TAMPA BAY - One of the things that Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel has liked about his club through the 15-1-0 start has been the team’s ability to reset after each victory.
Whether it’s a huge divisional win (like the one over Dallas to close out the most recent home stand) or a road-trip opening triumph in New York like Tuesday, the Jets have been able to leave that performance in the rear-view mirror and focus on their next opponent.
Next up for the Jets is the Tampa Bay Lightning (7-6-1), who are winless in four games but will be a rested and motivated club. They haven’t played since last Thursday, a 2-1 shootout loss to Philadelphia.
“There are still a lot of veteran players over there that know how to win hockey games,” said Arniel. “They gave us a tough one in our building. Hopefully we get ourselves off to a good start here.”
Tonight’s tilt will close out the season series between the two clubs. The Jets came out on the winning side of a 7-4 score at Canada Life Centre back on November 3, a night that saw Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Vladislav Namestnikov put up two-point performances.
But just as they’ve done every night this young National Hockey League season, the Jets have put that game behind them. Certainly there are aspects of the game that made the video presentation ahead of Thursday’s morning skate – this is the first time this season the Jets see an opponent they’ve already faced this season – but they’re very aware of what Tampa is capable of.
After all, AMALIE Arena has been the site of four of Tampa’s seven wins. Overall, they’re 4-1-1 in their own building.
“They have guys that make you pay when we’re not playing the way we want to play,” said Dylan DeMelo. “They’re a well-balanced team. No matter who we play, it’s about us and our game, and our focus. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully we can get a win tonight.”
Eric Comrie will get the start in goal for the Jets. So far this season, the 29-year-old goaltender is 3-0-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average and a 0.914 save percentage.
In his last start, which came on November 1 at Columbus, Comrie stopped 20 of 22 shots in a win over the Blue Jackets.
While Comrie has been with the Jets organization on three separate occasions in his career, this is the first season that he’s been teammates with Gabriel Vilardi. The Jets forward has enjoyed getting to know Comrie, and said the goaltender’s start is a byproduct of the work he puts in every day.
“He’s always out there working. In camp, he was staying out with me after skates and we were doing breakaways. He’s always one of the first guys on the ice,” said Vilardi. “He’s always willing to stay out there longer and do the extra stuff. It helps him and it helps us.”
The change between the pipes is the only change for the Jets line-up wise tonight, with the skaters in front of Comrie expected to line up like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury-Miller
In the win over the Lightning earlier this month, the trio of Scheifele, Vilardi, and Connor combined for four points. Connor assisted on the eventual game-winner from Dylan Samberg, while Scheifele and Vilardi teamed up for a brilliant two-on-one goal that gave the Jets their first lead of the game 7:36 into the second period.
That line was just as dynamic in the win over the New York Rangers as well. All three of them found the back of the net (Scheifele and Connor twice, with Vilardi adding a power play tally) as the trio combined for six points.
Since October 30, that line has outscored its opponents 9-1 at five-on-five and hold the edge in high-danger chances at 27-11 (per Natural Stat Trick).
“You play with those two guys, for me personally, it’s a great opportunity to get more space. They bring guys into them and they’re so smart at reading the game, they’ll wait that extra second so you get that extra second when you receive the puck,” said Vilardi. “Right now we’re fortunate to be scoring, but more importantly we’re playing better defensively than we did at the start of the year.”
Vilardi, his line, and the Jets as a group will need their best for the seven-game win streak to continue through tonight – and match the eight-game run the group had to start the season.
In order to put their best foot forward, they’ll be relying on the structure that has brought them to this point.
“It’s been years building our brand that way,” said DeMelo. “We feel we’ve done that over the last few years. We’ve been around together for a little while here. Even if we’re down in games, not to get away from our style of play because we believe in it and we trust it. We know it works. The early results have been good.
“For us, it’s just about what’s the next level for our team? How can we push this thing? How can we continue to get better? That’s our focus every day.”
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
