Chiarot rides to rescue from the Rock

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This article was published 05/12/2014 (4022 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEN CHIAROT hopped on a plane in St. John’s on Tuesday and was in the lineup for the Jets less than 24 hours later.

And now he might want to unpack his suitcase for awhile.

Considered the team’s top D-man prospect with the IceCaps, Chiarot’s arrival seemed even more timely on Thursday when the Jets learned that Zach Bogosian had suffered an injury in the win over the Edmonton Oilers and will be out for four to six weeks and that both Toby Enstrom and Grant Clitsome will have their stays on the injured list extended into the new year.

Factor in that Chiarot was solid in his second career NHL game while paired with Bogosian — he played 21 minutes and 20 seconds — and the 6-3, 222-pounder could be here for an extended stay.

At practice Thursday he was paired with Dustin Byfuglien on what would effectively be the team’s new second pairing.

“It’ll be a lot of fun,” said Chiarot. “Obviously he’s a guy with a lot of skill… I know who I’ll be giving the puck to. He didn’t tell me that, I told him that. I know who has more skill.

“Once I got into the groove of things and got the jitters out in the first couple of shifts, I thought I played pretty solid. I wasn’t even really thinking about (his ice time). Once you get into the flow of the game you’re just playing. You just hop out there whenever coach tells you to. After the game I was like ‘Wow… over 20 minutes of ice. That’s pretty good.’

“Obviously you don’t like to see our guys go down, but it’s a good opportunity for myself to show everyone that I can play.”

“If he plays that game that he did (Wednesday) night consistently,” added coach Paul Maurice, “then he’s an NHL defenceman.”

WISE MOVE: Mathieu Perreault signed with the Jets as a free agent in the summer exactly for moments like Wednesday night. Buried on the depth chart with a stacked team in Anaheim, Perreault rarely saw any ice in overtime.

And there he was scoring the winner for the Jets just 17 seconds into extra time against the Oilers.

“That felt so good,” said Perreault. “Paul (Maurice) showed a lot of confidence putting me out there in all different kinds of situations. That helps. It makes me feel good about myself and once I get out there I feel confident.

“It’s one of the reasons why I signed here. Even though I don’t have as many points as I’d like to, I’m getting a decent amount of chances and the coaches seem to have liked what they’ve seen.

“That’s what it’s all about. The main thing is the team is doing great now, too. We’re in the playoffs if they started right now. That’s made it a lot of fun. I’m very glad I’m here.”

JUST FYI: Perreault’s goal was the second-quickest OT score in Jets/Thrashers history. Andrew Ladd set the mark March 30, 2012, with a goal 16 seconds into the extra frame in a 4-3 victory in Carolina.

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Not only are the Jets missing almost half of their defencemen to injury right now, the club is also not happy with the play of two of the four who are healthy.

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Maurice said Thursday that he was not pleased with the performance of his third defensive pairing of Adam Pardy and Paul Postma, who struggled in the win over the Oilers and were responsible for some costly giveaways, including one by Postma that led to Edmonton’s second goal.

“We’re really looking for an improvement (Friday),” said Maurice. “They’ve been good. They’ve played really well for us but last night they both struggled. We knew it and they did the right thing and came out and had the intensity at practice and showed that they were aware of their game.

“We went through some things on video today… clearly they knew they could be better. We had five or six guys who played really well (against Edmonton) and we had a bunch of guys struggle. There were forwards who played the exact same game those two guys played. You just don’t see it because it happens further up the ice.

“You’ve forgotten the exact same mistake at 180 feet, but you certainly see the one that’s 10 feet from the net. But most importantly, they’ve been better, they’ve been good. They had an off night. We won the game. These are good pros, they’ll bounce back.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca