SAN JOSE – The timing couldn’t be better for Neal Pionk.
Tonight, when the Winnipeg Jets take on the San Jose Sharks, he’ll play his 500th career National Hockey League game, and thanks to the fact it’s the mom’s trip, he’ll have his mom Karen in the building.
“I’d say a week or so ahead I kind of counted it up,” Pionk said. “Figuring out it would be on the Mom’s Trip is pretty cool. She was there from day one and brought me to a lot of practices, and I’m sure she’s tied my skates a few times. It’s pretty special to have her here.”
The 29-year-old played the first 101 games of his career with the New York Rangers before being traded to Winnipeg in June of 2019. Since then, he’s been a big part of Winnipeg’s back end, and this season he’s already more than halfway to his career high of 45 points (a mark he set in 2019-20).
“That’s a great accomplishment. A guy that was undrafted, he’s a guy that’s had to work hard to get himself in the position he’s in,” said fellow defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “He’s an amazing teammate, amazing player for our group. He does a lot for us at both ends of the ice. He’s having a great season so far and it’s great to see him reach that milestone.”
Jets head coach Scott Arniel was with the New York Rangers as an associate coach during Pionk’s rookie season in 2017-18. Since then, he’s seen the Hermantown, MN product grow into the defenceman – and person – he is today.
“To start with the person, he’s a great young man, he’s a leader in our room,” said Arniel. “He takes a lot of pride in being a Winnipeg Jet. He’s a real good all-around defenceman. He can play an offensive game, makes a great first pass, we use him on the second power play and he’s a big part of that.
“He also has a bit of an edge to him. He has a tendency to disrupt the opposition and get under the skin of lots of players. I just like his compete. He’s having a great start to the year and hopefully it continues.”
The last time the Jets faced off with the Sharks, Pionk scored the eventual game-winner and added three assists for his first career four-point night. The Jets (22-9-1) won that game 8-3, but they know tonight’s match-up with the Sharks will be much different.
Neither of Macklin Celebrini (second in rookie scoring with 20 points) or Will Smith (San Jose’s first round pick in 2023) were in the line-up that night, and from a team standpoint, San Jose is 8-10-3 since the start of November (following a 3-7-2 October).
“When we saw them they were struggling to start, and now they’re playing much better hockey. They’re in a lot of games, even if they’re not coming out on top,” said DeMelo. “We have our work cut out for us tonight. This is going to be a tough match-up in this building. We’re going to have to be really detailed and really strong in our team game to prevail tonight.”
It was an optional skate for the Jets at SAP Center, so line-up questions – such as the availability of Nikolaj Ehlers - won’t be answered until warm-up. Connor Hellebuyck did take his usual starting routine at the morning skate, so it’s expected the two-time Vezina Trophy winner will start in goal.
The line rushes from Monday’s practice looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Chibrikov
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Fleury-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
Heinola-Coghlan
San Jose (11-17-5) is coming off a 4-3 loss to Utah on Saturday. It was the third straight one-goal game the Sharks had been part of, a stretch that included a win over St. Louis (4-3 on Thursday) and a close loss to Carolina (3-2 on Tuesday).
“They’ve really become a competitive team,” said Arniel. “Watching their last few games, they’re not going to give you anything. You have to go and take the game from them. They’re a real good transition team. If you turn pucks over they’re coming back at you in a hurry.”
One of the things that Jets captain Adam Lowry felt the Jets did well in the 4-2 win over Montreal was defended against the rush against a young and skilled group that likes to pounce on those opportunities.
“It’s going to be important we play a similar style to Montreal in terms of what we gave up,” said Lowry. “I thought we were really detailed in the neutral zone, really detailed off the rush, and get to the front of the net - that’s an area we’re still looking to improve upon, and it starts (tonight).”
If the Jets are able to do that, not only will they get their first victory on a Mom’s Trip after going 0-3 during the 2019-20 season, but Pionk will have an extra special memory in game number 500.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” said Pionk. “It makes me think about the tough times you’ve been through. To get to this point is pretty special.”
Puck drop is set for 9:30 pm CT.
