Jets benefiting from fewer trips to sin bin

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This article was published 18/12/2018 (2454 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES — They didn’t go to boot camp or reform school. But the Winnipeg Jets have certainly cleaned up their act of late, spending far less time in the penalty box while making other teams pay dearly for their on-ice sins.

Consider this: in the first month of the 2018-19 NHL regular-season, no team took more penalty minutes than the Jets. They were the NHL’s resident bad boys, with 50 minors, four majors, five 10-minute misconducts and one game-misconduct in their first 13 games, which took them through the end of the Global Series trip to Finland.

Frankly, there were times they appeared unhinged, such as the fourth game of the regular season when the Jets gave the Nashville Predators eight straight power plays in the first two periods. There was also Brendan Lemieux’s blindside hit in Helsinki, which earned him a two-game suspension.

But since they returned to North American ice, the Jets have been mostly calm, cool and collected. They are the second-least penalized team in the league in that span, with 55 minors, two majors and one 10-minute misconduct in the19 games before heading into action against the Kings Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

It’s been especially noticeable over the past 11 games, with the Jets giving opponents 22 power plays. By comparison, Winnipeg has had 38 power plays in that stretch. Not surprisingly, they’ve gone 9-2-0 in that time, with just a pair of one-goal losses, to the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

“I think we’re trying to move our feet. Typically when you have the puck it’s harder to take a penalty. I think if you’re chasing games and behind it, it’s a little harder to stay on top of it and out of the box,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said Tuesday morning of the change in behaviour.

“You try to play as hard as you can within the rules. And then from there the officials, they do a great job of trying to call the game evenly. Typically in the past we’ve found ourselves a little bit on the wrong side of that equation. I think we’re getting better at it, and knowing where we could lay off a little bit and knowing the areas we can still be hard.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice believes the key is not getting caught out of position and flat-footed as much as they were in those first few weeks of the season.

“I think we’re better defensively. And it’s the original positioning on that, so we’re not in behind it. We haven’t been chasing a whole lot of games. And I think some of that is patience, too. We’re just a little more relaxed playing the defensive game, we’re not on the wrong side, we’re not cheating offensively, we’re scoring some goals, so there’s some confidence there. So that you’re not in a deficit position all the time,” said Maurice.

“And I also think we’ve skated. I think coming off that Finland trip, our legs got better and stronger and we’re skating better.”

Special teams have played a huge role in the Jets’ success, especially with their top-ranked power play coming up big more nights than not. But even when they do find themselves short-handed — an increasingly rare sight of late — the penalty kill has been more than adequate and currently ranks 13th in the NHL.

“Early on in the year, we were getting a lot of trips and a lot of stick infractions, where you’re maybe a little careless with your stick where you don’t need to be. Now it seems like we’re skating and we’re getting above pucks and we’re not really putting ourselves in positions where you have to take penalties,” said forward Adam Lowry, one of the key penalty killers on the team.

“That’s a good sign that we’re managing the puck well, we’re not turning pucks over in areas that are going to be detrimental to the team. We’re making smart plays and that’s really allowed us to stay out of the box — solid puck management. Having the puck helps a lot. You’re usually not going to be taking too many penalties when you’re on it and when you have it.”

Lemieux could be the poster child for change. Since getting suspended for his dangerous actions in Finland, the power forward who admittedly plays with an edge has just one minor penalty in his 10 games since returning to the lineup — and none in the past nine games.

“You’ve got to be smart. I’ve been a little bit more thoughtful, a little bit more cautious, yes,” said Lemieux.

The Jets have two of the top players for drawing penalties in their lineup in Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers. Both are in the top 10 in that department, according to the Natural Stat Trick website.

The fourth line, with Lemieux, Jack Roslovic and Mason Appleton, has also drawn a handful of infractions lately through hard work, even in their limited minutes.

“Just want to keep it simple, play hard, try to bring something to the table. You gotta be smart,” said Lemieux. “People who want to paint a picture about that emotion or playing over a line, there’s none of that. You make mistakes, you play hard and want to bring physicality. Sometimes you step over it. But emotion, if you’re getting emotional you’re going to get yourself in deep trouble.”

With those emotions clearly in check, it appears that spells trouble for opponents who can no longer count on the Jets simply beating themselves.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg