Bubble players make final push

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This article was published 08/10/2016 (3282 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The fire drills are over and the Winnipeg Jets now have five days before the torrid pressure of another NHL season gets cranked up.

The Jets played their final game of the NHL pre-season Saturday and were burned badly in the final period, surrendering four consecutive goals in a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

It’s a loss the club would, most assuredly, like to forget. But with some huge decisions left to make before the Jets host the regular-season opener, did any of the guys on the so-called “bubble” win or lose a job after that one?

Head coach Paul Maurice went with a roster that likely closely resembles the one he and the rest of the Jets braintrust will settle on for the club’s battle Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Maurice hinted afterward maybe a sloppy third period won’t determine much at all.

“I don’t know if the evaluation of the game will affect the overall pre-season evaluation,” he said.

“There were a few players in our lineup that were fighting again. I like Marko Dano’s game, I liked Josh Morrissey’s game. I thought their energy and their compete was stong. As a team I don’t think we were nearly as good as we’re going to need to be on a nightly basis, but everybody understands that.”

The Jets finished the pre-season with a 4-3 record, posting back-to-back losses in Edmonton and St. Paul.

The Jets still have 32 players in camp and need to get down to 23 for the opener. Cuts could come as early as today, although the club won’t skate until Monday.

Maurice said there are tough decisions to be made.

“Well, you know, you have to have some courage now to make some decisions,” he said. “And then as you get more competition in those roles, the meetings become a little tougher and harder and then players have reason to think they were right there, but we still have a ways to go.”

Jets right-winger Joel Armia scored the club’s lone goal to the tie the contest 1-1, less than two minutes after Zach Parise opened the scoring for Minnesota.

Mike Reilly, Christoph Bertschy, Marco Scandella and Charlie Coyle beat Winnipeg goalie Michael Hutchinson in the final frame.

HUTCHINSON AGAIN

The Jets went with Hutchinson for the third time in the pre-season. He was 2-0 in the first two and had allowed just three goals in that time. He stopped 29 of 34 Wild shots.

Hutchinson really had no chance on Parise’s tip-in goal to open the scoring. But he stole one from Parise in the second period, flashing his mitt to snare the puck with the Minnesota’s power-play unit buzzing.

He had a solid middle frame but wasn’t particularly sharp in the third, although at least one point shot was tipped.

“He was really good through 40 (minutes),” said Maurice. “And then in the third, I don’t know, maybe the fourth one was tipped. I don’t know, it was a hell of a shot… the third one he’s probably going to want back. But he was solid. He looked right in the net.”

The third goal came on a slick move by Bertschy, although Hutchinson appeared poised to make the save and then let the backhand slip through him.

“Tonight wasn’t the outcome we were looking for, but as a goalie it was a good game for me to be in. I got a lot of looks that I didn’t get in the first two games. They have a really skilled lineup and they had a ton of traffic and some odd-man rushes,” Hutchinson said.

Overall, Hutchinson, who is battling with Ondrej Pavelec and Connor Hellebuyck, felt good about his training-camp performance.

“Even tonight I felt good. You never want to let in five goals and there’s a couple you’d like a re-do at. But I still felt pretty good about my game.”

MORRISSEY IMPRESSES

After three previous Jets training camps, Josh Morrissey now looks like a lock to make the jump to the NHL.

Morrissey, 21, has had a tremendous camp and was one of visitors’ best performers Saturday night.

With the Wild up 1-0, Morrissey pinched and protected the puck along the wall, then fed a great pass to right-winger Armia who was left unattended in front of the net. Armia tried a quick move on goalie Devan Dubnyk and then stuffed in his own rebound for his second goal of the pre-season and Morrissey’s third assist in six games.

Morrissey, the 13th-overall pick in the 2013 draft, was paired most of the night with defenceman Dustin Byfuglien.

“Physically, (Morrissey) is bigger and he’s stronger. It allows him to be faster,” said Maurice. “In his game, it’s not about physicality. It’s about going back and being strong enough to use the skills that he does have. He moves the puck well and he’s skating very strong and now getting the puck quick enough that he can get a heads-up play.

“Confidence is everything in this game and he’s gotten a little more confident out there and the reads are coming a little easier again. He’s so quicker now, his pace is better and he’s buying himself more time to make those simpler reads.”

Morrissey said he can look himself in the mirror and know he’s done all he can to make the big club.

“I got a great opportunity playing six games, so I think overall I got better with each game. And I guess that’s all I can do, so I’m reasonably happy with it so far,” he said. “I guess if you ask me if I feel happy with my pre-season, I’d say that I am. I guess we’ll see.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell