The Winnipeg Jets got back into the win column on Tuesday night, their 45th win of the season, a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. There was a lot that went into the low-scoring win for the Jets, setting up a massive in-division title on Friday night against the Dallas Stars. As for last night, there was plenty to take away from the win.
Luke Schenn makes his Winnipeg Jets debut
Luke Schenn got into the lineup after being traded twice in two days around the trade deadline. He slotted in on the third pairing alongside Haydn Fleury, and his play came as advertised.
He had a few glass-rattling hits, five blocked shots, and was an integral part of a third-period penalty kill that helped maintain the Jets’ 2-1 lead.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
The 6’2, 220 pound right shot defenceman was brought in to shore up the Jets’ depth on defence, add some toughness and physicality, and veteran experience, and he brought that very skillset in his first action with the Jets.
Scott Arniel was impressed with the 34-year-old’s first game with the team.
“A big one,” Arniel said on what kind of impact Schenn had in this game. “Ran into some people. Couple big shot blocks. Keeps the game simple… like we talked about yesterday. Makes a good first pass. Recognizes what’s ahead of him. I’m sure there was lots of nerves coming in here. First game, against a team like the Rangers, that was a real good first showing.”
On those bone-crushing hits, Cole Perfetti took note of his new teammate’s play and shared his excitement for having Schenn on his side now.
“A lot more fun to play with him than against him, I’ll tell you that,” Perfetti said. “He had a couple of really big hits, a couple of really big blocks. And he’s just always making the smart, simple play. He’s a rock back there. Again, a lot more fun to play with. He’s a heck of a player. A big guy out there and he’s not fun to play against. It’s great to have him.”
Cole Perfetti continues to improve his play
Cole Perfetti, game-by-game, continues to improve. The points hadn’t been there for him the past couple of games, but tonight, he had the primary assist on both Jets goals in the win.
Perfetti’s big night highlights a solid stretch of play from the Jets’ second line of Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti, as they continue to look better as the season rolls along.
With those two assists, Perfetti reached, and extended, his new career-high in points (40) through 66 games this season.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
“The one thing is, they haven’t got the numbers, they’ve gotten some great looks and some great chances,” Arniel said on that line’s play as of late. “That’s a career-high for points for (Perfetti). That’s awesome. He didn’t score, but he made a couple of really nice plays. Again, that first period, they looked real dangerous. I was trying to run them up against Panarin’s line, with Trocheck and that’s a big task because you know what they’re going to do. I thought they won the majority of the ice battle. They spent a lot more time in New York’s end than our end. That’s a good sign when that can happen.”
The Jets have needed this line to step up as the top line figures out a rough patch.
Top line’s underlying numbers cause for concern
The top line of Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi continues to drive the league’s best powerplay, which got on the board again tonight, as Vilardi scored his 27th of the season.
The struggles have come at five-on-five, where tonight against the Rangers, the shot attempts were 14-7 in New York’s favour, and Winnipeg’s top line was out-chanced 7-2, per Natural Stat Trick.
Their underlying numbers since the Four Nations break are something to keep an eye on moving forward.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
They have outscored their opponents 5-2, which is the most important stat. However, the “process” stats show that there’s some luck involved there. They are coming out on the wrong end of the following: Corsi (46%), Shots on goal (46.2%), Expected goals (45%), and Scoring chances (48.9%).
There was plenty of talk last week about the Jets opting against acquiring a second-line centre, but over the past 10 games, it’s been the top line that has struggled to control their minutes at five-on-five.
With a huge game coming up on Friday, the Jets will be hoping for a bounce-back from that line, the line that everyone knows has the talent and ability to get back to their minute-winning ways.
Up next
Friday night, the Winnipeg Jets will welcome the Dallas Stars to town for a crucial matchup inside Canada Life Centre. The Jets are currently up eight points on Dallas, meaning a regulation win on Friday could put Winnipeg up 10 points. However, a regulation loss and Dallas would be within six points with two games in hand.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the latest Jets and Moose news through a crucial week of action.
