WINNIPEG -- Stanley Cup playoff hockey has returned to this city and everyone is beyond excited for Game 3 between Winnipeg Jets and the Anaheim Ducks Monday at MTS Centre, 9 ET. The Ducks have a 2-0 series lead and here’s what to watch for.
The Whiteout cometh: It’s only fitting that it’s snowing here today. After the teams’ respective morning skates, players from both teams were asked about the first NHL playoff game in Winnipeg in 19 seasons. Believe it or not, players on both teams said they’ll try to feed off the home crowd.
“It’s going to be fun. People have been waiting for a long time for this,” said Jets’ Mark Stuart. “The crowd will be into it, we know that, and that’s going to take care of itself. They’re going to be loud. They’re going to be into it. We’ll try to feed off that a little bit, but concentrate on what we need to do out there and play well. We’re excited.”
Even from the visitors' side, Ducks players understand how pumped up the capacity crowd of 15,116 will be even before puck drops.
“We know they’re going to be fired up, the crowd’s going to be into it,” Ducks’ Corey Perry said. “They’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity. It’s doing to be loud. We’re going to know that.”
Jets coach Paul Maurice said his team would use the building’s energy to its advantage in hopes of getting back into this series with a win.
“This is something we want to experience here. We want to take it all in and use it and drive it,” the coach said. “Our goal is to give our fans as many opportunities as possible to get that building lit up.
“The idea of you don't want to get too high, fine, that might be five or six years down the road when we've figured out a way to get fully high, to get completely amped up for this game, to use this crowd to our advantage.”
Who’s in the middle? Since the Ducks will be without injured center Chris Wagner, it’s likely coach Bruce Boudreau will have winger Tomas Fleischmann in the middle. There was some thought that injured center Nate Thompson would be ready to return for Game 3, but Boudreau said the gritty centerman would not be available Monday, but could be back for Game 4. If Fleischmann is in the middle, Boudreau is comfortable with that scenario. During their shared days with the Washington Capitals, Fleischmann played center for three months.
“He anchored the second line, which was [Alexander] Semin and Brooks Laich at the time, and he did very well. So, that’s an option. We’ve got a couple of options,” Boudreau said.
As far as Thompson, he had been skating on his own but participated in the team’s morning skate Monday.
Dial up the hate: Like any Stanley Cup playoff series, this matchup between the Jets and Ducks has been emotional. Maurice, however, wants his team to step it up a bit more.
“There hasn’t been nearly the animosity that any series can get to,” he said. “There have been a lot of hits, there have been some transgressions, players crossing the line. They have their list and we have our list of things that we think should have been called.”
Maurice suggested there could be more chirping on the ice.
“There haven’t been nearly as many scrums as you would see in the regular season, with the kind of hitting that is going on in this series,” he said.
In the first game, Winnipeg registered 37 hits, while Anaheim had 46. In Game 2, the Jets had 33 to the Ducks’ 48. This statistic also indicates that when a team is averaging plenty of hits, it means you’re playing without the puck. Maurice said he would like to see his team possess the puck more in Game 3.
Starting with the puck: Starting with possession is key. It starts with faceoffs. The Ducks dominated in Game 1 with a 40-24 advantage in faceoffs won. The Ducks also controlled the dot in Game 2, with a 32-29 edge.
“Coaches put a lot higher importance level on faceoffs than the analytics say that you should, based on what happens after faceoffs,” Maurice said. “It will be very important.”
In order to get back into this series, the Jets need to generate more offense. That’s an obvious statement since they haven’t yet scored a goal, but it’s true. At this point, especially with the way Winnipeg played down the stretch of the regular season, now is not the time to be thinking of ways to score goals.
“It’s a dangerous thing to be doing in a playoff series, trying to figure out how you can generate more offense and maintain confidence in your ability to give [up] less,” Maurice said.
Special teams: Winnipeg’s power play is oh-fer in the first two games. Overall, the Jets are 0-for-7. Anaheim is 3-for-7 in the first two games. Special teams don’t determine a series winner, but the Jets need to capitalize on more of their man-advantage opportunities, especially with the lack of offense.
Projected lineups:
Jets
Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little- Michael Frolik Drew Stafford-Mark Scheifele-Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault-Adam Lowry-Lee Stempniak
Jiri Tlusty-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn Tobias Enstrom-Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart-Jacob Trouba
Ducks
Patrick Maroon-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Matt Beleskey-Ryan Kesler-Kyle Palmieri
Andrew Cogliano-Rickard Rakell-Jakob Silfverberg
Emerson Etem-Tomas Fleischmann-Tim Jackman