WINNIPEG — Nikolaj Ehlers, Cole Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov will be the first ones to tell you that their line struggled through the first three games of the season.
They were heavily outshot and out-chanced during five-on-five play. Collectively, and individually, they were out of sync. Getting from the defensive zone into the offensive zone — let alone sustaining pressure once there — was a challenge, with bobbled pucks and intercepted passes in the neutral zone mitigating opportunities to create offence.
“Everything was just congested,” Namestnnikov said after Friday’s 8-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Ahead of Friday’s game, Ehlers spoke to reporters about how, as a line, the three had conversations about how they can create more opportunities, put pucks in the right spots and support one another.
They wound up doing exactly that.
The fact that they each racked up points — Perfetti and Namestnikov finished with four and Ehlers registered three of his own — was one thing, but the way they drove five-on-five play was the most encouraging. They didn’t allow a single shot attempt against and they were able to penetrate the neutral zone with ease.
“All three of them were at their best. There’s been games where — maybe it’s a period — one of them is going. Two of them are going. It was never all three. And tonight, it was all three right from the start,” Arniel said.
Ehlers and Perfetti, especially, were cooking in transition.
Less than five minutes into the game, we saw Perfetti, situated on the left wing in the neutral zone, pull off a perfectly timed cross-ice saucer pass to a streaking Ehlers on the right side, which led to a zone entry and scoring chance. Later in the first period, a near-identical sequence took place but this time, Ehlers walked in and sniped home his second goal of the game. The chemistry between the two was undeniable. And the way the two generated offence on Friday, even if it was in a rather meaningless game against the lowly Sharks, provides hope that Ehlers may finally have a suitable running mate on the team’s second line.
“He’s very calm with the puck,” Ehlers said of Perfetti after Winnipeg’s practice on Saturday. “He’s not a guy you want to give time and space because he’s going to find that open guy and he’s going to make a great pass that leads to a great chance.”
When sizing up the Jets, who remain undefeated, one could argue that Perfetti and Ehlers are the two biggest x-factors. Their bottom-six — led by one of the NHL’s best shutdown lines in Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter — is rock solid. We know the team’s first line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi, despite their defensive flaws, can produce offence. But that second line has always been a question mark. And Perfetti and Ehlers are going to make or break how effective it is.
Powerful Power Play
Winnipeg currently has the best power play in the NHL, boasting a 50 percent conversion rate on the man-advantage.
Now, obviously, that number will regress. But there’s no denying how night-and-day the Jets’ power play is from last year, when they ranked 22nd.
“We want to have multiple options so the penalty kill can’t have that sort of anticipation of where that next play’s going,” said Jets assistant coach Davis Payne.
In years past, that was the Jets’ downfall. Over the previous two seasons, especially, it was quite clear that Kyle Connor was the anticipated trigger-man in nearly every situation. Connor is still a focal point of the power play but with the addition of Ehlers in the bumper role — or as Payne calls it, ‘the pop guy’ — the Jets have added another dimension.
“He’s got world-class skill,” Payne said. “With his ability to operate with pace, whether it’s to enter with pace, whether it’s to support with pace, whether it’s (making) a decision with the puck quickly. That’s the skill set that that area of the ice requires. Whether it’s a shot, whether it’s a relay to a different shot option — he’s done a real good job of that. Also understanding that we want his pace to get to different areas of the ice so that we can attack off of both sides.”