Jets’ Bowness making major changes, confident they’ll pay off to extend series with Avs

WINNIPEG — It’s a move Rick Bowness had to make, and it could pay dividends for the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at Canada Life Centre.

Not to suggest inserting Cole Perfetti will save the Jets’ season, with them teetering on the brink of elimination ahead of Game 5 versus the Colorado Avalanche. They’ll need more than just him to win.

But the 22-year-old has some game-breaking offensive talent, and if he puts it to good use next to Sean Monahan and Kyle Connor, it certainly can’t hurt.

“We need to score some goals,” Bowness said. “We’ve created some chances, but we’re not scoring the important goals, those timely goals that we’ve talked about.”

The Jets have had their chances, but they’ve only scored five goals over the last three games after scoring seven in Game 1.

Enter Perfetti, who scored 19 goals in 71 games during the regular season.

He’s champing at the bit to prove he can influence a series he’s yet to participate in.

“I think, coming in tonight and playing with them there, we’ve had some success in the past. When I came back earlier in the year and got put with those two, we found some success together, so it’s there,” said Perfetti of a line that scored four goals and allowed three in close to 35 minutes at five-on-five.

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“We can do it, we’ve just got to play our game,” Perfetti continued. “I’m fully confident in this group and we know what we have to do. It’s a tough task, but we know what we got to do, and I think we’re all looking forward to the challenge tonight and getting back in this series.”

Bowness is also tapping another player to make his series debut in Colin Miller.

The right-handed defenceman, who came to Winnipeg from the New Jersey Devils for a fourth-round pick at the trade deadline, will take Logan Stanley’s place next to Nate Schmidt on the Jets’ second pair.

He played only five games with the Jets in the regular season, but his familiarity with Schmidt — dating back to their days playing together with the Vegas Golden Knights — should help him in the playoffs.

Schmidt is confident it will.

“I remember that guy very well, I played with him quite a bit,” said Schmidt. “We both talk a lot, we both have similar tendencies, and I know the way he thinks, so it makes it easier when you already have a rapport with someone from earlier in your career.”

What does the six-foot-one, 200-pound veteran bring?

“I don’t want to call him a little guy, because he’s probably bigger than me, but he’s kind of a little pit bull,” Schmidt said. “He can play physical, he gets up into the play, he’s got a heavy shot. In my opinion, he has intangibles you need this time of year. I’m excited to play with him.”

Both of them will need to help the Jets move the puck better up the ice to stimulate offence, on top of potentially providing what they’re capable of delivering in the Avalanche’s zone.

The Jets, as a whole, have to be much more effective at both ends, and Bowness outlined how they can do that to push this series back to Colorado.

“You hope that you don’t fall behind,” Bowness said. “We’re hoping that we stay a little more disciplined so we can get some flow going because I’m convinced if we can do that, the offence will take care of itself. The penalties are taking all the flow right out of the game and the guys that are offensive guys are sitting on the bench. … We just need to stay out of the box, we need to get that flow going. And I think when you get that, both ends kind of take care of themselves. You’re more in the game defensively, you’re more in the game offensively.”

Putting in a player like Perfetti, who made a habit of both staying out of the box and producing, should only help.

He’s taking Tyler Toffoli’s spot, with Toffoli moving down to a fourth line completed by Alex Iafallo and David Gustafsson.

Nino Neiderreiter rejoins Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton on the third line, while Nikolaj Ehlers is moving next to Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi on the first line.

There should be some familiarity there, as that version of the first line produced 16 goals while allowing only six against at five-on-five over 208:10 together during the regular season.

Bowness is confident that they — and the rest of the Jets — will click to keep their season going.

“The guys are good,” he said. “Just had a really good meeting with them, talking with the guys a lot this morning. They all feel good. Listen, they know our best hockey — we haven’t played it yet. They know that we need to play with more discipline, so we stay out of the penalty box. We need to score more some goals, they understand. But there’s not one guy in that room ready to call it a day and call the season over.

“So, I’m very confident that we’re going to see the A-game from everybody tonight. There’s a great mood in the room, the practice was good, lots of energy, so we just hope that carries into the game tonight.”

It starts at 8:50 p.m. local time.

Quick hits

• Vladislav Namestnikov broke his cheekbone in Game 4 after getting hit by a Schmidt shot that was deflected into his face and Bowness confirmed he wouldn’t be available for Game 5.

“Vlad’s got a colourful cheekbone, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “I saw him today. Actually, I called him last night when he got home. He’s nauseous, he hasn’t eaten, so he’s not feeling great.”

Bowness confirmed Brenden Dillon — who suffered a severe laceration to his hand, requiring several stitches — wasn’t cleared to play Game 5 either.

He’s arguably Winnipeg’s toughest player, but he won’t be available.

“Dilly, of course you know him, two broken hands and he’d still want to play,” said Bowness, “but we’ll give him a couple days.”

• On moving the puck more efficiently up the ice, Schmidt said the Jets have their biggest adjustments to make.

“Their forecheck’s coming hard,” he said. “It comes to a point where we have to identify a play earlier and trust the next guy is going to make his play. We have to get everybody moving in the same direction instead of waiting and second-guessing and thinking about what could happen instead of trusting the guy to make a play. If he doesn’t, we have to get back and move again in the same direction, make a play instead of trying to bust it open.”

• The Jets are as confident they’ll win as Bowness is, but if they don’t, you can’t help but wonder if this will be his last game behind their bench — or any bench in the NHL, for that matter.

Not that the 69-year-old is looking any further ahead than he needs to.

As for how he feels going into Game 5, he said, “Great.”

“It’s what we love, man. It’s what we love,” Bowness added. “It’s all about playing at this time of year and playing in these important games, so, yeah, I’m excited. I know I’m getting old. I know there’s a lot more behind me than ahead of me. But we’re going to enjoy every day.”

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