BILLECK: Jets' Lowry line has ingredients to return to elite status

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Published Oct 10, 2024  •  Last updated 6 hours ago  •  6 minute read

EDMONTON, CANADA - OCTOBER 9: Josh Morrissey #44 and Adam Lowry #17 of the Winnipeg Jets celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period of the season opener at Rogers Place on October 9, 2024 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

There was a time not long ago when Adam Lowry’s line was legitimately one of the most dominant in the NHL.

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They suppressed chances against and created so many for themselves that they flew in rarified air, soaring with lines led by Patrice Bergeron and Anze Kopitar.

Predictions after one game are always silly, and you could make many of them after Winnipeg’s 6-0 win on Wednesday in Edmonton. But this is less of a prophecy and more of an educated guess.

Assuming they stay together, Lowry, Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter can etch themselves onto this season’s Mount Rushmore of elite trios.

And they’ll do it quietly.

It’s never flashy with them. It’s lunch pail-type stuff.

Just watch Lowry’s opener from Wednesday. The line helps create an offensive zone turnover and then begins to do what it does best: grind the puck down low until it finds a stick out front.

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It was Lowry’s this time, scoring on a second-chance opportunity that they often create—textbook stuff.

“It’s not a tough recipe with those guys, it’s get pucks in and get after them and go make people turn pucks over with their pressure,” head coach Scott Arniel told reporters post-game. “The best part, too, is that you can rely on them when they don’t have (the puck). They do a great job. They don’t spend a lot of time in their end of the rink. That’s where the offence comes from.

They can also surprise you.

Mason Appleton’s goal that followed in the first period came off a lengthy heads-up pass from Neal Pionk to Niederreiter, who spun and fed a cross-ice pass to Appleton to make it 2-0.

It’s hard work. It’s skill. And above all, it’s chemistry.

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“That line in the first period there, scoring the two goals, it took a little bit of the wind out of Edmonton’s sails there,” Arniel said. “For us, it got us really up on the bench. It got everybody going.”

They’ve often been Winnipeg’s best line. And going by minutes and usage, they’re easily the team’s second line behind Mark Scheifele’s.

They started Wednesday’s game, set the early tone and emerged as the top dogs, taking every bit of wind from Edmonton’s sails in the first period to set the tone for the blowout.

“Those guys are going to play the right way, get you off to a good start, hopefully, in the sense that they’re going to run into people,” Arniel said. “Those three play heavy, play hard. So it just kind of jets the rest of the group on board and recognizing how they have to go as well.”

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• It’s not known the personal reasons why Connor Hellebuyck had to be away from the team over the weekend, but judging by his emotional response to reporters after Wednesday’s game, he was dealing with a lot. You get a good idea of just how dialled elite athletes can force themselves to be, shutting out off-ice issues to produce elite performances. This one just happened to be a 30-save shutout, the 31-year-old’s 38th of his career. 

• Whatever Hellebuyck’s family is dealing with, we hope for the best. “It’s been a crazy week,” he told reporters in Edmonton. “It’s been tough on the whole family but the boys played great for me, and they’ve been really supportive this entire time. I really cherish these moments, and I cherish my time with family, so hope they’re doing alright.”

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• Winnipeg’s two power-play goals had one thing in common. Speed. Connor’s goal to make it 5-0 in the third made six passes in nine seconds, spanning both sides of the ice and up top at the point in the Oilers zone. The movement ensured Connor could work through the screen set in front of him and that the player wasn’t already in a position to take away the lane. 

• Scheifele’s power-play tally later in the frame saw Connor quickly pass out to Gabriel Vilardi to gain the zone. Connor drew a defender away from the developing play behind him, giving Vilardi a lane across the ice to feed Ehlers, who had found some soft ice just inside the blue line. Scheifele skated into the middle for Ehlers to dish a quick pass that Scheifele needed only to redirect past Calvin Pickard. 

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• Arniel on the power-play success: “The mindset Davis (Payne) has been throwing at them is to attack the net as quick as possible. Don’t let the penalty kill get into structure. Once that shot happens, it creates the explosion and what happens off of that. Great example, with KC and that shot coming off of there. That’s a good look with (Ehlers) being right there (in the slot) and Gabe (Vilardi) being on that backdoor. We had numbers and it was a great shot.”

• Rasmus Kupari’s first goal in 70 games, a tally dating back to Jan. 3, 2023, must have felt good for the Finn. It was his first in a Jets uniform. And his teammates seemed just as excited. 

• Lowry had this to say to reporters after the game about his fellow centre: “Looking back to last year, you ask him, there was an adjustment period, kind of in and out of the lineup. He gets hurt, and it’s not that he had trouble finding his footing, but we were playing so well it was tough to find minutes. He’s such a good person. You would kind of never know he’s not playing. He comes to the rink with a great attitude. He had a great summer. That’s one thing I noticed in camp, the decisions he was making on the ice. There’s a maturity to his game that’s taken a step forward. It’s going to be critical, getting contributions up and down our lineup. You’ve seen what he’s been able to do on the PK in the preseason. We see his skill on display every day in practice but for him to convert and get that to go in, it’s gotta be a good feeling for him. And we were all really excited for him.”

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• Connor’s historical seven-straight season opener with a goal was unfathomable to Lowry after the game. Connor set himself apart from the three others he came into the game tied with, including Cam Atkinson, Yvan Cournoyer and someone called Mud Bruneteau. The first name ‘Mud’ was popular on social media, including well-executed from local Jets fan @avatarrant – “You know your game is on another level when you start showing up in stats with guys named Mud.” Well played.

• Here’s Lowry on Connor: “That’s pretty remarkable, honestly. He’s one of the most consistent goal scorers in the NHL. He does it in a variety of ways, but he always finds a way to end up on the scoresheet and impact games. He doesn’t need a lot of space. He doesn’t need a lot of time. It’s going to be critical that he continues this consistency for our team to succeed. To get one on the power play, the power play looked awesome tonight. It’s remarkable for him to have seven straight. I can’t even fathom that, to be honest.”

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• Connor has a 50-goal season in him. He scored 47 a couple of years back. He likely would have hit 40 last year if not for his knee injury. If he stays healthy, watch out. 

• Hadyn Fleury’s a beast. He took a puck straight off the head in the second period, leaving him bloodied and forcing him from the game. He returned for the third and didn’t hesitate to lay down and make a crucial block that kept Hellebuyck’s clean sheet intact. 

• The last word goes to Arniel, who won his first official game as head coach of the Jets, and first in more than a decade since his last head coaching stint in the NHL: “It’s nice. Obviously, it’s great. Just to kind of get the season off on a good note. I did have a sleepless night, just worrying about some of these guys on the other team there and how powerful they are as a group. You want to go through camp, you want to make sure you have a good start to the year and this is a good way of doing it.”

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