They’ve been one of the constants for the bulk of this Winnipeg Jets season.
A shutdown trio that has also been able to contribute offensively, despite facing some of the toughest competition the opposition has to offer.
But when the Jets host the Calgary Flames on Thursday at 7 p.m. to wrap up a five-game homestand. Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton won’t have Nino Niederreiter riding shotgun as he has so many times before.
The Swiss-born forward suffered a skate cut to his leg about eight minutes into the third period of Monday’s 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings and he’ll be sidelined for at least a week.
“It will definitely be different. We’ve played the last 60-some, call it 70 games together,” said Appleton. “(Niederreiter) got very fortunate with how it ended up playing out for him. Hopefully, he’s back soon.
“It will look a little different, but at the same time, we’ve still got the constant, Adam, in the middle. If it’s (Tyler Toffoli) on the left or whoever it is, we’ll find a way to work as a unit and create offence and defend hard.”
Based on how the Jets skated in Wednesday’s workout, Toffoli likely will slide onto the unit after he missed Monday’s game owing to illness.
After racking up four goals and six points through his first five games after the trade with the New Jersey Devils, Toffoli has gone through a bit of a dry spell, going six games without a point.
He’s a versatile forward and recognizes what is going to be asked of him as he shifts onto the Lowry line.
“I’ve been around, I played with a lot of different guys and I try not to change my game too much,” said Toffoli. “I’m out there to shoot and create opportunities and create offence… what my game is kind of built on is forechecking, getting the puck back and you know, (offensive) zone and creating opportunities.”
Jets head coach Rick Bowness explained why he’s giving Toffoli the opportunity to fit in with that trio.
“Well, he’s played a lot of left wing and he’s got 30 goals,” said Bowness. “He’s an experienced guy. He’s killed penalties in the league. He’s been in every role in the league… we’ll see what it looks like.
“A guy like Tyler, he has the experience and he knows how to hem teams and top lines in the other zone and hang onto the puck and make high percentage plays with it, so that they are defending and they’re not coming at us on the rush.”
After racking up four goals and six points through his first five games after the trade with the New Jersey Devils, Toffoli has gone through a bit of a dry spell, going six games without a point. (Frank Franklin II / The Associated Press files)
Appleton isn’t the least bit concerned about Toffoli making the adjustment.
“Toff is such a smart player, I think he’ll be able to read off us really easily,” said Appleton. “All three of us can go down low and win battles and make easy plays down there. He’s one of those guys, I feel like, sometimes he doesn’t have the puck on his stick a ton or he’s just milling in the weeds, but he’s such a smart player that he’s always in the right areas and the puck seems to just find him and then it’s in the back of the net just like that. We’ve got to find a way to get pucks to him and let his offensive skill set show.”
“Toff is such a smart player, I think he’ll be able to read off us really easily”–Mason Appleton
Although the Lowry line didn’t score the other night, it did an excellent job of creating extended time in the offensive zone and kept Anze Kopitar’s line in check.
Adrian Kempe scored, however, that goal was generated when Lowry’s trio wasn’t on the ice.
As for Niederreiter, his physical presence and ability to get to the blue paint will certainly be missed for the time being.
“Nino’s probably out for about a week. Hopefully, not longer than that. But he took a pretty good gash in the back of his leg so there’s some stitches in there that are going to require time to heal,” said Bowness. “It could have been a lot worse, had it gone any deeper.”
The other piece of the equation is that Cole Perfetti remains alongside Sean Monahan and Kyle Connor after chipping in two goals (including the game-winner) and three points Monday.
“Well, yeah. We’re not going to take him off that line now. I mean, he’s earned it,” said Bowness. “We told him, when you get back in, we’ll try to get you more ice time with the top six. He took full advantage of it so we’ll go right back with it again. Listen, the game is all about adjustments. That’s what it is. You see something you like, you let it go. You see something you don’t like, you change it. Right now, we’ll take a look at this and we’ll go from there.”
Lowry and Monahan took a maintenance day on Wednesday, while defenceman Logan Stanley was under the weather.
Bowness hinted there could be further changes coming on the blue line, though he didn’t indicate what those might be.
“There were some guys we weren’t happy with their play and there are some other things we didn’t like, so when we see things we don’t like, we make adjustments,” said Bowness.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Jets and Flames, who find themselves in next-year country.
““There were some guys we weren’t happy with their play and there are some other things we didn’t like, so when we see things we don’t like, we make adjustments”–Rick Bowness
“Yeah, it’s never easy for a team to be in that situation,” said Toffoli. “They have a lot of guys that care and watched some of their game the other night and they’re working as hard as they were earlier in the season so it’s not going to be easy and we’ve got to be ready for the test.
With a win, the Jets can avoid a series sweep and also lock up a playoff spot, since their magic number is down to two.
“I didn’t even know that. It just puts a little piece of mind, I guess. It’s all it really is,” said Appleton. “We’ve been in a playoff spot basically the whole season. When you’re fighting for the seventh and eighth spot and then you clinch, that’s when you get the X beside your name (and feel relief).
“With where we’ve been in the standings all year, we’ve always believed in this group and always thought we were a playoff team and a good playoff team. It’s nice to clinch if we win tomorrow night, but at the end of the day, we knew we weren’t missing the playoffs, so it’s not that big of a deal.”
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Ken Wiebe
Sports reporter
Raised in the booming metropolis of Altona, Man., Ken Wiebe grew up wanting to play in the NHL, but after realizing his hands were more adept at typing than scoring, he shifted his attention to cover his favourite sport as a writer.
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