Healthy Myers back in action

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This article was published 13/10/2017 (2891 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Tyler Myers is like a raw rookie, jacked to be in the NHL but taking a cautious approach until he reaches a certain comfort level with his game.

He desperately wants to return to the form he demonstrated in Winnipeg between the time he was traded to the Jets in February 2014 and the early stages of the 2016-17 season, before his own injuries and health problems with his newborn son drastically shortened the year.

Myers played just 11 games, picking up two goals and three assists, and his absence combined with the amount of time missed by blue-liners Toby Enstrom and Jacob Trouba thrust a dagger into the squad’s playoff aspirations.

The 27-year-old defenceman is an imposing 6-8 and 220 pounds, with tremendous mobility and a long, active stick. He’s shown some offensive ability since coming over from the Buffalo Sabres, but nothing that compares to the 48 points he registered during his inaugural season in the league (2009-10) when he was named the NHL’s Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year.

Even a reasonable facsimile bodes well for the Jets and their six-man defensive unit.

Myers was a workhorse for Winnipeg on Thursday night, taking 27 shifts and playing a team-high 25 minutes and six seconds of ice time against the Vancouver Canucks, while flashing a deadly accurate shot to score a short-handed goal, the eventual winner, late in the second period at Rogers Arena.

Winnipeg knocked off the Canucks 4-2, evening their Central Division record at 2-2-0.

“It felt good,” Myers said during a post-game scrum with reporters. “The start of the season it feels great to be back out with the guys. I feel good, still, obviously, getting used to some situations and some different plays. But it’s coming back quick.”

Team captain Blake Wheeler said the return of a healthy Myers is critical to the Jets’ success this season.

“What a great addition. He does stuff like that and you realize how much you missed a guy like that all of last year,” Wheeler said. “It was nice for him to come out and score a big goal.”

Myers, who had 31 shifts and 20:43 of ice time in Edmonton on Monday, was a combined plus-6 in the Jets’ back-to-back triumphs to close out a three-game road swing in Western Canada.

He said he and his teammates remained calm, cool and collected — and were duly rewarded.

“We did exactly what we wanted to,” Myers said. “These last two games, we adjusted nicely and kept things simple. Teams are going to make a push on us at some point. It happens in every game. But we aren’t getting too cute when things aren’t going our way.

“These two games are a good start to creating a new habit of how we need to play to win. We just have to roll with that momentum going back home.”

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Four games into the season and production from the Jets’ bottom-six forward group has been meager and a cause for concern.

The only points from the crew have come with the team down a man.

Brandon Tanev slipped in a short-handed goal on a breakaway in Calgary, while Andrew Copp set up Myers’ short-handed marker in Vancouver.

Shawn Matthias has had at least six glorious scoring chances early in the season but has failed to convert, while Adam Lowry is also pointless. Both forwards have played all four games for Winnipeg.

Nic Petan and Marko Dano have been blanked in the three games they’ve suited up for, while Joel Armia has nothing to show for the two games he’s been in the lineup.

Dano, who didn’t have a particularly strong training camp and hasn’t upped his game much since cracking the club’s 23-man roster, played sparingly (5:46) in Vancouver and didn’t do himself any favours when he got nabbed for an interference call just more than five minutes into the game.

That led to Daniel Sedin’s first tally of the year, a power-play goal set up by Brock Boeser, Jets rookie defenceman Tucker Poolman’s former University of North Dakota teammate who was making his NHL debut.

That raised the ire of Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who singled out the infraction after the game as the one of the club’s five he “didn’t like.”

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Winnipeg begins a three-game homestand tonight (6 p.m., Bell MTS Place) against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Columbus Blue Jackets visit Wednesday and the division-rival Minnesota Wild stop by Friday. Both contests are 7 p.m. starts.

Don’t be surprised to see goalie Steve Mason return to the crease against Jeff Skinner, Justin Williams and the rest of the Hurricanes, even though Connor Hellebuyck’s play was superb in Edmonton and Vancouver.

Hellebuyck made 30 saves against the Canucks, just 72 hours after a 37-save performance as the Jets downed the Oilers 5-2 Monday.

The 24-year-old product of Commerce, Mich., said he’s locked in right now. “I’m getting more comfortable in front of the net and a lot of that is the guys in front of me. We’re blocking shots and doing all the little things right and you can tell it’s really paying off,” he said. “If we continue this, I like our chances.

“I’m here to give my best every day and I’m going to work hard and get better every day. That’s what I’m trying to show right now.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell