Jets’ fourth line in need of work

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This article was published 17/11/2019 (2121 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA, Fla. — Winnipeg’s head coach has tolerated a scarcity of offence from his fourth line but made it clear the trio doesn’t get a free pass for some visible weaknesses in its own territory.

Paul Maurice hinted changes might be in order for a trio built entirely out of necessity, if the collective play of youngsters David Gustafsson and Joona Luoto along with veteran Logan Shaw doesn’t improve.

The Jets lost Mark Letestu (virus), Gabriel Bourque (lower body) and Mason Appleton (foot), prompting calls for help to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

Connected now for five games, Gustafsson, Luoto and Shaw have had their struggles, highlighted by some extended stretches trapped in their own end end, including a dismal shift against Florida Thursday night that led to a Dmitry Kulikov penalty and a power-play goal by Panthers centre Aleksander Barkov. Two days later, the unit was hemmed in by Tampa Bay’s gritty fourth line, unable to handle the quickness of Yanni Gourde or the might of Pat Maroon, and required bailing out from goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

The line doesn’t generate scoring chances of its own and has fallen well short of the requisite physicality that can so often spark the rest of the bench. Against the high-octane Lightning, Maurice showed a clear reluctance to send them out: Gustafsson played 5:50, while his wingers were both below the five-minute mark. On nights when the top-9 would benefit from a few extra breathers, the current bottom-three hasn’t been effective enough to allow for that novelty.

Following a victory Saturday over the Lightning, Maurice tempered his post-game comments on the fourth line initially, but was candid upon re-ask on just how long the team, now 12-8-1, can afford to be patient with it.

“I don’t know, yet, is the honest answer. We’ve got injuries, and they’re long-term injuries on all these guys,” he said. “So, that line has to get the puck out of their end and spend some time in the offensive zone to stay intact.”

Gustafsson was one of the pleasant surprises of training camp and made the Jets’ 23-man roster to open the season, although he was a healthy scratch for the first seven contests. Listed at 6-2, 196 pounds, he’s a solid skater with the mindset of a responsible, two-way centre.

Luoto, 21, also turned some heads at camp but was sent to the Moose and played nine AHL games, collecting three assists before being recalled Nov. 7 after Bryan Little (perforated ear drum, vertigo) got hit in the head with a shot. Shaw, 27, who had 187 games of NHL experience with Florida, the Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens, was promoted when Appleton got hurt tossing a football during the Heritage Classic weekend in Regina.

None of the three has a point this season, while sustained pressure in the Jets’ zone by the opposition is the prevailing theme during their nearly two weeks together.

“When I get on the ice, I just try to do the best that I can. It’s hard sometimes to be off the ice for 10 minutes and then go in and take a shift, but we just have to do the simple things, go the right way, play good defence and try to stay above it.”– David Gustafsson

“An awful lot of D-zone time, unfortunately, and you would expect that. What they are is they’re actually pretty sorted out in their own end (because) that’s where they’ve played the majority of their game… in our end of the ice,” said Maurice. “But they don’t get lost in it. They’re willing to take some hits along the walls to make some plays and battles, and that’s the job (Gustafsson) is training for.

“So, we gotta get a little more out of those guys, but saying that to you I want to be careful because they’re not cheating us. They’re playing as hard as they possibly can. We need that fourth line to play in the other end of the ice. That’s the next step for those guys. They gotta get pucks going north, they gotta get a little heavier in the offensive zone, they gotta hang onto the puck so that the line is controlling at least some of the flow of play.”

Alterations to the line would mean call-ups from the surging Moose (8-8-0), who are riding a five-game winning streak and have prevailed in seven of their last eight this month. The most logical choices are Jansen Harkins, a second-round pick (47th overall) in 2015 who is red-hot right now (3G, 12A during an eight-game point streak), and 26-year-old Andrei Chibisov, 6-4, 235 pounds (3G, 7A in 15GP). As a second-rounder from Europe, Gustafsson cannot be sent to the AHL and would have to rejoin to his team in Sweden’s top league.

The Jets have just one extra forward, centre Michael Spacek, who was recalled Wednesday, the day the club departed for Florida. After back-to-back wins over the Panthers and Lightning by identical 4-3 scores, Winnipeg (7-2-1 in its last 10 tests) faces a pair of Central Division squads to close out the four-game trek, with stops in Nashville on Tuesday and Dallas on Friday.

Winnipeg had the day off Sunday and is scheduled to practice Monday morning at Bridgestone Arena, the home of the Predators.

In Gustafsson, the Jets expect to slowly develop a player in the mould of shutdown centre Adam Lowry — strong at the faceoff dot, hard on pucks, a large presence at the net front and an occasional offensive contributor.

Fourteen games into his NHL career, the young Swede is averaging 6:17 of ice time, a minus-two, just three shots on goal, two hits and is 51 per cent (25 of 49) in the faceoff circle.

Speaking Saturday after the win at Amalie Arena, Gustafsson expressed no disappointment in his rocky introduction to North American pro hockey.

“When I get on the ice, I just try to do the best that I can. It’s hard sometimes to be off the ice for 10 minutes and then go in and take a shift, but we just have to do the simple things, go the right way, play good defence and try to stay above it,” he said. “We’ve got to talk a lot on the ice and I feel like we can talk more. Right now, I don’t think we’re frustrated.

“To me this feels exactly like when I got to the men’s team in Sweden (HV71 Jonkoping). I got the same role as here and I took that to just get into it, play on the fourth line and keep building. I feel confident in myself that I will improve and get up in the higher rankings on the team.”

His early impressions of life as an NHLer?

“The things that stick out are the fans in the arena. You get this great feeling before every game like it’s a party going on in the arena. Of course this is a dream for me,” Gustafsson said. “Some guys chirping me about (the delay to get his first point). That would be nice. It will come soon, I hope so.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell