Practice Notebook - Jan. 7, 2023

WINNIPEG - Twice over the course of this four-game win streak, the Winnipeg Jets penalty kill has been tasked with clinching the victory in the final minutes of regulation.
In Edmonton on New Year's Eve, the Jets were shorthanded for the final 2:24 against the league's top power play unit and got the job done.
On Friday night, they were short for the last 1:52, facing a 6-on-4 against the Lightning, who are sixth best in the NHL on the man advantage.
They got the job done on both occasions.
"You don't want to get your mind swirling too much in the sense of, 'Oh, geez. There's a minute and a half left, Connor McDavid or Nikita Kucherov is on the half wall,'" said Brenden Dillon. "We just want to go out there and treat it like another penalty kill and take pride in killing it off."

And there is a lot of pride in the Jets penalty kill right now. It's the fourth best in the NHL at 83.3 percent and has gone to another level since returning from the holiday break. In the last six games, the Jets have killed off 94 percent of the shorthanded chances against.

Adam Lowry - who cleared the puck down the ice in a late kill against Tampa Bay, setting up Morgan Barron for a clutch empty-netter - acknowledged that Edmonton and Tampa Bay were missing a key piece of their power play (Leon Draisaitl and Victor Hedman, respectively). But he didn't shy away from the idea that going up against those lethal units can be a bit of a measuring stick.
"You want to go in and put your best foot forward," Lowry said. "I think when you look at the top power plays, you want to see how your team stacks up. It's always a good challenge. There are so many great players in this league that even the power plays that seem to be struggling can hit you pretty hard some nights. It's a testament to how well our PK is going right now."
Head coach Rick Bowness credits the work of associate coach Scott Arniel in keeping the penalty kill humming along. Arniel tends to be quick to credit the players, including goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck and David Rittich, for their role in making it all work.
Safe to say it's been a team effort, especially with injuries to regular penalty killers in Mason Appleton and Saku Maenalanen.
"We've done a really good job of having these guys step in and you're not seeing a huge drop off in the quality of chances you're giving up on the PK," said Lowry. "That speaks volumes to the coaching staff allowing them to know what we expect, the video we do, and the players helping the new guys with reads and things like that. Then you have to look at the Moose and what they've been able to do, making sure that guys when they've come up and been called upon, have been ready."

The Jets did more special teams work on Saturday afternoon as a way to get some more reps in, both for the penalty killers and the power play, with the latter adjusting to having injured players like Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Cole Perfetti, and Nate Schmidt available.
As Bowness, and his players, often say - there is always room for improvement.
"They're very confident in what they're doing, very confident in what they're giving up and we've got some big bodies out there," said Bowness. "We cover a lot of space with good sticks. We've got a fantastic goaltender in the net. So, as long as we're all on the same page with what we're giving up out there, then they should be confident."
CANUCKS IN TOWN
The Jets will take on the Vancouver Canucks for the third time in a 22-day span on Sunday in a matinee clash at Canada Life Centre.
Winnipeg has won both contests by scores of 5-1 and 4-2, but Lowry feels there is a lesson to be learned from the two-goal win on December 29.
"The first period, they kind of took it to us," Lowry said, referencing the fact the Canucks held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. "We know in an afternoon game, you can't have a sleepy start. You don't want to find yourself down a goal or two."
Three unanswered goals in the second period got the Jets out in front for good, but they know in the finale of the season series they'll have to match Vancouver's desperation.
The Canucks are seven points out of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference as the halfway point of the season gets closer.
"We know they have to win now," said Bowness. "They know they have to win now this month. We have to be prepared for that."
So matching that desperation level will be key for the Jets, as they try to chase down the Dallas Stars for top spot in the Central. Currently, Dallas holds a one-point lead over Winnipeg, with the Jets having one game in hand.
"They're battling for every point,' said Dillon. "As we progress here - we're almost at the official halfway mark - the games are getting tighter and tighter, the points are going to be more and more important and we have to get into that mindset here of playoffs."

With no morning skate on Sunday due to the earlier puck drop, the line rushes from Saturday's practice give a slight indication of what the Jets line-up might look like. Morgan Barron and Kevin Stenlund didn't skate ii the 30-minute session on Saturday, but Bowness said that was just for maintenance reasons.
The line rushes, without Barron and Stenlund, looked like this, with Saku Maenalanen out of a non-contact jersey, but unlikely to return on Sunday:
Perfetti-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Ehlers
Gustafsson-Lowry-Kuhlman
Jonsson-Fjallby-Maenalanen-Gagner
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Capobianco-Heinola
In terms of preparation for Vancouver with so many meetings in the last three weeks, Bowness said the pre-scout won't change too much.
"We'll watch their last game. They won and they played very, very well," he said. "Once the season starts, you don't have time to practice and make a lot of changes. You just don't. You can make little adjustments, but they're little adjustments. So we know what to expect from them."