well, skates well and competes really hard. We expect the same. They’re fighting for a playoff spot and obviously they lost last night so we expect a really good effort from them.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken is on the road trip and in addition to providing the game analysis, he will have an early story on Jets forward Cole Perfetti. Both stories will be available in Wednesday’s paper and online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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