ANAHEIM – While the Winnipeg Jets were disappointed with the final result on Friday night in San Jose, the great thing about the National Hockey league schedule is it always offers another opportunity.
That next opportunity for the Jets comes on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks, but before that, they made sure Saturday was a productive day.
For 30 minutes, the team held an optional practice on the ice at Honda Center. Off the ice, head coach Scott Arniel met with every player – except for Dylan Samberg and Cole Perfetti, who have yet to play in the regular season – as a way of checking in with his group.
“I never really got a chance since training camp to say ‘this is what I expect from you.’ Review with our players that were here last year, touching on things I expect from them,” Arniel said. “Each guy knows their role, what I expect, what the coaches expect. Now let’s go out and do it as a whole.”
As the Jets (9-5-0) prepare for the Ducks (9-3-1), the focus is on that elusive full 60-minute consistent performance. Arniel felt his team had taken steps toward that over the three-game win streak leading into this six-game road trip.
In fact, he liked Winnipeg’s opening period against San Jose. The score was 1-1, Natural Stat Trick had the five-on-five stats at pretty much an even split, and the Jets had multiple shifts grinding away in the Sharks end – forcing them to defend.
“We just didn’t come back and do it in the second,” said Arniel. “We had so many turnovers in that second period and gave a young team lots of great looks. (Connor Hellebuyck) had to stand on his head. It was more of a falling back, taking a step back, so that was probably where the frustration came from.”
Even though the formal practice was optional, there were some small advancements in terms of the injured players trying to make their way back.
Morgan Barron (week-to-week) was on the ice in a non-contact jersey, marking the first time he’d been on the ice since the injury he sustained against Pittsburgh. Gustav Nyquist (day-to-day) also had his second skate in non-contact. Dylan Samberg remained in non-contact yellow as well.
As for Cole Perfetti, Saturday’s session was his second in a regular jersey, though his season debut is still a bit away yet.
“He’s getting there. He hasn’t really got a real practice yet,” said Arniel. “He had an optional today and a morning skate yesterday, then a morning skate tomorrow. For me, I haven’t heard yet how it went today. Maybe a little bit of bump and grind this week, but he’s getting closer.”
When the Jets take the ice against the Ducks, they’ll be going up against a team on the back half of a back-to-back (the Ducks are in Vegas taking on the Golden Knights on Saturday), but also one of the highest scoring teams in the league.
Heading into Saturday’s action, Anaheim’s 54 goals in 13 games were tied for the most in the NHL.
“They’re buzzing right now,” said Luke Schenn. “They’re one of the hottest teams in the league and a lot of high-end firepower, young guys that are producing, and a good mix of veteran guys.
“We’ve got a lot of things we want to focus on ourselves too and clean up. We’ll have to be ready to rock tomorrow.”
