Maurice reunites familiar line combos as Jets 'get back to speed'

WINNIPEG - For 45 minutes on Wednesday, the Winnipeg Jets hit the ice at Canada Life Centre in an effort to move on from the loss to Buffalo the previous night.
There were line rushes, followed by sprints, more line rushes, and more sprints.
Overall, Jets forward Andrew Copp described the practice as "pretty necessary."
But this wasn't the typical 'bag skate' after a tough night at the office. There was a purpose.
"It was a sprint day today," Maurice said. "I just feel we played in a fog. You think you're working hard. You think you're driving. You're not. We needed to get the carburetor cleaned out today. It was just a sprint day up and down the ice. Get the legs moving, get the blood flowing hard."

The Jets head coach made some tweaks to the forward lines on Wednesday. He reunited the trio of Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Evgeny Svechnikov - a trio that has played over 135 minutes together at five-on-five (according to Natural Stat Trick) and accumulated 59.29 percent of the expected goals in that time period.
"We had some great success early on, some good chemistry there," said Connor. " I thought Doobie looked pretty strong last game, made a lot of good plays. Just one of those things where we can see if we can re-create some magic."

The other move was putting Andrew Copp alongside Adam Lowry and Dominic Toninato.
The duo of Copp and Lowry go way back, and while it hasn't been seen much this year at five-on-five, the two forwards have a history of making up two-thirds of an effective line for the Jets, regardless of who is on the right wing.
"We've had a lot of success together," said Copp. "Adam has been a huge part of my success over my career. He was kind of the guy who has been there for me when I first broke into that role with him and either (Joel) Armia or (Brandon) Tanev or (Mason) Appleton. So, he's been rock-solid over my career."
Maurice anticipates being able to recall a 12th forward in time for Thursday's practice, and ahead of Friday's tilt with the Washington Capitals.
The Jets played with 11 forwards and seven defencemen against the Sabres because of a positive COVID-19 test on the Moose roster earlier in the week. As a result, the Jets held off on a recall until more testing could be done with their American Hockey League affiliate.
With the 12th forward there, and the lines configured as they were today, Maurice feels Winnipeg can match-up better with not only the Capitals, but the next four opponents on the schedule.
"You look at the Vancouver game, Connor, Scheifele, and Wheeler were dominant. Then Dubois and Ehlers were good last night, but I need another line," said Maurice. "When you look at the next four opponents. They're going to be two lines deep of skill. There has to be more than one line and we can't suffer through somebody having an off night and playing against the other team's best."
The full line rushes looked like this on Wednesday:
Stastny-Scheifele-Ehlers
Connor-Dubois-Svechnikov
Copp-Lowry-Toninato
Beaulieu-Harkins-Vesalainen
Morrissey-Schmidt
Dillon-Pionk
DeMelo-Stanley
Being quicker all over the ice might be the cure to what ailed the Jets on Tuesday against Buffalo.

The team had a season-high 23 missed shots that night. And while Maurice acknowledges every team will miss the net on occasion, the Jets can give themselves more chances the more they move their feet.
"It's almost the same as a big number of blocked shots - you're not moving enough," Maurice said. "If you're missing the net, you're not getting it off your stick quick enough, or you're trying to find something better."
All this work is in an effort to be better on Friday against the Metropolitan leading Capitals, who are 17-5-6 heading into action tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"We need to play faster, play harder," Copp said. "If we play as fast and as hard as we're capable of, we feel like we should be able to be in a better spot than we are right now."