Perfetti’s playoff debut comes at crunch time for Jets By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 4:49 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2024

Cole Perfetti wore his usual hockey jersey rather than a cape, and suited up in the dressing room instead of a phone booth.

All of which is to say he’s no superhero, swooping in to save the day for the Winnipeg Jets. But the 22-year-old forward was thrilled to finally see some action Tuesday night, responding to a desperate call for help with his teammates very much in peril.

“Obviously, I’ve wanted to play in a ‘Whiteout’ for a while and now I’m getting the chance to do that in a huge game,” Perfetti said a few hours prior to puck drop in Game 5 between the Jets and Colorado Avalanche at Canada Life Centre.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m just looking forward to it, and I’m just going to try and enjoy it and play my game and probably just soak it all in.”

Head coach Rick Bowness threw up the bat signal with his group on the brink of elimination after losing three straight games by a combined score of 16-5. Enter Perfetti, who has 140 regular-season games over three seasons on his NHL resume but nary a playoff contest.

“Obviously, it’s been tough, but at the same time I’ve been able to watch and learn the game a little bit more,” Perfetti said of his view from the press box as a healthy scratch.

“Kind of what I’ve been trying to do is preparing in case I was going to get a chance, and watching those first four games, seeing what Colorado was doing, seeing what we were doing and how I could come in and try to help that. Yeah, just been trying to learn and watch and grow.”

Perfetti’s game took major strides this past season, with new career-high is goals (19), assists (19), points (38) and games played (71). A great sign for the 10th-overall pick from 2020, who battled through season-ending injuries during his first two big-league campaigns.

However, he wasn’t viewed as one of the 12 best options at forward when the stage got even bigger this spring. With the Jets healthy up front, bolstered by trade deadline adds in Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli, Bowness didn’t see an immediate fit outside the crowded top six.

“Listen, I talk to him all the time, he’s handled it like a pro. He wants to play, no question. He’s a great kid. He’s going to have a great career,” said Bowness.

“I always use (Nikita Kucherov) as an example, first year in Tampa we scratched Kuch a couple times. Sometimes, the young guys just need a little bit more time. We gotta get him in there somewhere. We’re not scoring, we can’t wait any longer.”

Opportunity came knocking following this past weekend’s disaster in Denver, including a 5-1 loss on Sunday which involved forward Vlad Namestnikov taking a deflected Nate Schmidt slap shot to the face. He went down in a heap, bleeding profusely, and was eventually taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from a fractured cheekbone.

“I’m fully confident in this group and we know what we have to do.”– Cole Perfetti

“I felt sick to my stomach. I mean, it was hard to watch,” Perfetti said of seeing the ugly incident unfold.

“He’s one of our brothers and such a great guy. He plays his heart out every single game. To see that happen, I mean, for the people that were there in the rink it was silent. You could hear a pin drop. It was tough to watch, to see one of your really good friends and teammate and brother go down like that and kind of not know really what was happening.”

Fortunately, no long-term damage was done and Namestnikov was cleared to re-join the Jets in Winnipeg on Monday, taking a commercial flight home. However, playing in Game 5 wasn’t an option.

“That was a big relief for us, I think, to see him OK because it was a scary 15 (or) 20 minutes when we didn’t know what was going on and it was just awful to see it,” said Perfetti.

With the Jets in must-win mode and another forward, Morgan Barron, also sidelined with injury, Bowness shuffled the deck and opened up a spot for Perfetti, skating on the second line beside Sean Monahan and Kyle Connor.

“We’ve had some success in the past. So, it’s there, we can do it. We’ve just got to play our game,” said Perfetti. “I’m fully confident in this group and we know what we have to do.”

Perfetti’s season started with a bang, only to hit a lengthy lull that eventually led to a handful of scratches. However, he finished strong, with six points (four goals, two assists) over the final five games in which he appeared — all victories for the Jets.

“Started to see the puck going in a little bit more and started to see a little bit of production, and I hadn’t seen that for a stretch in the season,” he said.

“To see that at the end of the season gave me a lot of confidence going into the playoffs, and going into (Tuesday) I’m just going to try and continue that.”– Cole Perfetti

”So, to see that at the end of the season gave me a lot of confidence going into the playoffs, and going into (Tuesday) I’m just going to try and continue that. The last couple games I scored a couple goals so just keep trying to do the right thing. And it’s big when you start to see the puck go into the net. You just relax a little bit more. When you get a scoring chance you’re confident with it. When you’re not scoring I think that’s when you grip your stick a little and tighten up and press a little more.”

Unfortunately, notice of his playoff debut came too late for his family back in Ontario to arrange for travel and tickets to witness it in person,

“I wish. They’ll be cheering from home. They’re going to be watching hard and cheering from the TV. It’s too bad because I know they’d love to be here, but at the same time I know all the friends and family are going to be supporting me back home,” he said.

Of course, Perfetti hopes there will be plenty more opportunities for up-close viewings. After all, he remains a huge part of the future for the organization, a foundational piece for years to come.

“Hopefully, lots and lots of ‘Whiteout’ games. That’s the plan,” he said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg