Rivalry kept in check so far

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This article was published 03/02/2021 (1676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Flames have engulfed Bell MTS Place this week, so where’s the heat?

A pair of contests on consecutive nights between the Winnipeg Jets and visiting Calgary failed to generate much in the way of physicality.

On paper, the Jets dished out 16 and 17 hits, Monday and Tuesday nights, respectively. While the Flames answered back with 15 of their own during each outing.

Forget what the numbers say. Neither contest featured any jaw-rattlers, instead just a few collisions along the boards with enough force to warrant a statistic. There doesn’t seems to be much animosity built up between the prairie rivals, nary a scrap and just one rather benign scrum in the second encounter highlighted by Matthew Tkachuk’s facewash of Jets centre Adam Lowry.

So, what gives between teams that not only met in the 2020 playoff qualifying round but have already played three times since mid-January? Doesn’t familiarity breed contempt?

“Yeah, you’re probably right on that. It hasn’t quite been as physical as our traditional games are against Calgary. We do play each other a couple more times, so that can change real quick,” said Winnipeg third-line winger Mason Appleton, who delivered two hits Monday but didn’t register a bodycheck the following night,

“There’s been a lot of good sticks and we’ve done a pretty good job of managing each other’s speed and those types of things. It’s been a fairly even series and there hasn’t been an overly crazy amount of contact but that could definitely change.”

The squads hook up again tonight in Winnipeg and this Tuesday in Calgary.

The Jets have some deadly firepower but are buoyed by size up front, with Lowry, Appleton, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Andrew Copp. Meanwhile, Logan Stanley and Derek Forbort have beefed up the defensive crew.

But there’s a fear of being over-zealous when it comes to physical play, resulting in short-handed situations.

“Guys are really worried about getting the wins right now and focusing on whistle to whistle. Both teams are playing hard and both are forechecking hard. Maybe there’s not huge, huge hits and huge scrums and things like that, but I think everyone realizes how important these points are,” said defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “With a limited schedule and playing the same team I think we’re just focused on getting wins and we’ll take care of any excess things that happen throughout the game.”

Head coach Paul Maurice maintains a condensed schedule will, undoubtedly, affect players’ energy level, however, he still senses intensity at ice level.

“You get into back-to-backs, there just isn’t quite as much. I also think there’s a bit of a playoff-ness to it. You can’t run around in these games. Everybody feels the importance of every game, and both teams have shown at times a really lethal power play,” he said. “So, you don’t want to be casual with the penalties that you take, because the cost is too high.

“There has to be a level of intelligence in how these are played. You can finish your checks if you’ve got lots in the tank. But you can’t go running around after those hits.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell