SEATTLE – The playful name-calling Dylan Samberg has had to endure for the last couple weeks has finally come to an end.
“I’m sick of being called Big Bird out there,” Samberg grinned, referencing the bright yellow non-contact jersey the defenceman had to wear as he worked his way back from a broken wrist suffered in the preseason.
“Obviously a long road to recovery and watched a lot of games and had the itch for quite some time,” he said. “Being able to skate and not being able to play is tough, but it’s good to be back in the line-up.”
The initial timeline for Samberg’s injury, sustained October 3 on a freak accident on a hit from Calgary’s Ryan Lomberg, was six-to-eight weeks.
When the 26-year-old draws back into the line-up tonight against the Seattle Kraken, it will be one day under six weeks since the hit. Now, a deep Jets team gets a huge asset back on the blue line, as Samberg led the team last season in blocks with 120.
“I think he’s one of our best penalty killers,” said Neal Pionk, who will once again pair up with his fellow Hermantown, MN product. “He knows where I’m going, I know where he’s going for the most part. We have that natural chemistry between passes, between reads on d-zone coverage and stuff like that. We’ll help each other out both ways.”
The Jets (10-6-0) might have revenge on their minds when they take on the Kraken tonight at Climate Pledge Arena.
After all, it was the Kraken (7-4-5) that came into Canada Life Centre back on October 23 and snapped Winnipeg’s five-game win streak by handing the Jets a 3-0 loss.
To even up the three-game season series, the Jets will need to do a lot of the same things that earned them a 5-3 victory in Vancouver on Tuesday.
“Our 50-50 battles were a lot better. That’s five-on-five, that’s special teams and power play with a couple big goals. It was nice to get back on track,” said Josh Morrissey of the win, which snapped a three-game losing skid for the Jets.
“Everybody wanted to step up when you lose a few games in a row,” he said. “We had a great meeting (Tuesday) as a group and talked about what our identity is. I felt like everyone raised their intensity level. As a leader on the team, you want to be part of leading that charge.”
And lead he did.
With the Jets down to five defencemen early in the second period, Morrissey played 24:23 – the second most on the team behind only Pionk’s 25:13 – and recorded three points, his fourth multi-point game in his last nine outings.
There were plenty of improvements in Winnipeg’s game from the three losses in California to open the six-game road trip. Now in Seattle, it’s about bringing those habits to the forefront yet again.
The back-to-back William Jennings Trophy winners have allowed 42 goals against this season, the fourth fewest in the National Hockey League heading into action on Thursday.
Arniel loved how his team protected the “guts of the ice” against Vancouver, while captain Adam Lowry liked how the group’s forecheck put pressure on the Canucks – shift after shift.
“Right from the start of the game (Mark Scheifele’s) line goes out and has aa great shift, sustains some pressure, and we’re able to build some momentum off that. (Jonathan Toews’) line gets a big goal for us just to get us feeling good,” Lowry said. “We know when we play to our systems, to our structure, and we execute the game plan, we’re a real good hockey team.”
The full line rushes from the morning skate looked like this, with Connor Hellebuyck expected to get the start.
