Back-to-back goose eggs have Maurice over the moon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/11/2014 (4050 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HE was a bit muted — Paul Maurice doesn’t do dramatic scenes or statements — but the hint of pride and satisfaction in his voice was more than obvious.

The Winnipeg Jets had just blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 in their barn Sunday night, 24 hours after doing the same thing in a shootout win over the New York Rangers on Broadway, and the man behind the bench was trying to keep the suit buttons from popping in pride.

Little wonder: It’s been over eight years — since Oct. 7 and 9, 2006, to be exact — since this franchise had posted back-to-back shutouts. In fact, that date takes us back to the days of the Atlanta Thrashers, with Kari Lehtonen in goal.

But for a coach who has insisted defence would be priority No. 1 since he first took over, the four-game road trip through New York, New Jersey and Illinois offered some proof of the defensive blueprint he’s been trying to build.

And to see the results with a couple of zeroes posted by Ondrej Pavelec, Michael Hutchinson & Co. is more than a tad gratifying.

“I don’t know that I’ve been behind the bench for back-to-back (shutouts),” said Maurice. “It’s really hard to do, especially with the schedule that everybody has and being on the road.

“It’s one of those ones for the memory bank, right? Your team gets to keep those. More than the 5-4 wins, they remember how to grind it out at the end. Look at Evander Kane’s blocked shot at the end, and everybody chipping in. You get to hang on to those and build confidence off them.”

The Jets are still struggling mightily to score — their 21 goals in 12 games (1.75 per) — ranks 28th in the NHL. But with the team now in the top 10 in goals allowed — 2.08 a game — there is evidence of some buy-in from his team.

Transformation

Now the question is whether this is just a blip or a transformation.

“They had some chances, don’t get me wrong,” said Maurice of the Hawks. “But the zone time that they had, we did a pretty darn good job of keeping it to the outside, and when we got into a little bit of trouble, somebody put their body in harm’s way and blocked a shot.”

The Jets are home this week for two games — tonight against Nashville, Thursday vs. Pittsburgh — and clearly must improve their record at the MTS Centre. Winnipeg is just 2-3-0 at home, but now 4-2-1 on the road after the recent 3-0-1 road trip.

“We have to build on it at home,” Maurice said. “We have two tough teams in Nashville and Pittsburgh, but you’re going back out on the road and you’re not afraid to do it. You have some confidence there.

“We’re a couple games over .500 on the road and we’re feeling good about ourselves. We’re kind of re-establishing that game because our two road games in L.A. and San Jose at the end of that first trip weren’t great. So we’ve done a good job of getting some faith back and we’re not afraid to play well on the road.”

PK MORE THAN OK: The Jets killed off both Blackhawks power-play opportunities Sunday — despite losing all four faceoffs while short-handed — to improve their penalty-kill percentage to 87.2, fifth overall in the NHL (heading into Monday’s action).

“Our penalty kill has been really good,” Maurice said. “We struggled in the faceoff circle so they had a lot of zone time. But in the stretch of games where we were giving up goals, we weren’t giving up more chances, we were actually giving up less chances and fewer shots. There were just some breaks off sticks. You gotta get a little lucky to kill penalties. Our penalty killing has been very good all year long.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

POSTMA DELIVERS: The Jets got some solid work from a number of players Sunday night, as 14 different players combined to block 30 Chicago shots. The pairing of Paul Postma and Grant Clitsome saw their minutes drop — Postma was at only 11:44; Clitsome 11:58 as Maurice leaned on the top four for big minutes, but the duo has made strides.

One of the key developments on the road trip was the growth in Postma’s game. Ditto for Clitsome, who missed a good chunk of last year after back surgery.

“Development, in my mind, for Paul Postma is critical,” Maurice said Sunday. “I know he’s 25 years old, but he hasn’t played a full year in the National Hockey League. He needs to learn how to get into back-to-back (games). Grant Clitsome’s had 9-10 months off, maybe longer.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait