Scoring woes dogging sophomore Scheifele

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2015 (3890 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Look, when your team is mired in a five-game winless streak, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

And with the Winnipeg Jets, the blame game has to begin with the steady stream of nincompoops continue to parade to the penalty box after taking nincompoop penalties.

All of which is to say that none of what you’re about to read is meant to suggest second-year Jets centre Mark Scheifele is the biggest probem confronting the Winnipeg Jets right now. Heck, you could argue Scheifele is among the least of Winnipeg’s problems.

But — and you knew there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you — it’s also becoming increasingly hard to ignore the fact the centre of the Jets’ second line has a grand total of one goal in his last 21 games.

One goal.

To put that in context, Jets bruiser Chris Thorburn has three goals in his last eight games.

Chris Thorburn.

So no, Scheifele’s inability to put the puck in the net isn’t Winnipeg’s biggest problem right now. But make no mistake — it’s a problem.

It is hard to be a winning hockey team in the NHL when your second line centre scores once every 21 games. And that is so even if you have a deep lineup, laden with offensive talent. The Winnipeg Jets do not have such a lineup.

Indeed, while the Jets third line had been providing some badly needed scoring in recent weeks — at least until head coach Paul Maurice sat down left-winger Evander Kane in Vancouver Tuesday night — the fact remains this Jets team goes as its top two lines go.

Now, the good news here is Scheifele’s goal-scoring slump has come at the same time as linemate Mathieu Perreault — who has eight goals in just his last 10 games — has gone on a tear. And Scheifele, who has 10 assists in his last 21 games, has to get credit for at least some of Perreault’s success.

Sophomore jinx? A little, maybe. With seven goals and 20 assists in 53 games this season, Scheifele is scoring at a slower pace than he did in his rookie season last year, when he had 13 goals in 63 games.

But Scheifele’s also got almost as many assists already this year as he did last season, when he recorded 21 assists in 63 games.

‘Early on in the year, (Scheifele) got an awful lot of shots off on the net and hit an awful lot of posts. And now, I think maybe at times he’s looking for his linemates a little more because they’ve scored’

— Jets coach Paul Maurice

Jets head coach Paul Maurice says he’s been pleased with Scheifele’s overall progression this season and thinks his lack of recent goal-scoring might simply be a function of the hot play of Perreault.

“Mattie Perreault has been on fire. So there is a tendency at times, when you’ve got one guy who’s so hot on a line that you try to get him the puck or you change what you do,” Maurice explained.

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“Early on in the year, (Scheifele) got an awful lot of shots off on the net and hit an awful lot of posts. And now, I think maybe at times he’s looking for his linemates a little more because they’ve scored and Mattie has been so good.”

And what is Scheifele’s self-assessment of his sophomore season? He’s looking at the big picture.

“It’s not about individual success — it’s about doing what it takes for the team to win,” he said.

“And if that means winning a draw or blocking a shot or scoring a goal — that’s my goal… I ‘ve been trying to get better everyday. I want to become an elite hockey player — that’s my goal. And if that means defence or that means scoring, I want to work on all areas of my game.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek