The Winnipeg Jets are about to have nine days off, and do they ever need every day of the break.
After facing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 27, they won’t be back in action until Feb. 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins as the NHL All-Star Game and all the related festivities take place Feb. 1 through Feb. 3.
Jets Scuffling As Injuries Abound
The rest and recuperation the Jets will get to enjoy in that span comes at the perfect time. The team continues to battle hard for head coach Rick Bowness and each other, but injuries are starting to pile up and they are performing far from their best.
The Jets have scored just three goals in their last three games and are 1-1-1 in that span. Most recently, on Jan. 24, the Maple Leafs shut them out 1-0 in overtime.
The Jets has been without number-one center Mark Scheifele for five games and counting due to a lower-body (suspected groin) injury he suffered on Jan. 11 against the Chicago Blackhawks. He’s been teased as “day to day” since and has been a full participant in practice, but as seems tradition with “day-to-day injuries” in the Jets’ organization, what initially was pitched as a minor ailment has evolved into a weeks-long “will he play, won’t he play” saga.
Scheifele is impossible to replace; the 30-year-old leads the team in points with 41 (14 goals, 27 assists) in 41 games and has looked reenergized since signing a lucrative seven-year extension in October.
Gabriel Vilardi is similarly tough to replace. He has missed the past two games with an lower-body injury, and also missed 16 games earlier in the season with an MCL sprain. He has played exceptionally while in the lineup and the 24-year-old’s notable nose for the net and patience with the puck has led to him tallying 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in 26 games.
The absence of two-thirds of the Jets’ top line has thrown all the other lines into the blender. Captain Adam Lowry, Alex Iafallo, and Dominic Toninato, have all been forced to take on top-six and otherwise-expanded roles.
Compounding matters further is an injury to Josh Morrissey, who is having another stellar campaign on the blue line. Morrissey — who has seven goals and 26 assists for 33 points, a plus-22 rating, and is averaging 24:10 to lead all Jets defenders — exited Jan. 24’s game against the Maple Leafs late in the first period after taking a point-blank shot from Matthew Knies to the groin and did not return.
Cole Perfetti is also dealing with a wrist issue, part of the reason the up-and-comer is not being deployed at centre, Bowness has said. David Gustafsson has also been out for more than a month with a lower-body injury.
Scheifele, Morrissey, and Vilardi all practiced in regular jerseys on Friday, and after practice, Bowness stated that Scheifele will miss his sixth-straight game while Morrissey and Vilardi are game-time decisions who will “in all likelihood” play against the Maple Leafs.
However, there’s still a chance none of them end up suiting up. The Jets have the luxury of being extra cautious with these players, as although they’ve fallen out of first place in the NHL, they still have a 30-11-5 record and a nice cushion in the Western Conference standings. There’s no point in rushing them back before they’re 100 per cent.
Jets Complementary Scoring Has Fallen Silent
The Jets have just nine goals in their past six games, which is a bit disappointing considering how balanced their scoring was during their dominant first half of the season.
Related: NHL-Leading Jets Surprisingly Dominant in Season’s First Half
Their secondary scorers have been silent during that six-game span, partially due to the line shuffling that’s interrupted the chemistry the usual combinations built. Nino Niederreiter — who has six 20-goal seasons in his career — has gone 12 games without a goal, Iafallo and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby have gone 10 games without a goal, and Morgan Barron has gone nine games without a goal.
Lowry hasn’t scored in seven, Perfetti hasn’t scored in six, and Kyle Connor, in his four games since returning from injury, has just an empty-netter to his name.
A goal or two from those guys against the Maple Leafs would go a long way to sending the Jets into the All-Star break on a high note, as would a goal or two on the man advantage. The power play has been a weak point all season long and has just one goal in its past 10 games. It continues to operate near the bottom of the NHL, 23rd overall with a 16.08 per cent efficiency.
Regardless of the result against the Maple Leafs, the Jets have earned the right to feel reasonably secure about their station and reasonably confident in their overall play, especially at five on five. They should take the time off to rest, get healthy, and get mentally prepared for the stretch run so they don’t suffer a massive slump like last season.
