Tanev kept in over Roslovic

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This article was published 18/03/2018 (2735 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG Jets rookie forward Jack Roslovic found himself on the outside looking in Sunday, relegated to the press box as a healthy scratch coming off one of his best games of the season.

Roslovic was moved to centre in Thursday’s home date against Chicago, scoring a goal and adding an assist in a 6-2 victory.

That marked his first goal in 17 games, and his first points in seven.

He’s at four goals and eight assists in 29 games this season.

“If we were having this conversation maybe a week ago, it would have been reasonably easy to have that conversation. His last game was real good, especially being at centre ice. And he’s a part of this. We’re going to need all of it. So, it’s a tougher conversation for him. He’s not out (permanently). He’s part of that group. And he’s going to play (down the road),” head coach Paul Maurice said prior to the Jets game against the Dallas Stars.

Keeping checking winger Brandon Tanev in the lineup over Roslovic may not be popular with some fans, but Maurice said it ultimately came down to special teams.

He noted every forward who played Sunday would see time on either the power play or penalty kill, which Roslovic is not currently part of.

“(Tanev) can kill penalties, and he can be really physical, and he’s very, very fast. There’s a lot that Brandon brings. The penalty kill is a really important role. It’s as important as the power play, in whether you win or lose hockey games, and he’s really good at it. He’s a heavy shot blocker for us. When he’s on the ice, I don’t have to use somebody else that we’re going to use on the power play. It balances out,” Maurice said.

Tanev has the same offensive numbers as Roslovic — four goals, eight assists — through 51 games.

“They’re not competing for the same piece of ice. Brandon is really strong at that piece of the ice. We know that Jack Roslovic will be really good in his piece of the ice, the style of game that he plays. We can use him. I just don’t have him killing penalties yet. We need the killers,” Maurice said.

A big part of that is giving players such as Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Paul Stastny a breather from being overused on the penalty kill, hopefully allowing them to thrive during five-on-five and power-play time, he said.

“I’d like to take some pressure off,” Maurice said.

“We just felt there were a lot of kills that were almost 4½ minutes long because we ran those centremen so hard. Ehlers, Laine, Perreault, Connor are sitting on the bench fresh and I don’t have a centreman to go back in there — they’re still catching their breath.”

Marko Dano also joined Roslovic in coming out of the lineup Sunday, as both Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry returned from injuries. Along with Shawn Matthias, that gave Winnipeg three healthy scratches at the forward position.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg