LAS VEGAS – As the top team in the National Hockey League, the Winnipeg Jets know they’ll be getting the opposition’s best every single night.
That certainly doesn’t make the schedule they’re up against any easier, but it’s not a fact they’re hiding from either.
Regardless of opponent - whether it’s a home-and-home against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, a physical divisional clash with the Minnesota Wild, or a motivated squad like the Los Angeles Kings were on Wednesday – the Jets expect to perform at a high level.
“Last night that definitely wasn’t the case,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry at Friday’s practice in Vegas. “Seeing the video and the tape from last night, there were areas of our game we weren’t sharp with. When we’re not at our best in those areas, the offence - we don’t generate a lot of opportunities - and we spend a lot of time defending. It was pretty cut and dry the message from (head coach Scott Arniel) on what we need to improve upon.”
Their first chance to improve on those things comes today against the Vegas Golden Knights, who are also off to a strong start this season. While the Jets lead the Central with a record of 18-5-0, Vegas is the top team in the Pacific at 14-6-3.
Jets assistant coach Dean Chynoweth has seen the group respond to tough losses already this season. Whether that was a dominant 6-2 win in Detroit after a disappointing 6-4 loss to Toronto, or splitting a two-game set with Florida by earning a 6-3 win on home ice, Chynoweth knows the team will be ready to push back after a tough 4-1 loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“You go through a season, when you have an 82-game schedule, and you’re going to have those games and then, it’s (about) how you respond,” said Chynoweth. “It’s the next game, it’s the next shift, it’s after a goal and you’ve got to be able to put yourself in the position to have success in those.”
With the 5:30 pm local puck drop in Vegas, the Jets won’t hold a morning skate on Friday ahead of the game. Thursday’s practice was about getting back to playing the way the Jets want to, and recovering as much as possible.
“Do everything you can so tomorrow you have your legs and you’re mentally sharp, and you can make the right decisions out there,” said Lowry. “Like every game this road trip, it’s felt like, we’re playing a great team and we’re going to need to be at our best in order to find some success here.”
Only one player didn’t participate in practice, and that was Vladislav Namestnikov (Chynoweth said that was for maintenance purposes), so with the veteran forward not on the ice, Winnipeg’s line rushes looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Gustafsson-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Fleury-Pionk
Heinola-Miller
Stanley-Coghlan
The way Lowry sees it, the Jets want to improve in all three zones. What they do at one end of the ice often translates up ice. Winnipeg gave up 11 high-danger chances (according to Natural Stat Trick) against Los Angeles and generated seven of their own.
In the third period (where they currently hold a plus-34 goal differential), the Jets could only get two shots toward the Kings’ net. Winnipeg didn’t spend as much time in the offensive zone as they would like, and Lowry felt that was because of issues all the way back in their own end.
Contrast that to what Winnipeg achieved in the victory over Minnesota, limiting the Wild to just four shots in the third period.
“It’s connectedness, it’s predictability, and it’s execution,” said Lowry. “I think as forwards working back for D, it’s forwards being in the spots the D expect. The D partners communicating and being the eyes for the guy that has to go back and get the puck. Anytime you break out as a unit of five, generally you can get the puck through the neutral zone and you can get to your forecheck. I find that’s when we’re at our best.”
So look for the priorities in Winnipeg’s game to be managing the puck, breaking out of their zone as a five-player unit, and spending some more time in the offensive zone against Vegas – who are coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to Colorado.
It’ll be two motivated teams facing off at T-Mobile Arena on Friday, and Lowry doesn’t think the similarities end there, either.
“They’re built a lot like us,” said Lowry. “They have tremendous depth and they get contributions up and down their line-up, a lot of guys chipping in and off to great starts. They have a real deep back end, they make it tough to get to the front of the net, their D block a ton of shots. They have some great goalies back there.”
Should Winnipeg come out on top, they’ll reach 10 road wins and guarantee themselves at least a split on this six-game trek through multiple time zones.
“Finding ways to win on the road, it builds that trust in your group and that camaraderie,” said Lowry. “It’s tough to win in other team’s buildings. Ultimately we’ve been pretty successful on the road. Obviously we haven’t liked a few of our last road games, but anytime you spend a long extended period of time, you can build those relationships off the ice that only strengthens the group in here.”
