The Winnipeg Free Press’s Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe offer the following post-morning skate article form the Jets’ perspective ahead of tonight’s game between Detroit and Winnipeg (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet West/97.1 FM):
We take you back to Oct. 30 in Detroit, where local product Kyle Connor had a huge night against his hometown club and eclipsed the 500-point mark for his career after recording a goal and two assists. You could tell the Winnipeg Jets winger had some extra giddy-up in his step that night.
So what might fellow Michigan product Connor Hellebuyck have in store tonight as his Jets host the Red Wings for the only time this season? We remind you that Winnipeg’s two-time Vezina Trophy winner needs but one victory to become just the 30th goaltender in NHL history with at least 300 wins and 40 shutouts.
“He’s been awesome for us. We just want to go out and play our game and give it our all,” forward Mark Scheifele said following his team’s optional morning skate.
Hellebuyck could have hit the milestone on Thursday night, but the Jets blew a late third-period lead and ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks. That left the team winless in its last two (0-1-1) following a four-game winning streak, although they continue to lead the NHL with 56 points (and sit second in point percentage behind the Vegas Golden Knights).
Although the Jets took that initial meeting by a 6-2 score, don’t expect the Red Wings to roll over in this one. Detroit comes in red hot, relatively speaking, as they’ve rattled off three straight victories including a 5-4 triumph on Thursday in Columbus. Give some credit to new head coach Todd McLellan, who took over from Derek Lalonde just after Christmas.
“Really, their play without the puck is probably the biggest difference,” Jets bench boss Scott Arniel said of what has changed in Motor City. “They still have a real good skill-set, some top-end forwards, some real mobile young defencemen who can go, but you can see it, they’re not giving up odd-man rushes. Obviously, their buy-in without the puck has been big.”
McIntyre and Wiebe report that Alex Lyon will start for the Red Wings, and the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers this morning skate report from afar…
After this morning’s skate, Red Wing center and former Jet Andrew Copp—whom coach Todd McLellan referred to as the “safety valve” of his line with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat—told reporters about the shift in energy for the team following McLellan’s takeover. “Since the change, we’ve got some confidence, some momentum, starting trusting ourselves instinctually a little more,” he said. “We’re playing a lot better, so three in a row now, would be a huge win if we can get one tonight and kind of keep it going. We’re feeling good about the direction we’re heading and some of the changes that have been made, and it’s up to us to find a way to keep some momentum going through January here.”
McLellan lauded Winnipeg as “as good a defensive team as there is in the league…in all three zones,” while also identifying the unique firepower of the NHL’s top power play (32.0%): “Sometimes a power play only has one or two scoring options; the rest are facilitators or playmakers. This power play has five guys that can shoot the puck past the goaltender, so it makes it a little more difficult to plan. They don’t often show you the same look twice, and they’re real good at retrieving any garbage, so it’s not like you get an opportunity to relieve the pressure very much. We’ll need some good goaltending, we’ll need some good structure, and…stay out of the box.”
Tonight, the Red Wings will have to do without Jeff Petry, who was unable to finish Thursday’s game against the Blue Jackets in Columbus. McLellan referred to it as “a good sign” that Petry traveled to Winnipeg with the team, before saying, “once we get back to Detroit, he’ll get the care he needs and hopefully short term.”
Petry’s absence opens the door for defenseman Albert Johansson to play under McLellan, having been a healthy scratch for the first four games out of the coaching change. Said McLellan of the 24-year-old rookie, “He’s been waiting patiently, he’s worked really hard in practice, and he’s gonna get his opportunity, so we’re real excited about that.” It won’t be an easy (re-)entry point against a ferocious Jets team,
And the Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen had Copp and Ben Chiarot comment regarding their former team:
“They’ve just had good teams here for a long time,” [Chiarot, a] defenceman said. “And now they do a good job of putting the right pieces in place. It’s fun seeing those guys that I came up with and seeing what they are now. It’s what Zinger and Chevy (the Jets GM and his assistant Craig Heisinger) would have envisioned from Day 1. It’s all fallen into place. You see what that gets you. It’s a playoff team, a team that has a chance every year.”
Chiarot was expecting a heavy forecheck against him and his fellow blueliners on Saturday night, as the Jets tried to add to their league-leading 27 wins.
The big question: when will they start to win in the playoffs? Copp and Chiarot were part of the 2017-18 team that made it to the conference final. The Jets have won just one playoff series since.
“They’re right there,” Copp said. “You get down to the last 16, the last eight, the last four, you’re really splitting hairs. They struggled a little going into the playoffs last year, I feel like, and maybe some confidence was lost. But if they’re feeling good, they’re as good as anybody in the league. So it’s only a matter of time. They keep giving themselves chances in the playoffs, it’s going to come.”
Chiarot pointed out even the great Detroit teams had some disappointing playoff exits before they turned into a perennial powerhouse in the late 1990s and through the 2000s.
“Part of it’s timing or peaking at the right time,” he said. “Can everyone stay healthy? Can your goalie get hot? My trip to the finals (with Montreal in ’21) we had the hottest goaltender in the league in Carey Price, and you just ride that wave. These guys will catch one, for sure.”
