Jets unfazed by difficult stretch but aware pace needs improvement

WINNIPEG — Josh Morrissey wasn’t quite sure what all the fuss was about.

While the Winnipeg Jets All-Star defenceman and alternate captain understands his team hasn’t been at its best of late - especially in Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres - he made it abundantly clear that this is merely a bump in the road and not something that should be cause for concern.

“I mean, it feels like we're sounding the alarm here a little bit,” Morrissey said on Friday afternoon. “I don't think that's the case. Obviously you don't want to lose multiple games in a row and, looking at the last stretch with that road trip, you know, coming out under .500 on the road trip (at 2-3), but... I think that we're still doing a lot of good things.

“We have a great hockey team here and we believe in ourselves. It's time to just learn from each game, learn from yesterday, and be good in these next two. I don't know if there's any two situations or two seasons that are the same but we're certainly not pushing the panic button in our locker room, that's for sure.”

When a team that’s battling for top spot in the Central Division and Western Conference goes through a 2-4 stretch and has been limited to two or fewer goals in five of the past seven outings, you can understand why questions are being asked about what’s been happening lately. The Jets are sporting a 31-18-1 record going into Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Whether a hockey club is battling for top spot, fighting tooth and nail for playoff position or in the midst of a battle to improve one’s draft position, digging into the finer points of the game and searching for answers is often part of the equation.

It’s not like the Jets are in the process of seeing the season go off the rails or are falling apart at the seams either.

Nobody is suggesting that.

But when a team works so hard to establish a high standard, it quickly becomes clear when that group isn’t quite playing up to that level.

The Jets are a team that hasn’t spent as much time imposing its speed game on their opponents during the past eight-to-10 games. The one exception came on Jan. 13 when the Jets produced a convincing 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“We’re just not moving, that’s the biggest thing. And when we’re not moving, all of a sudden those plays, you’re seeing them, but they’re not quite happening at the same rate they would when you’re in motion,” said Jets forward Blake Wheeler. “It’s just a lack of aggressiveness all over the ice. And I think the plays that are being turned over right now are plays that we’ve been making all year. Even when they get knocked down or there are turnovers, we’ve been on our toes and we’ve been aggressive enough that we’ve been able to cover up for them.

“That’s what we need to get back to. If we’re going to make a mistake, make an aggressive mistake. Those are a lot easier to clean up, because at least the other team doesn’t have time to make a play.”

Jets head coach Rick Bowness was taking a philosophical approach to his question and answer period on Friday, while also asking — and expecting — more from his charges as they get set for the final two games before the extended break arrives.

“Can we play better? Yeah, we can. Have we? Yeah. Will we again? Absolutely we will,” said Bowness. “We won eight of nine. In the last six games, a couple of bad games were in there. But it’s just a couple of bad games. We know what we’re capable of.

“Can we push the pace harder in games? Absolutely we can. We didn’t push the pace for 60 minutes last night, but we will — and we will again. We’ll get through this. I have no doubt.”

Bowness made it clear after Thursday’s game that he planned to get some player feedback about how the group has been playing during the recent stretch.

This move was right out of the coaching manual, where Bowness knew exactly how he felt but wanted to ensure the players were in lockstep with what areas of the game needed to be cleaned up.

By the sound of it, Bowness heard precisely what he was hoping to.

“They all know when we’re playing well, what we look like. They all know that right now, that’s not what we’re doing. We’re not looking like we know how we can look,” said Bowness. “There is an honest recognition of that. If they were unsure of what we look like when we’re playing well, that’s a whole other problem.

“Okay, we’re off a little bit and these are the areas we’re off a little bit. The foundation of how we need to play is in place. We’ve lost it a little bit — no question — but they know where that foundation is and they know we’re going to have to work harder to get that back.”

This fix doesn’t include reinventing the wheel or changing the systems or anything of that nature.

It’s about playing with more pace and making smarter decisions in the games when not everyone has their best legs underneath them.

“Yeah, the keys that we’ve talked about all year, when we look good and when we’re a team that I think we can play with the top teams in the league — and we are a top team in the league — it’s about our speed, our aggressiveness, our pressure and our pace and our confidence,” said Morrissey. “When we’re at our best, we have a confidence, we have a swagger about ourselves and (Thursday) night, we didn’t play with a lot of those things that I mentioned.

“That’s what it is about getting back to. You can look at the X’s and O’s all you want, but that’s the identity of our team and when we play like that, we can play with anybody.”

The Jets have spent 50 games working incredibly hard to get to where they are and they aren’t about to abandon ship at the first sign of a few bumps in the road.

It’s about digging in and focusing on the minute details that are so important, especially as the stretch drive arrives and the stakes get higher.

“The way we want to pressure takes pace. It’s hard work. The way we want to support the puck is hard work, and that’s pace,” said Bowness. “When they’ve got the puck, we need five guys on the same page, we need five guys working very hard at the same pace to pressure them. When we get the puck, we have to play with pace when we get it. That takes five guys on the ice.

“There is a little disconnect now with our forwards and our defence that comes when you’re not on top of your game. If we all get back on the same page and thinking in terms of pace, it’ll come back for us. We want to skate, we want to pressure, we want to get the puck, we want to go. They get it, we want to pressure them. That’s hard work. It’s hard work every shift. Hard work and pace are the same thing. We just have to get that back, and we will.”