DENVER – As the best-of-seven series between the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche shifts to Ball Arena, the Jets line-up could see a shift as well.
Of course, the word ‘could’ in the previous sentence carries a lot of weight, as head coach Rick Bowness stopped short of confirming that Nate Schmidt would draw in for Game 3 on Friday night alongside Dylan Samberg.
“We have eight National Hockey League defencemen and 14 National Hockey League forwards ready to go,” Bowness said following a 30-minute skate on Thursday. “We’ll make final decisions tomorrow.”
But if the line rushes are to be believed, and Schmidt indeed makes his 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in Game 3, he’s looking forward to the opportunity to help his team move ahead in the series, which is currently tied at one.
“As game 3 approaches, it turns into best-of-5 and you’re still in a series,” said the veteran defenceman with 73 playoff games under his belt. “This road game is going to be a matchup test for our guys. Things that we played in Games 1 and 2 that are available to us in games 3 and 4 are going to be put to the test as well. Yeah, it’s exciting to be part of a series that has so much explosiveness, so much excitement that’s been around the game. it should be a good one.”
According to Natural Stat Trick, the duo of Schmidt and Samberg have played 529:54 at five-on-five this season, the third most of any defensive pair the Jets have used this season. Not only do they find themselves on the positive side of the ledger when it comes to shot-attempt percentage (53.33 percent), expected goals (53.42 percent) and high-danger chance differential (89-82), but there is also the fact the Jets have outscored their opponents 19-11 with Schmidt and Samberg on the ice.
The change would also put Dylan Samberg back on the left side with Schmidt occupying the right, where he has been most of the season even as a left-shot defenceman.
“That right side for a left hand, that’s a tough position,” said Bowness. “You get stuck in the corner, and the way they forecheck and the way they bring the puck in, it’s hard for a lefty going back into that right corner. We do want to move the puck a little quicker, we still played a little too slow for our liking last game. So get moving the puck quicker and playing north—a lot faster game—is going to help us, for sure.”
The full line rushes on Thursday afternoon looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Monahan-Toffoli
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Namestnikov-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Stanley-Miller
Throughout those nearly 530 minutes they’ve played together at five-on-five, and the countless practices they’ve been alongside each other, Schmidt and Samberg have preached communication.
“That’s a crucial part of any D pair,” Schmidt said. “That has to be the foundation for him and I. I believe we’ve layed those bricks. Now it’s time to reap the rewards.”
Now, with the series heading into Ball Arena – where the Avalanche own the league’s best home record of 31-9-1 – communication will be even more important.
And the Jets are used to communicating and working together in tough environments. After all, they do own the NHL’s third-best road record at 25-13-3 with two of those victories coming in Denver.
“I don’t think anyone expected this series to go four straight for either side,” said Bowness. “So here we are in Game 3. It’s 1-1, we know we have to win another game in this rink.
LOOKING FOR MORE
When Tyler Toffoli thinks back to Winnipeg’s last visit to Denver, the thoughts that come to his mind can only be positive.
After all, his trio with Sean Monahan and Nikolaj Ehlers combined for two goals and six points in the 7-0 win.
Playoffs are an entirely different animal, of course, but there are things that Toffoli feels his line can take from that contest.
“I thought we were really crisp and we executed on every play,” Toffoli said. “We did a really good job creating space for each other and capitalizing on our opportunities.”
So far, that line has been kept off the score sheet in the series against Colorado, but that hasn’t shaken their confidence.
“Once the game starts, any other game throughout the rest of the season doesn’t matter,” said Toffoli. “It’s just a matter of going out and performing and playing up to our abilities.”
Bowness would like to see that line, which has combined for 16 shots on goal in the first two games, use the width of the ice to their advantage.
“I find that they're getting bogged down a little bit. They're getting too much in the middle,” said Bowness. “Sean's a very smart player, he's a great passer with the puck but if he's got one of the guys right beside him, then you're losing an option, so we'd like them to spread it out a bit more. And with Nik's speed and Tyler's hands and hockey sense, that's when it was working.”
With the Jets as the visiting team for the next two games, Colorado will have last change and the ability to change match-ups to suit their game plan.
“They know they can give us more and we're going to need more, especially in here, with the changes and the matchups we talked about,” said Bowness. “But they're three pros, they've been around and they know they can give us more."
