Impressive start for Jets
Comrie: "The amount of buy-in we have here is impressive."
WINNIPEG – It’s a 5-0 start and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the play of the Winnipeg Jets.
After a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jets goaltender Eric Comrie summed up the reasons why he believes there is something different about this group.
“It’s all four lines just doing exactly what coach tells them. Line after line after line. I don’t think people understand how special it is.,” said Comrie on Sunday night.
“The amount of buy-in we have here is impressive. I don’t think I’ve really seen it anywhere else. The buy-in, shift after shift. You know what you’re getting out there. It’s special.”
Comrie isn’t wrong about the Jets four lines. Opening night and Sunday, it was the Lowry line. During the first two games of the homestand, it was Scheifele’s line. Last Friday’s blowout win over the Sharks, Namestnikov’s unit played a large role.
“In our forward group, we’re getting contributions from everybody. I think our D has been, thought there was a stretch where we weren’t playing fast, but we got it back up to where we wanted to be. The D have been good not to spend too much time in our own end. I think last night’s game was probably the first game that we’ve been out-zone-timed,” said head coach Scott Arniel.
“Pittsburgh, you’ve got to give them credit. We weren’t very good in the second. I think it grew that way. But I’ve just liked our consistency throughout our lineup. It’s helped us look the same on every shift, going out and having that same mindset.”
Here are the lines and D pairings for the Jets in their practice before taking off for St. Louis:
The #NHLJets line rushes ahead of the three-game road trip:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
GustafssonMorrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
Fleury-CoghlanHellebuyck
Comrie— Mitchell Clinton (@MitchellClinton) October 21, 2024
The Jets will begin their three-game road trip against the Blues who are off to a 4-2 start, then Seattle (4-2) on Thursday and they will close out the trip Saturday in Calgary (4-0-1).
“Yeah, getting out on the road. That’s another area. We’ve talked about the division. We’ve talked about whether it was the East or whatever, but being good on the road. We’ve done a good job of that,” said Arniel.
“We’ve got a lot coming here on the road in the next stretch. We do need to be good. I’ve said it before, there isn’t a home way or a roadway to play. There’s just the right way and that’s what we have to do. We have to continue to play the right way.”
Defenceman Colin Miller who had two assists in the win over Pittsburgh, believes that even that things are going well, there won’t be any complacency in the room.
“I think it’s a mature group,” said Miller.
“They’ve had some win streaks before, this group, and I think it’s just about putting that behind you and focusing on the next game.”