Different defence for Jets

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This article was published 12/02/2021 (1668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PAUL Maurice’s math seemed flawed from the beginning.

Forgetting to carry the one in his equation wasn’t the problem. The Winnipeg Jets head coach probably carried one too many.

Maurice took an unorthodox approach with his lineup Thursday night, opting to go with seven defencemen — his way of easing Tucker Poolman into the lineup against the Ottawa Senators nearly a month after his last contest — and 11 forwards.

With jumbled pairings, the blue-line group showed a lack of harmony, mere moments after the national anthem ended. The offensively blessed Jets, however, got away with a horrible start, owing to a sensational display of goaltending by Connor Hellebuyck and the general misfortune of the NHL’s weakest squad.

But afterward, the veteran bench boss disagreed the odd mix was a factor.

“I think it had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact it might have been the saving grace for the game. From a forward perspective,” said Maurice. “Our (defence) had a tough time. (The Senators) put an awful lot of pressure on those guys. We were sluggish, clearly, at the start of this game, and then got markedly stronger as the game went on.

“I thought our forwards got into it. I think that might have had something to do with some of our defencemen couldn’t get any quickness or rhythm into the game. So, I liked it.”

Hemmed in their own end for most of the frame, Winnipeg allowed the Senators to rack up an improbable 30 shot attempts, forcing Hellebuyck to stop 18 drives that got to him.

Josh Morrissey finished the initial period with 9:28 minutes of ice time on 12 shifts, splitting his time on the left side along with Poolman and Dylan DeMelo, and the right side with Logan Stanley. Derek Forbort and Neal Pionk took a few turns together, while DeMelo and Nathan Beaulieu also partnered up.

Winnipeg’s scheme of one fewer skaters up front proved just as discombobulated. Ottawa generated seven high-danger chances through 20 minutes compared to none by the hosts.

Paul Stastny’s tally just eight seconds into the second period to start the scoring finally snapped the hosts out of their funk and crippled a fragile Ottawa team. DeMelo and Blake Wheeler increased the lead to 3-0 after 40 minutes.

By then, the disjointed start became somewhat of a moot point.

DeMelo said the extra body on the blue line wasn’t a cause of confusion early on.

“I don’t know. I personally don’t think so. I just think we weren’t on our game. If we had 12 forwards and six D it’s the same result in that first period. We just didn’t have it, it didn’t matter who the personnel was or how we set it up,” he said. “As a defenceman, you just wanna play… we all got to the NHL being very competitive. If you ask the D they probably like playing six more than seven.”

As the night wore on, Maurice settled into more of traditional six-D rotation, with Stanley’s participation limited.

His cautious approach with Poolman wasn’t represented in the final statistics. The former University of North Dakota Fighting Hawk was among the four busiest defenders with 15 minutes of ice time in his first outing since the season opener — a 4-3 overtime victory against the visiting Calgary Flames. He tested positive with COVID-19 the very next day.

Hellebuyck had no complaints after the game.

“You’d have to ask them because I thought they were great in front of me all night,” he said. “I know seven guys, it’s probably tough on them just rhythm-wise.”

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell