FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Greetings from home, sweet home Winnipeg, where I was thrilled to discover that my entire family — dogs included — still recognized me after 21 straight nights on the road covering the Winter Olympics.
What an experience that was. Truly something I will remember and cherish forever. The hockey, particularly once we entered the elimination rounds, was sensational to watch. I suspect it’s going to take a wee bit of adjustment to get back to the NHL regular-season game from my perspective.
Tonight’s showdown between the Jets and Canucks isn’t exactly a Canada-U.S. showdown for gold, is it? Although there could be quite a prize on the line in the form of an improved draft pick this summer.
Vancouver is clearly in full control of the “race” to the potential No. 1 pick, with a seven-point “lead” over the St. Louis Blues in terms of fewest points in the league.
The Jets, meanwhile, are tied for 29th (aka fourth-fewest) with Calgary, but they are a whopping 10 points ahead of the Canucks. Still, a regulation loss tonight — with more to come in the ensuing weeks — could go a long way for Winnipeg.
I am curious to see what we get from Kyle Connor upon his return from Milan. Although he brought a gold medal back with him, he played no significant part in it, dressing for just the first two games (0 shots, 0 points) before becoming a healthy scratch for the final four. I suspect that may have lit a fire in him, but we shall see.
I am also excited to see what a blue line that includes Elias Salomonsson and Ville Heinola looks like. This obviously wasn’t by design, but getting these two slick-skating, puck-moving defencemen up with the big club for an extended look is a very good thing in my books.
Enjoy the game, folks — I can’t guarantee I’ll stay awake for the entirety of it, given that I just got home from Italy yesterday and my body is still very much on their time zone, meaning tonight’s puck drop is going to happen at 4 a.m.
KEN SAYS: The top line has been reunited and part of the reason for that, according to Arniel, is that he’s seeing more contributions from lines centred by Lowry and Jonathan Toews.
I’m expecting the top line to be rejuvenated by the chance to be back playing together and also expecting them to be productive.
Toews came out of the Christmas break with some extra jump, chipping in nine points in 11 games, but he cooled off and has now gone six games without a point.
Lowry has been more effective on the forecheck and looks like he’s skating better after needing some time to get up to speed after missing so much action after his off-season hip surgery.
It’s a test for the back end with no Pionk or Morrissey and what an opportunity it is for Stanley to log top-four minutes and run the top power play.
The Jets are closing in on needing to decide whether they’re going to sign Stanley to an extension or move him to a contender.
As Stanley is already having a career year offensively, these additional minutes should allow him further opportunity to boost his stock, whether that’s for a trade or negotiating power in his next contract.
Comrie has given up a combined three goals during his past three starts and it will be interesting to see how the Jets monitor his workload during the coming weeks.
Given the condensed nature of the schedule, Comrie is going to get some work, so it’s incumbent upon him to stay sharp and keep giving his team a chance to win when his number is called.
The Canucks lineup is getting a boost with the return of forwards Marco Rossi and Brock Boeser and defenceman Zeev Buium back from injury.
Buium was the key piece of the blockbuster deal for Quinn Hughes and while we saw him a few times as a member of the Minnesota Wild, his role has been enhanced and he’s averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game since the move.
It’s been a tough season for Boeser, who was believed to be a free-agent target of the Jets in the offseason before he chose to stay with the Canucks.
Boeser has 12 goals and 25 points in 50 games and he’s a team-worst -30 in plus-minus rating.
No matter how you feel about the less-than-ideal nature of the stat, it’s clearly a sign Boeser has been on the ice for far too many goals against this season and he hasn’t been producing like he normally does either.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Lowry-Iafallo
- Nyquist-Toews-Namestnikov
- Koepke-Barron-Pearson
DEFENCE:
- Samberg-Heinola
- Stanley-DeMelo
- Salomonsson-Schenn
GOAL:
Healthy scratches: G Hellebuyck, D Clague, RW Duehr
Injured: D Morrissey (upper body), D Pionk (lower body), D Fleury (nose, back), D Miller (lower body), LW Niederreiter (undisclosed)
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
FORWARDS:
- Kane-E Pettersson-DeBrusk
- O’Connor-Rossi-Boeser
- Ohgren-Blueger-Garland
- Hoglander-Kampf-Karlsson
DEFENCE:
- E N Pettersson-Hronek
- Buium-Myers
- M Pettersson-Willander
GOAL:
Healthy scratches: D Josephi, F Sasson, C Raty
Injured: G Demko (knee), D Forbort (undisclosed), C Chytil (undisclosed).
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets defenceman Logan Stanley on his promotion to the top power play unit:
“I’ve talked with (Mark Scheifele) about it and he kind of said, ‘You’re not trying to please us. Whatever you see up there, if you see the shot, take it.’ The two guys on the flank (Scheifele and Kyle Connor) are pretty good, so I’m just trying to make a simple play and give them the puck and let them do the work. When something happens, try not to end plays and keep things going.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike successfully returned from Italy, and Ken is on this three-game road swing. Ken spoke to several Jets players about the word that goalie Connor Hellebuyck will be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom and you can read that story in Thursday’s paper and online at winnipegfreepress.com. Due to the late puck drop, you can find the game analysis online.
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