The Winnipeg Jets’ line of Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter may not be the flashiest, although Wednesday night’s 6-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers was another example of how the trio is one of the league’s most efficient.
“Oh yeah, they can do it all,” Connor Hellebuyck told reporters post-game.
Right out of the gate, the Jets’ “third line” — which is more so like a second line, deployment-wise — set the tone. While matching up against Connor McDavid for most of the night, the team’s identity line did what they do best.
They sustained offensive zone possession for prolonged periods. They suffocated Edmonton’s top dogs during five-on-five play. And, above all, they set the tone — scoring the first two goals of the game.
First, it was a cycle down-low between Appleton and Niederreiter that led to Lowry scoring a net-front goal to open the scoring at the 5:04 mark of the first period. Then, less than four minutes later, Niederreiter entered the zone in transition, stopped up as the opposition pressed him before dishing it cross-ice to the left flank, where Appleton received the puck and wired home a shot to give Winnipeg a 2-0 lead with 1:25 remaining in the second period.
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“It took a little bit of the wind out of Edmonton’s sails there,” Jets coach Scott Arniel told reporters post-game. “For us, it got us really up on the bench. It got everybody going. It’s not a tough recipe with those guys; it’s get pucks in and get after them and go make people turn pucks over with their pressure.”
In addition to their two goals, Lowry, Appleton and Niederreiter combined for eight of the Jets’ 18 five-on-five scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. But more importantly, they held McDavid to just one scoring chance and zero shots during five-on-five play.
“They don’t spend a lot of time on their end of the rink,” Arniel said.
Lowry is the real driver of that line. He shadowed over McDavid all night, giving the world’s best player little breathing room. Nights like tonight are a prime example of why Lowry — who finished seventh in Selke voting last season — is one of the league’s best shutdown centres.
Heavy Helly
Hellebuyck posted a 30-game shutout following a brief absence from the club this week due to a personal family matter.
The reigning Vezina winner was visibly emotional post-game.
“It’s been a crazy week. It’s been tough on the whole family but the boys played great for me, and they’ve been really supportive this entire time,” Hellebuyck told reporters. “I really cherish these moments, and I cherish my time with family, so hope they’re doing alright.”
Lowry spoke on how special it was that Winnipeg was able to preserve the shutout for Hellebuyck.
“When a guy’s going through something, you want to be there as much as you can to support him,” Lowry said. “When he got back from the airport yesterday, I think everyone kind of had a little moment with him, just to check in on him, make sure he’s doing okay, make sure (his wife) Andrea’s doing okay. I think that’s one of the great things about playing in those smaller markets is it’s a tight-knit community. In turn, it kinda makes us a tight-knit team. Like I said earlier, he’s such an important piece for our team, but family is so important that we just want to be there for him any way we can.”
Other notes
• The Jets’ second line of Nikolaj Ehlers, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti was invisible tonight. Or rather, visible for all the wrong reasons. The three were outworked and outplayed in all three zones and were out-chanced 6-1 during five-on-five play as a result. They played the least amount of any line during five-on-five action (9:37).
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• Perfetti struggled to create anything with the puck and neither he nor Namestikov were able to help Ehlers create offence.
• Kyle Connor became the first player in NHL history to score a goal in seven straight season-opening games.
“He’s one of the most consistent goal scorers in the NHL,” Lowry said. “He does it in a variety of ways, but he always finds a way to end up on the scoresheet and impact games. He doesn’t need a lot of space. He doesn’t need a lot of time. It’s going to be critical that he continues this consistency for our team to succeed….. It’s remarkable for him to have seven straight. I can’t even fathom that, to be honest.”
• Rasmus Kupari ended a 70-game goal drought when he scored his first as a Jet. Kupari, acquired in the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal, edged out David Gustafsson for the team’s fourth-line role during training camp. The speedster may not be the traditional mould of a ‘4C’ but he didn’t look out of place playing alongside Morgan Barron and Alex Iafallo — two players who play a simple, hard-nosed game.
“That’s one thing I noticed in camp, the decisions he was making on the ice,” Lowry said. “There’s a maturity to his game that’s taken a step forward.”
