WINNIPEG – Welcome to Winnipeg, Vladislav Namestnikov.
Meet your new teammates, try on your new gear and get as comfortable as humanly possible.
By the way, we know the last few days have been a bit hectic and stressful, but we’ve got a fun assignment as you make your Jets’ debut.
How do you feel about going head-to-head against two of the best players on the planet?
Sound good?
Namestnikov was more than happy to accept the assignment after being traded twice in the last week, first from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the San Jose Sharks and then, on Friday to the Jets.
By the time the final buzzer had sounded, Namestnikov had shown off some of the subtleties of his game in what turned into a 7-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night that helped snap a five-game losing skid.
“(It’s) the little things Vladdy does,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who first coached Namestnikov with the Lightning, then again with the Dallas Stars last season after he was acquired in a deadline deal. “Like, in the first period he took the puck to the net and almost scored. His play in the third period, the puck comes around the board and he’s a left hand shot and he takes that puck off the boards and we’re gone.
“He’s very good at all the little details of the game. He’s got great hockey sense, and he’s got a great feel for the game. You guys don’t know, but he’s a tough little guy. I mean, he is tough. And you love his compete.”
The compete was on display with Namestnikov blocking a shot from Evan Bouchard with just over four minutes to go in the contest (4:14 to be exact) and he did enough in his ice time that Bowness had him out on the ice protecting the lead in a 6-on-5 situation with Jack Campbell on the bench in favour of an extra attacker.
Namestnikov chipped in a helper for an exclamation point as Dylan DeMelo banked a clearing attempt off the boards with 34.5 seconds to go.
Namestnikov’s new linemates also snapped a pair of lengthy goal-scoring droughts as the Jets complementary scoring stepped up and did their part.
Adam Lowry’s last goal came on Dec. 11 against the Washington Capitals, a span of 35 games that was clearly weighing on him, as he confessed during his post-game address.
“The longer that thing goes on, the more you think about it and the more ways it just starts affecting other parts of your game. It’s nice to get that out of the way,” said Lowry, who also got into a spirited tilt with Darnell Nurse after Saku Maenalanen delivered a clean hit on Connor McDavid late in the second period. “(Morgan Barron) snapped his slump as well. Nice to get a little secondary scoring and get back into the win column.”
Barron’s slump was 20 games and he’s been rounding into form of late, getting to the net and showing off his speed.
He also showed his smarts before his goal.
After jumping onto the ice on a line change as Kyle Connor headed to the bench, Barron waited a quick beat before grabbing the puck and bursting in on the breakaway – ensuring there would be no temptation for the officials to penalize the Jets for having too many men on the ice – before making a nifty backhand deke and depositing the puck through the five-hole of Campbell.
The secondary scoring was important, but there were a number of other contributions that cemented this much-needed victory.
Like a tip-in goal from Mark Scheifele that came after the Oilers had scored a power-play marker just 1:43 into the contest.
Josh Morrissey scored twice – including a buzzer beater with 1.2 seconds to go with the Jets on the power play after Nurse was given an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct for the series of events that led to the scrap with Lowry.
“Sometimes you make your luck. Saku was a gritty player for us and he makes a nice check on the best player in the world. They respond, which I understand, but it draws us a power play and we get rewarded with a last-second goal,” said Morrissey. “That’s just kind of the mindset that we came in to that game with, that compete level. Saku, that goal doesn’t happen without him making that play. It’s nice to get rewarded with that goal, specifically for the play that drew the penalty.”
And then there was Connor Hellebuyck, who channelled his inner Grant Fuhr in this one.
One night after being pulled after giving up four goals on 24 shots on goal through two periods, Hellebuyck gave up five goals in two periods on Saturday but he came through with 14 saves during the third period to ensure the Jets losing skid would not hit six games.
The Jets also did the unthinkable, holding McDavid (who leads the Rocket Richard chase) without a goal in each of the three games in the season series – though he did have four assists during the past two games, much of his damage was inflicted on the power play.
On the flip side, Leon Draisatl had three goals on Saturday to go with the two goals and one assist he recorded in Friday’s game.
Prior to the contest, Bowness talked about the need for his reeling team to respond and sent a message of his own, pulling veteran blue-liner defenceman Nate Schmidt and Logan Stanley out of the lineup as healthy scratches in favour of Kyle Capobianco and Dylan Samberg.
Capobianco was another one of the unsung heroes in this one, scoring his second goal of the season during that wild second period that featured seven different goals – including five goals in four minutes and 33 seconds of game action.
“Sometimes when you go through these slides, mentally you become a little fragile and you give up a goal and all of the sudden you don’t want to give up the next one and you’re playing a little slower,” said Lowry. “We played a lot freer today and faster. Even though we gave up that one early, we had some great responses. We give up the lead again in the second period and we respond. We were coming out and kept pushing forward.
“That’s what we’re looking for, not to wilt under pressure, not to wilt when things get tough, but come together and play the way we’re asked to play. I thought we did a really good job of that. It’s certainly been missing the last couple of weeks and that’s going to be something where the consistency of that is going to have to be there down the stretch for us.”