First place hangs in balance for Jets

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This article was published 06/11/2022 (779 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is pretty much a dream scenario for Rick Bowness. His new hockey club will face his old one on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre, with first place in the Central Division hanging in the balance.

“I’d rather be in a battle for first rather than a battle for seventh or eighth,” Bowness joked Monday, following his team’s practice at the downtown rink.

“Talked to the players about that. These are all going to be meaningful games now. Last year at the end of the year you’re not playing meaningful games. You’re playing for your pride. Right now you’re playing meaningful games. Regardless of who it is and it’s a battle for first place, it’s a divisional game. Those things will take care of themselves through time. Any time you play a divisional opponent, regardless of who it is, you want to win that one.”

The Winnipeg Jets are 7-3-1 and currently in second spot, two points behind the 8-3-1 Dallas Stars as they close out a three-game homestand.

“It’s going to be very fast. It’s going to be a great hockey game (Tuesday) night,” said Bowness, who nearly shouted himself hoarse during the hour-long skate as he repeatedly urged his players to get moving. “It’s going to be a high-tempo game, so practice had to be high-tempo. When I saw it drop down a little bit, we had to get after it.”

Both clubs are streaking despite not being 100 per cent. Winnipeg winger Nikolaj Ehlers will miss a 10th straight game as he battles a lower-body ailment, although there was some encouraging news on that front.

“Ehlers told me today, and the trainers, that he’s making progress. I’m hoping, as of now, we get him skating by the end of the week,” said Bowness.

Defencemen Logan Stanley and forward Morgan Barron are also on injured reserve and won’t be back for several weeks.

Dallas is without star goaltender Jake Oettinger, although they haven’t missed a beat since he went down last week with a lower-body injury. Their eight victories this year include a 4-1 decision over Winnipeg Oct. 17 in Texas. Bowness wasn’t behind the bench that night as he recovered from COVID-19.

“I think defensively we’ve tightened it up,” Bowness said. “We’re getting great goaltending from both our goalies which you absolutely have to have. So, the goals against have come down, the chances against have come down. Both specialty teams — I know it was only the second game of the year — but the specialty teams have been a little sharper. We’ve improved in all those areas, and we’re scoring some goals when we need to.”

Winnipeg has grabbed points in six straight games (5-0-1) since a 2-3-0 start, including a 4-0 triumph over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

“Coming into the season if you wanted to ask us if we’d be in this spot, fighting for first place, we’d take it all day long,” said defenceman Brenden Dillon. “We’re excited to do this. We played them already this year, we kind of got spanked in their building. So we’re going to have to come with a good effort for top spot.”

Dallas is led by the sensational Jason Robertson, with 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 12 games so far. They’ve won three win a row by a combined score of 18-6, including a 6-2 victory over the Oilers in Edmonton Saturday.

“Pretty high-octane team. A pretty structured team. I played for that coaching staff (led by Pete DeBoer in Vegas), I understand the way they want to roll. They’re scoring a lot right now,” said defenceman Nate Schmidt.

“There wasn’t a lot of room out there the last time we played. We’ve grown as a group — I know it’s early — but seeing that we’re comfortable in playing those tight games. Especially to start periods, we’ve had a really good mentality until the first TV time-out of ‘Let’s just go north.’ We can make plays if they’re there, but only if they’re completely there. I’ve really liked that part of our group so far and how we’ve started to ingrain that into what our fabric, what our team actually is, what our culture, what our jam is each and every night.”

Connor Hellebuyck will make his 10th start of the year in the Winnipeg net, while Scott Wedgewood is expected to get the call for Dallas.

“There are a lot of storylines, right? Rick Bowness, first time at home versus the Dallas Stars is exciting,” said Schmidt. “With how our group, the expectations we have for ourselves, I love the fact we’re in a position to be here. This is what you want. This is where you want to be at the end of the year, so may as well get into it now.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg