Playoff baptism thrill for Jets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/04/2015 (3799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Nine Winnipeg Jets got their Stanley Cup playoffs baptism on Thursday.

“It was exciting,” said defenceman Ben Chiarot Friday. “Definitely got some of the nerves out in the first period there and settled in and then it was just like another game, just a little louder.”

The 23-year-old rookie and defence partner of Dustin Byfuglien had the assignment against the top Ducks line of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Maroon for much of Game 1, a 4-2 Ducks’ victory sparked by Perry and Getzlaf.

“They’re obviously pretty skilled guys, Getzlaf, Perry and Maroon likes to throw his weight around a bit,” Chiarot said. “Me and Buff, we’re both playing a pretty physical game so we match up well against them. It’ll be a long series.

Chiarot said he doesn’t mind the assignment.

“Every player wants more responsibility,” he said. “As a guy in my role as a defensive defenceman, that’s the biggest compliment, to be playing against the other team’s top players.”

Of course, it’s wise sometimes to be careful what you wish for and Chiarot knows that.

“Going into the series I wanted to be as physical as I can on them but they’re pretty smart players,” he said. “They don’t really put themselves in situations where you can get a good crack on them.”

— — —

One of the key plays in Thursday’s Game 1 was the late-second-period roughing penalty to Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele for putting a glove into the face of Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler after a whistle.

Corey Perry scored during the advantage, early in the third period, tying the game 2-2.

“Obviously, punching in the head isn’t allowed,” Kesler said, asked Friday about the incident. “They took a penalty and we capitalized on it.

“When your power play’s going… it gets in their head a little bit so it was good that we got our power play going.”

— — —

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

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

Much commentary has fixated on the Jets’ status as the most-shorthanded team in the NHL this season.

The question has come up many times but almost never framed by Winnipeg’s improvement over the season’s final 22 games, dropping from 4.1 times short-handed per game over the first 60 games to 2.7 per game.

Friday, Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau felt obliged to point that out, almost defending the Jets. “The first half of the year they took a lot of penalties,” he said. “Coming down the stretch, Winnipeg wasn’t in the box when they were shutting out all those other teams all the time.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca