Overdue overhaul for Jets power play

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This article was published 19/12/2023 (658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rick Bowness is still planning personnel changes for Winnipeg’s struggling power play, but the Jets head coach wasn’t ready Tuesday to provide any hints publicly as to what those might be.

Bowness was understandably frustrated as the man advantage continued to be a sore spot Monday night in the Jets’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and he didn’t mince words as he answered questions at the podium Tuesday.

He spoke of revamping both units and lamented the fact the Jets had become too stationary and were too often standing still.

With a few players banged up and in need of a maintenance day, Tuesday’s workout was shifted to an optional skate, so there were no clues provided on the ice.

Bowness, however, doubled down on his plan to mix up the units.

“We’ll see what it looks like,” said Bowness, referring to Wednesday’s morning skate before his team (18-9-3) faces the Detroit Red Wings at 6:30 p.m. CT. “We’ll probably move some people around and try a different look.”

The Jets were blanked on a pair of power-play opportunities Monday and are in the midst of a one-for-21 stretch on the power play — and the lone goal was produced by the second unit.

Now, it’s important to remember the Jets are without a major weapon in Kyle Connor and several players are adapting to a new role with the man advantage.

Having Gabriel Vilardi back from a knee injury and up to speed should provide a boost for the Jets’ top unit, given his skill set.

The Jets are currently 23rd in the NHL in power-play efficiency (16.7 per cent). With the talent on the roster, this should be an area of strength for them.

“We have to be a little more predictable for each other, know where guys are and be in the right spots,” said centre Mark Scheifele. “When guys are in the right spot, it makes it easy to know he’s going to be there, as opposed to getting the puck and then picking your head up. When you know where guys are, you’re able to make those tic-tac plays, those quick plays. Then on puck recoveries, rebounds, you know where guys are going to be and you know where outlets are going to be, as opposed to looking for them.”

Based on past history, that could mean once again separating Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers with the man advantage, though it also could see them stay together, with Scheifele moving back into the high-slot bumper position and Ehlers going back to the left-wing spot (his strong side), where he feels most comfortable.

Although Scheifele enjoys having the puck on his stick on the left-wing boards and for the power play to run through him, there was a time when he was a lethal weapon in the high slot and racked up a number of goals from there — back when the top unit included Dustin Byfuglien, Patrik Laine and Blake Wheeler.

Another potential change could see Cole Perfetti move from the bumper position to the right-wing half wall, which could open up that strong-side one-timer for Scheifele.

Nino Niederreiter and captain Adam Lowry would be candidates for a net-front role if that’s a change Bowness and his coaching staff are contemplating, though Vilardi is settling into that spot and is someone who is in line for more puck touches.

“He’s fantastic down low. He’s got a great stick (and) a big thing is he’s great on puck recoveries, great on faceoffs,” said Scheifele. “He does a lot of little things. I definitely think we could use him more, with his abilities. We’re still trying to find our legs with that unit since (Connor) went down, but it’s all a work in progress.”

During the 2016-17 season, when the roster was vastly different, Lowry actually scored five of his career-high 15 goals with the man advantage, while Niederreiter has 48 power-play tallies during his 840 NHL games.

Following Monday’s loss, Bowness was a bit more revealing at how he planned to find a solution for what has been ailing the power play.

“You just said it. Standing still. Hanging on to the puck way too long. It’s not moving. The same thing that we’ve been fighting with all year,” said Bowness. “Well, we’re not generating much, so we’re going to have to look at how we structure the power play, too. We’re not getting any shots. We’re not getting retrievals when there’s a loose puck so that it’s one and done, even when we shoot it, so we’ve got to look at that too.”

Compounding the issue for the Jets is the penalty kill is an area that also requires some attention, as it allowed two goals to Montreal — including the overtime winner. That pushed Winnipeg down to 27th out of 32 teams (73.9 per cent).

“It’s part of every game. When you get down to the end of the year, those are the types of things that help a team win,” said defenceman Nate Schmidt. “You’ve got to hope that (when) you get a chance on the power play in the second period or late in the game, you’ve gotta come up with something, you know, in order to steal points at the end of the game.

“Those are parts of our game that you have to look at and say, ‘Hey, if we’re going to improve, that’s where we can improve.’”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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