Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/laine-waiting-to-reap-his-training- rewards-453510973.html Laine waiting to reap his training rewards By: Mike Sawatzky PITTSBURGH — Patrik Laine believes his scoring chances are up from last season, but he's still waiting for the benefits of his off-season training to kick in. The 19-year-old Jets right-winger eschewed more extensive on-ice workouts in the off-season for extra time in the weight room and added about five kilograms to his 6-5 frame. His life in the NHL, he insisted, hasn't changed much after a phenomenal 36-goal rookie campaign. "No, I would say the same as last year," Laine said following Winnipeg's Thursday morning skate at PPG Paints Arena, where the Jets were preparing to play the Penguins. "Obviously, I'm in better shape than last year but I don't feel like it yet. But I think it's gonna be better every game... "I tried to be better overall. I didn't have one specific thing I wanted to improve." There should be no concerns about his ability to score. In seven games so far in 2017-18, Laine has four goals and six points while shooting at a 16 per cent clip, which is down from 17.6 per cent in his rookie season. His ice time is also down slightly, from 17:55 to the current rate of 17:28 playing on a line with centre Bryan Lilttle and left-winger Nikolaj Ehlers. His main concern now? "Skating feels kinda heavy," Laine said. "That's probably one thing why it feels heavier because I haven't skated a lot... but I know it's going to feel a lot better maybe after Christmas or before that. Just waiting for that moment." ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL: all-star Penguins defenceman Kris Letang has made the long, labourious trek back from major surgery and says he's feeling pretty good just six months after undergoing a procedure to correct a herniated disc in his neck. "I feel fine right now and I keep trying to build my game and be more consistent," said the 30- year-old Letang, who took a maintainence day Wednesday before returning to the ice Thursday morning. "Having a day off allowed me to rest and get ready for (Thursday against the Jets)." Letang was limited to 41 games last season, but still managed to rack up five goals and 34 points. He did not participate in Pittsburgh's playoff run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup. In 10 games this season, he has one goal and five points while logging a team-high 26:05 of ice time per game. The Penguins are also wrestling with a difficult schedule that has them playing 19 pairs of back- to-back games in 2017-18. That's a league high, tied with the Ottawa Senators, spurring some talk about a league conspiracy designed to punish the Pens and Sens, who met in the Eastern Conference final last spring. The Jets, meanwhile, are slated for nine back-to-backs this season after getting 13 in 2016-17. "We're all looking at the schedule, it's a pretty busy schedule in November and October and so we're trying to get as much rest as we can when the schedule allows," said Letang, whose Penguins have already played three back-to-back series this season. "I don't do the schedule and I think there's a lot more politics in the scheduling than we know. Like some markets want different games and the league wants to put smaller markets in better situations, maybe... but at the end of the day, like Winnipeg, I'm pretty sure they travel more than us. If you have more back-to-backs, that's one thing but I'm glad we're not going East Coast, West Coast, back and forth all the time." HIGH PRAISE FROM WHEELER: Jets captain Blake Wheeler says the Penguins are the team he wants to measure the Jets against. "They are the template, you know what I mean," Wheeler said of the reigning Cup champs. "They do what we're trying to do the best and that's why they've won back-to-back Stanley Cups. You talk about being better at defence, well, you know, they play enough defence because they have the puck all night because they're fast and they transition well. "They're mature enough, they know how to win and at the end of a shift they're not trying to score a goal. Just little things like that. I think they have enough confidence that they're gonna create a scoring chance next shift or the shift after that, that they don't need to try to do it every single shift." https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/jets-come-close-but-cant-end-winless-streak-in- pittsburgh---lose-to-penguins-2-1-in-ot-453490933.html Jets come close, but can't end winless streak in Pittsburgh – lose to Penguins 2-1 in OT By: Mike Sawatzky PITTSBURGH – The Jets ventured into the belly of the beast that is PPG Paints Arena and nearly ended a 10 1/2-year drought Thursday night. Winnipeg brought a scrappy work ethic and the heroics of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, pushing the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins to the brink before dropping a heart-stopping 2-1 decision in front of 18,885 fans. Phil Kessel's goal at 1:07 of overtime was the winner but the goaltenders — Hellebuyck and Pittsburgh's Matt Murray — were the stars of the show. Kessel scored on a breakaway, firing the puck through Hellebuyck's legs after intercepting a cross-ice pass from Winnipeg's Patrik Laine in the Pittsburgh zone. It was Kessel's second overtime winner in as many games, his 300th career goal and his 51st game-winner. "I almost read it too well," said Hellebuyck, who finished with 34 saves. "He came down and I knew he was going to go five-hole and I was going to kick it out and let our D-man go the other way. That’s not goaltending. That’s not what I worked on all summer, that’s not going to be what I do continuing forward." Laine's error was crucial, too. "We want to be real careful with those lateral passes," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice, whose team plays the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. "Part of 3-on-3 is making a better decision with that puck but also being in a better spot to not have to force it. We’ve got room to put the puck in other places. Clearly he’s in full possession of it and he has to make a better decision." Winnipeg went to 4-3-1 while Pittsburgh improved to 7-3-1. Murray was a monster in the Pens net, too. He finished the game with 30 saves, many of which were of the highlight variety, and he held the visitors off the board during their two power plays. The Jets got a terrific effort from off-season free agent Matt Hendricks. The 36-year-old had missed seven games with a lower-body injury but he centred the fourth line and was a key man on the penalty-killing unit that snuffed out all four Pittsburgh power-play chances. Hendricks finished the game with one hit, three blocked shots while winning seven of 10 faceoffs. "These guys have a target on their back here in Pittsburgh all season, so we came and we took a point from them," said Hendricks. "We had a chance to take two, it didn’t work out. "Now we go to play another great team in Columbus tomorrow and if we come out with the same mentality and the same detailed game I think we’re going to have some success." Hendricks' effort was widely praised. "He’s 7-1 on the draw through two periods and that changes how you can run your bench in terms of your penalty kill. He had a real big impact on that," said Maurice. "He does a real nice job and had a big impact on the game for us." Centre Bryan Little and defenceman Toby Enstrom, the longest serving members of the Jets organization, have never won a road game in Pittsburgh, a span of 16 consecutive games in which they had been outscored 75-37 and also including seven losses since the franchise relocated from Atlanta prior to the 2011-12 season. In fact, the last time the Thrashers/Jets franchise beat the Pens in Pittsburgh came on Dec. 27, 2006, when since-retired defenceman Shane Hnidy played 23:44 to help Atlanta post a 4-2 victory at old Mellon Arena. The teams traded goals in the first period. The Penguins got things off to a blazing start 85 seconds in when Conor Sheary's perfect one-handed redirection of Jake Guentzel's feed on a 2-on-2 break went through Hellebuyck's five-hole. Dmitry Kulikov, the defender on Sheary's side, was unable to contain the speedy winger. "That’s just how some hockey games start," said Hellebuyck, who won his first four starts before Thursday's OT loss. "I’m kinda glad it happened early in the year but now we know we’ve got the character in this room to battle from it. That’s exactly what we did." The Jets countered at 10:34 when Bryan Little won an offensive-zone draw cleanly back to Josh Morrissey at the point.