KEN SAYS: The Jets’ top line of Scheifele, Connor and Gabe Vilardi took plenty of heat when they were outscored 9-2 at five-on-five through seven games, but they’ve turned the tables significantly and now sit at 11 goals for and 10 goals against. That’s a remarkable turnaround, and they’ve been delivering in all three zones, which has been impressive to watch. Now it’s up for them to continue to show they can stay on the positive side of that ledger. Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury will suit up in consecutive games for the first time since mid-October. (I wrote about his journey here). Fleury looked poised as he returned to the lineup after 11 consecutive healthy scratches. The pairing with Colin Miller was effective and Fleury feels like he resurrected his career during his time with the Lightning, so you can be sure he’ll want to perform well in this one.
Comrie is 3-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .917 save percentage, but hasn’t played since making 22 saves against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 1.
He’s on track to make five starts in the first quarter of the campaign, which would put him on pace to be in the 20-plus start range.
“He loves it. He’s always out there working,” Jets forward Gabe Vilardi said when asked about what he’s learned about Comrie. “He’s always one of the first guys on (the ice) and he’s always willing to stay out there longer and do the extra stuff.”
Strathclair, Man. product and Lightning forward Conor Geekie was right in the middle of the aforementioned goalie interference controversy, crashing the net and poking the right pad of Hellebuyck into the net before the shot from Brandon Hagel went in.
At the end of our chat on Thursday morning, I asked Geekie if he felt it was goalie interference on the play.
“I don’t know. I play a hard game and maybe I got a little too out of hand there,” said Geekie. “We got the call that we wanted and we go from there.”
Geekie, the former Winnipeg Ice star, was involved physically in that first meeting with the Jets and is finding his footing, chipping in two goals and an assist in 14 games as a rookie for an organization that is known for grooming prospects at the AHL level before seeing them graduate. Geekie skipped that step after a strong training camp and is showing early signs of being able to play a power forward game in the NHL.
MIKE SAYS: With each passing game, it’s getting increasingly difficult to find words that adequately describe what the Jets are currently doing.
This remarkable, ridiculous run is rewriting the hockey history books and has floored fans, pundits and even Kevin Cheveldayoff, who said as much Tuesday doing a round of national media interviews at the GM meetings in Toronto where he was very much in demand.
Cheveldayoff wasn’t taking any victory laps, describing the 82-game season as a marathon rather than a sprint. Fair enough, but the Jets appear to be in an entirely different race than everyone else so far.
Are they ever gonna slow down and maybe catch their breath?
I’ve noticed how many folks are hyper-focused on how the Jets will ultimately perform next spring. Some are using the recent past to put a bit of a dark cloud over all the sunshine and rainbows of the present.
While I sort of understand given the team’s playoff flops — who wants to be hurt again, right? — that seems like a fairly sad way to “fan.”
We can’t instantly sprint ahead to the final destination, so why worry about the unknown, especially when it’s still far down the road?
My advice would be: simply live in the moment and enjoy the journey. The Jets are truly a joy to watch. They have the hockey world’s attention (for once) and are leaving scribes like me scrambling to find new, creative ways to summarize what we’re seeing.
“Probably their biggest attribute is that they don’t beat themselves and I bet you if you look at a lot of their wins, including theirs against us, we beat ourselves. They are really good at not doing that. If you have the discipline not to do that, you’ll win a lot of games in this league.”
Ken is on this three-game road trip and will provide analysis from the second and final meeting of the season between the Jets and Lightning. He also caught up with Strathclair, Man. product Conor Geekie to get a sense of how his rookie season with the Lightning is going after he was acquired in a trade with Utah HC. You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com and in Friday’s print edition.
