Homestand brings tough tests

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/01/2018 (2782 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They are home sweet home for much of the next month. But the Winnipeg Jets say that doesn’t make the road ahead any less difficult.

A 10-game homestand kicks off tonight at Bell MTS Place with the National Hockey League’s No. 1 team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in town. Following that, Winnipeg welcomes the No. 2 overall Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Then it’s the Colorado Avalanche, who had their 10-game winning streak snapped just before the all-star break, on Saturday night.

“I’m not sure there’s any great time to face the best. Might as well get after it right away,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Monday of not exactly easing into the next phase of their schedule. “You want to get that standard set real high for this push.”

Winnipeg has played the most road games, and fewest home games, of any NHL team. It’ll play 20 of its final 32 regular-season games in Winnipeg, where it owns a sparkling 17-3-1 record.

Goalie Michael Hutchinson makes his first start of the season for the Jets tonight, fresh off Monday night’s appearance in the American Hockey League all-star game in Utica, N.Y.

“He’d earned the right to play in the all-star game. He thought he could go there, play well and be fine for the next day. So we didn’t want to take that away from him,” Maurice said.

Hutchinson lost his spot with the Jets out of training camp with the addition of Steve Mason, who is now out indefinitely with what is believed to be his second concussion of the season. Hutchinson has been one of the AHL’s best goalies, with a 15-2-4 record, 1.95 goals-against average and .942 save percentage. That includes making 32 saves for the Manitoba Moose on Saturday night in a 5-2 win against the Rocket in Laval, Que.

“He wanted to do this and we’re all for it. I think he’ll be wired up and pretty excited to go. He’s been with us, but not playing. He hasn’t had the wear and tear,” Maurice said.

Maurice also wanted to give Connor Hellebuyck some extra rest, considering the Jets’ No. 1 goalie started 12 of the past 13 games and played in the NHL all-star game in Tampa Bay, Fla., on Sunday.

Maurice said he’s never had a homestand as long as this one in his career.

“The fear always, if you’re at home for a long time, is that you get kind of complacent. I don’t think the time of year allows that,” Maurice said. “This is now the push. You come out of the all-star break and everything’s intense. We’re going to look at it as a real positive. We don’t have to be on an airplane, we don’t have to change time zones. We can get guys healthy and rested and play our best.”

Defenceman Tyler Myers said they’ll be looking to build off the success they’ve enjoyed this season at Bell MTS Place.

“We have to realize what’s given us that success. Playing in front of our home crowd is always a lot of fun. We certainly like to bring a lot of energy for them, and we’re certainly going to have to do that this month,” Myers said Monday. “We want to come in after the break here making sure we get back to our top level as quick as possible.”

Defenceman Josh Morrissey said they can’t take their foot off the gas pedal and need to keep driving towards the playoffs.

“It’s nice to be back here. We haven’t played a whole lot of games here since December and before that,” he said. “I know as a group here we have a lot of energy playing at home. It’s a great opportunity for us as well to continue our good play on home ice. It’s a crucial part of the year. Everybody’s looking forward to it.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg