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GAMEDAY: Jets at Sharks | Winnipeg Jets

GAMEDAY: Jets at Sharks | Winnipeg Jets

SAN JOSE – The timing couldn’t be better for Neal Pionk.

He will play his 500 tonight when the Winnipeg Jets take on the San Jose SharksTh His career game in the National Hockey League, and since it is his mother’s trip, he will have his mother Karen in the building.

“I would say about a week in advance I kind of counted it out,” Pionk said. “Finding out it was going to be on Mom’s Trip is pretty cool. She was there from day one and took me to a lot of practices and I’m sure she’s laced up my skates a few times. It’s really special to have her here.”

The 29-year-old played the first 101 games of his career with the New York Rangers before moving to Winnipeg in June 2019. Since then, he has been a key part of Winnipeg’s backline and is already more than halfway to his career-high 45 points this season (a mark he set in 2019-20).

“This is a great achievement. “A guy that went undrafted, he’s a guy that had to work hard to get himself into the position he’s in,” fellow defensive lineman Dylan DeMelo said. “He’s a great teammate, a great player for our group. He does a lot for us on both ends of the ice. He’s had a great season so far and it’s great to see him reach this milestone.”

Jets head coach Scott Arniel was an associate coach with the New York Rangers during Pionk’s rookie season in 2017-18. Since then, he has watched the Hermantown, MN product develop into the defender – and person – he is today.

“To start with the person, he’s a great young man, he’s a leader in our room,” Arniel said. “He is very proud to be a Winnipeg Jet. He’s a really good all-round defender. He can play offensively, makes a great first pass, we use him on the second power play and he’s a big part of it.

“He also has something special about him. He has a tendency to disrupt the opponent and get under the skin of many players. I just like his competition. He’s had a great start to the year and hopefully it continues.”

The last time the Jets faced the Sharks, Pionk scored the game-winning goal and added three assists for his first career four-point night. The Jets (22-9-1) won this game 8-3, but they know tonight’s game with the Sharks will be very different.

Neither Macklin Celebrini (second in rookie scoring with 20 points) nor Will Smith (San Jose’s first-round pick in 2023) were on the roster that night, and from a team standpoint, San Jose is 8-10-3 since early November ( following October 3-7-2).

“When we saw them, they were having trouble starting, and now they’re playing much better hockey. They participate in a lot of games even if they don’t come out victorious,” DeMelo said. “We have a lot of work to do this evening. It’s going to be a tough fight in this building. We have to be very detailed and strong in our team game to win tonight.”

It was an optional skate for the Jets at SAP Center, so questions about the lineup – such as the availability of Nikolaj Ehlers – won’t be answered until warmups. Connor Hellebuyck went through his usual starting routine during the morning skate, so the two-time Vezina Trophy winner is expected to start in goal.

The line rushes from Monday’s practice looked like this:

Connor Scheifele Vilardi

Perfetti-Namestnikov-Chibrikov

Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton

Barron-Kupari-Iafallo

Morrissey DeMelo

Fleury Pionk

Stanley Miller

Heinola Coghlan

San Jose (11-17-5) is coming off a 4-3 loss to Utah on Saturday. It was the third straight one-goal game involving the Sharks, a stretch that included a win over St. Louis (4-3 on Thursday) and a narrow loss to Carolina (3-2 on Tuesday). .

“They’ve really become a competitive team,” Arniel said. “If you look at their last few games, they won’t give you anything. You have to take the game away from them. They are a really good transition team. When you turn pucks over, they come back to you quickly.”

One of the things Jets captain Adam Lowry did well in the 4-2 win over Montreal was defending against the rush against a young and experienced group that likes to take advantage of those opportunities.

“It will be important that we play a similar style to Montreal in terms of what we gave up,” Lowry said. “I thought that we were really detailed in the neutral zone, that we were really detailed after the rush and getting to the front of the net – that’s an area we’re still trying to improve in and that’s catching ( tonight).”

If the Jets are able to do that, not only will they get their first Mom’s Trip win after going 0-3 during the 2019-20 season, but Pionk will also have a very special memory of game number 500.

“That’s a good achievement,” said Pionk. “It makes me think of the hard times you’ve been through. To get to this point is very special.”

Puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT.

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