WINNIPEG -- Poise, precision and production.
These are three of the many qualities Josh Morrissey is exhibiting as the Winnipeg Jets have gotten off to a hot start early in the NHL season.
Morrissey is logging big minutes and piling up points. Both of those trends continued on Saturday afternoon as the Jets earned a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Morrissey took 28 shifts for 24:03 of ice time while scoring his first goal of the season and adding an assist as the Jets collected at least a point for the sixth consecutive game (5-0-1) and improved to 7-3-1 overall, leaving them two points behind the Dallas Stars in the chase for top spot in the Central Division.
“He's just been phenomenal on both ends of the ice,” said Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who made 30 saves as he recorded the 30th shutout of his NHL career. “He's so smooth, everything he does. His skating is so smooth. He tricks guys just by turning speed on out of nowhere, because he's always loaded. He's always ready. And I love passing with him, too. He just catches everything and breaks it out.”
Morrissey is coming off a season that saw him produce career bests in goals (12) and points (37) and was clearly the Jets’ best blue-liner.
Although it’s incredibly early, Morrissey is off to an even better start and currently leads the Jets in scoring with 11 points.
Morrissey is a humble guy who prefers to talk about others rather than weigh in on his own success and he answered a question about the topic on Saturday afternoon by praising those around him.
“Overall, just trying to build off last season,” said Morrissey, speaking with the tone of someone who is never satisfied and always pushing for more. “I think the coaching staff has been just fantastic. The new systems they’ve been implementing here, I think, suits my game.
“We’re just getting started. There’s a lot of parts I can keep improving on, as we all can. The offensive stuff, I worked hard in the off-season to improve my offensive skills. At the end of the day, when you play with great players and you get those guys the puck, those things are going to happen. Keep getting better every day, keep building.”
Jets head coach Rick Bowness wasn’t interested in taking any credit for Morrissey’s hot start.
“Don’t get all bent out of shape on the system. You’ve got to let the players play. We’re kind of letting him play,” said Bowness. “He knows he’s got the green light to join the rush, to lead the rush, to skate the puck out of the zone. Some of those decisions, they’re not based on a system. They’re just based on his abilities. That’s what I mean in he’s got the green light. “Don’t put too much emphasis on the system. Put an emphasis on his ability to skate and read the play and his hockey IQ and his skillset.”
Bowness recalled a conversation he had with Morrissey shortly after he was hired as head coach, where he shared some information on how he viewed the 2013 first-rounder when he was an opponent.
“I told him in the summer, when I’d come in here the last couple years, a lot of our pre-scout was on him. He was their best defenceman. We had to be aware of him on the ice,” said Bowness. “And that’s what I’m seeing now. He’s dynamic with his skating. He’s got an elite hockey IQ. And we talked about just trusting that and don’t overthink and don’t over-analyze things. Just trust your instincts. He’s got great instincts and great skill and he’s very, very poised with the puck. Listen, he’s a world class skater as well.
“This is kind of what I expected from him.”
It’s also what Morrissey expects -- to be a top-pairing force that his teammates can count on.
He’s always held himself to a high standard and the impressive thing is that his smooth skating hasn’t been impacted by a foot injury he sustained early in the campaign when he blocked a shot.
“He’s been banged up a little bit, and then he bounces right back. He’s taken some tough hits,” said Bowness. “On the pre-scouts now, you’ve got to believe the other team is focusing on him. But he plays through it. When they were on the road, he took a couple of big hits and he didn’t miss a shift. It also tells you what a great competitor he is. And a great teammate.
“That’s why he wears the A. He’s a really, really good teammate, he’s a positive guy and the guys have a lot of trust in him. Don’t underestimate his competitive level and how well he competes.”
In Saturday’s game, the Jets erupted for three goals in the second period, including a point shot from Morrissey that snuck through traffic and a shorthanded marker from Adam Lowry.
“First and foremost, when I think of Josh, (he’s) an elite skater,” said Lowry. “He’s so fluid back there, he’s able to get back to pucks and break them out so (smoothly), and that really feeds into our offensive game, the less time you have to spend in the d-zone. Transition to offence, he does such a great job, moving up top, he’s been able to juke and jive and shake guys.
“It was nice to finally see him break through and get one. He’s generated a ton of chances. I know he’s been piling up the assists. He’s so smart. He makes such good reads. He jumps up and steps in front of guys and kind of keeps the offence going. It makes you play a lot less defence when he’s out there. He’s had a great start and we’re going to look for him to keep going.”
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nate Schmidt rounded out the scoring for the Jets, who finished the contest three-for-four with the man-advantage and will close out a three-game homestand on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars.
Hellebuyck recorded his second shutout in what was his ninth start of the campaign.
When asked how he would compare his start to the season to past years, he didn’t hold back -- and it turns out the raw numbers (2.09 goals-against average and .936 save percentage) back up his assessment.
“Getting better every year. This is probably the best I've been and hopefully I keep growing it,” said Hellebuyck, who later tackled a query about shutouts. “Yeah, I do remember the first one. And it's crazy. But let's not stop with 30, how's that?”
Hellebuyck has been dialed in all season long, but one of the important developments for the Jets during the past two games is they’ve done a much better job of limiting the quality opportunities they’ve been allowing.
“Yeah, he’s unbelievable. If he’s saying that, I believe him,” said Morrissey, asked to weigh in on Hellebuyck’s assessment that this is the best he’s felt. “He looks just fantastic this year. He’s been sharp from the first day of camp. Everything he does, we like to have him in our net. If he’s playing like that and feeling that way, that gives our team a ton of confidence.
“He’s been our rock back there for a long time now. It’s great to hear him feeling like that. He gives us the confidence that we can do our job in front of him, play the right way, and he’ll do his thing every night to give us a chance to win.”
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