High-powered offence helps Jets deal with defensive growing pains

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This article was published 05/10/2019 (2202 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — It only counts as two points in the standings, same as every other win, but there’s no question Friday’s four-goal comeback victory by the Winnipeg Jets over the New Jersey Devils wasn’t just a typical night at the office.

According to the NHL, the Jets are just the 32nd road team in league history to overcome such a deficit, which means they’re breathing some pretty rarefied air. Even veteran coach Paul Maurice, who has seen a lot of things, was at a loss to remember being involved in anything similar over his many years behind the bench.

“Not four. I had some threes in there, but I don’t remember a four, to be honest with you,” Maurice said following the game at Prudential Center, the excitement still very much palpable inside the locker room.

With two games in as many nights now in the rear-view mirror and a 1-1-0 record, the Jets spent a day off in the Big Apple Saturday doing some team bonding. They’re trying to manage rest with such a busy start to the season, which includes four road games in six nights, and seven games in the first 11 nights overall,

Next up Sunday is the New York Islanders, who will be searching for their first win of the year after falling 2-1 Friday night in their home opener against the Washington Capitals. The game was originally set to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but was switched a couple weeks ago back to their old home in Uniondale, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Still, it’s a pretty good set-up for the Jets to start the year, with the ability to sleep in the same hotel bed every night for the first three games, rather than the usual routine of flying from city to city.

They’ll jump on the charter late Sunday night and fly to Pittsburgh, where Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and old friend Brandon Tanev await Tuesday. Then it’s back home for Thursday’s opener at Bell MTS Place against the Minnesota Wild, followed by a quick road trip to Chicago for a Saturday night date, then right back home on Sunday to face the Penguins again.

It may be exciting to watch, but no doubt the Jets would like to clean things up a bit and tone down the wide-open, run-and-gun style witnessed in the 6-4 loss to the Rangers and 5-4 shootout victory over the Devils.

With so many new pieces on the blue-line, perhaps it was inevitable that there would be some early growing pains when it came to the defensive side of the game. Fortunately, the Jets have a high-powered offence which might just be able to outscore some problems.

Speedy winger Nikolaj Ehlers is off to a fantastic start, already with four primary assists through two games plus 10 shots on goal. He’s playing like a guy who doesn’t want to give up his spot on the top line with Mark Scheifele (who has a goal and two assists) and Blake Wheeler (two goals, team-leading 12 shots, plus Friday’s shootout winner).

But the Jets are getting contributions from all over the lineup. Maurice gave credit to Jack Roslovic’s line, with Mathieu Perreault and Mason Appleton, for really getting the comeback into full-swing Friday. Roslovic scored the goal to make it 4-2, and then Perreault had the 4-3 goal a few minutes later.

“Roslovic’s line changed the way we looked, just with their speed. They had legs, more than anybody else because they (other lines) had a lot of minutes (Thursday) night and just drove the bus for us,” said Maurice.

Neal Pionk seems to be fitting in nicely, with the tying goal and an assist against the Devils, and his partner, 18-year-old Ville Heinola, looks as cool as a cucumber out there, while also adding an assist in each of his first two NHL games.

If the Finnish teen keeps playing like this, there’s no chance he’s coming out of the lineup regardless of who might return. Dustin Byfuglien continues to mull his playing future, Sami Niku is working on his conditioning with the Manitoba Moose after missing most of training camp with a groin injury, and Nathan Beaulieu is sidelined a month with an upper-body injury.

“There’s a great amount of confidence, without any arrogance in his game. He just knows when he has time, he knows how to move the puck. He knows how to find the open man. He doesn’t put himself in a deficit to do it,” said Maurice.

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Then there’s Patrik Laine, who hasn’t scored yet despite a few good chances but has chipped in with two assists and is moving well on the ice despite missing training camp. He made a key play on the tying goal Friday, going in hard on the forecheck to keep the puck in Winnipeg’s possession with a tired group of New Jersey skaters desperately looking for a clear.

“That keep is the key because we’ve got them in trouble, but if they clear that puck, it’s over,” said Maurice. “He’s got a bunch of assists and the puck is not going in for him, but he’s playing hard and he’s doing good things. For guys like that, they can produce if we can win some games. He’s going to get hot at some point and he’ll help in that way as well.”

One thing in clear: if we’ve learned anything from the first two games, it’s that this edition of the Jets appears to be appointment viewing.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.