Chiarot quietly lighting up ice

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This article was published 09/03/2018 (2796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PHILADELPHIA — You may not have noticed, what with Patrik Laine seemingly scoring every time he touches the puck these days and Connor Hellebuyck continuing to put on a nightly clinic in net.

But Ben Chiarot is quietly having a rock-solid season on the blue-line, to the point it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest he’s currently playing the best hockey of his career. Pegged as the so-called seventh defenceman at the start of the season, Chiarot’s number has been called plenty lately as the Winnipeg Jets deal with several injuries.

Chiarot, 26, has dressed for 42 games this season, including the past 18. He’s on a career-high five-game point streak (one goal, four assists) and is just one point off his career-best of 12, set this past season in 59 games. It’s not about the offence for Chiarot, but how steady and reliable he’s been. There have been few, if any, glaring errors or breakdowns as he often makes the safe, smart play. And that has his head coach raving about his play.

“It started with a real physicality to his game. I think defencemen cross a threshold at some point in their career, where they truly believe they belong,” Paul Maurice said Friday following an optional practice for his squad at Wells Fargo Center. Winnipeg will play their fourth game of a six-game road trip this afternoon when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.

“They find their game and know what they can bring every night. That physicality gets him to the right energy level, the right pace. And then, he’s off the ice a little bit more, his feet are moving a little bit quicker, the timing of the game falls into place. But it started with a real, strong heavy game that he brought after coming out, and he’s been a real good defenceman for us. Not a guy that would be easy to take out of the lineup.”

Jacob Trouba has missed 17 games with an ankle injury, but could return to the lineup Thursday, when the Jets host the Chicago Blackhawks at Bell MTS Place. He’s been taking contact the past couple of days in practice and is flying around the ice. Once everyone is healthy, that would likely have Chiarot back in the press box as a scratch.

Defenceman Dmitry Kulikov left Thursday’s game in New Jersey with an upper-body injury and won’t play today. Maurice said he’s day-to-day “at this point.” That means Joe Morrow, acquired a couple weeks ago at the trade deadline from the Montreal Canadiens, will be back in the lineup and paired with Chiarot.

Toby Enstrom, who returned to action Thursday night after missing four games with a lower-body injury, said having strong depth on the back end has helped the Jets weather the storm of injuries and keep their heads well above water this season.

“I think that’s a big key on this team,” he said Friday. “When someone goes out, it means other guys have to take a little bit more of the ice time and all of those guys have been doing that great.”

Chiarot admitted Friday he feels like his game is in the best place it’s been and said consistently getting in the lineup, rather than bouncing in and out, has been a big factor.

“Things are going well for me,” he said. “It’s always fun to help set up goals or score goals. Offence is always fun. And when the team’s playing well and we’re getting lots of zone time in the other team’s end, those things are going to happen.”

On Tuesday in New York, Chiarot made a great rush into the Rangers’ zone and dropped a nice pass for Laine, who wired a bullet past Henrik Lundqvist. On Thursday night, Chiarot fed Joel Armia for the second goal of the game, and wired a shot off the post later in the game.

“I’ve always said that when I’m at the top of my game, I’m using my skating, I’m getting up in the play and moving my feet and getting physical. I found I’m in a good rhythm doing that, playing on my toes, and good things are happening for me,” Chiarot said. “I’ve felt like I’ve played well every time I was in earlier in the year, it’s just a numbers game. There’s not much I can do when I’m being taken out, just play well when I’m in and when I get my chances, take advantage of them. I’ve gotten the chance to play regularly here in the second half, and I always knew if I got into a good rhythm I could be a good contributor for the team. And I think we’ve seen that.”

Chiarot seems to have developed good chemistry with Morrow in the four games they’ve played together and said he’s anxious for another opportunity in today’s game.

“He skates well and moves the puck really well. Coming to a new team, especially this late in the season, is not easy. But he’s been seamless coming in and playing,” Chiarot said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg