‘Mad’ Cole Perfetti goes off in defining effort for Jets vs. Utah

WINNIPEG — Cole Perfetti put his money where his mouth is on Friday night.

Earlier that morning, the Winnipeg Jets forward was asked by a reporter how he’d assess his game. 

At the time, the 23-year-old baby-faced Whitby, Ont., native was in the midst of a 14-game goal drought. He had tallied just eight points over his previous 25 games, a sizable drop-off from his first 24 games (17 points).

But you wouldn’t have known it, judging by his demeanour.

“I feel like I’m really starting to play really good hockey, all over the ice,” Perfetti told reporters. “Becoming a two-way guy, that’s kind of what I’m trying to focus on. Being harder on the puck. Harder on the walls. Kinda being a little prick to play against.”

Not exactly the first things that come to mind with him.

But the 2020 10th-overall pick said he was priding himself on mastering the intangibles that help teams win games. If he did all those little things, the offensive production would come soon enough. 

And that’s what wound up happening later that night, with Perfetti scoring a hat trick and putting forth his best all-around effort of the season en route to the Winnipeg Jets defeating the Utah Hockey Club, 5-2. He actually played the part of a pest quite well, irritating Utah players, registering three hits and making a couple of nice stick plays in the offensive zone. 

“You guys got him all mad this morning,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said, tongue-in-cheek, after the game. “Like I mentioned, he’s one year older, he’s learned from things that have happened in the past, he doesn’t get down. He gets frustrated, but he doesn’t get down and let it drag into the rest of his game. Did a great job going to the net, got inside and he got some greasy goals. That’s kind of, a lot of times for guys not scoring, what gets you off and running. I liked his compete. I think he mentioned to you guys he hasn’t stopped competing, and that’s the best part of it.”

Perfetti had an extra jolt right out of the gate.

Less than five minutes into the game, he back-checked hard and stick-checked Lawson Crouse to negate a scoring chance. He stripped a puck that was within an arm’s length of Utah goalie Connor Ingram with 3:45 left in the opening period, and although he didn’t win the ensuing board battle in the corner, he finished his hit with authority.

Then, with 2:08 remaining in the first period, Perfetti snapped his goal-scoring slump with a power-play one-timer that came via a beautiful Nikolaj Ehlers cross-ice pass. 

It was a goal-scorer’s goal, topped off by swagger in his celebration, where he jumped into the glass. As he and his teammates congregated, the sense of relief was clear as day on his face. 

Midway through the second, Perfetti darted up the ice to join Ehlers in a rush. As he entered the zone in transition, Ehlers dished it off to him. Jusso Vailmaki tried to get a stick on the puck, but Perfetti lifted Valimaki’s stick, grabbed the puck, pulled off a toe-drag and then dished the puck off to Ehlers, who generated a scoring chance. 

You could tell Perfetti was feeling himself, weaponizing his smarts and overcompensating for his weaknesses in ways we haven’t seen before. And there was that jam he showed. Where the heck did it come from? 

Between a stoppage in play at 5:19 of the second, Perfetti drew a reaction out of Logan Cooley. After Neal Pionk gave Cooley a little bump, Perfetti did the same as the latter attempted to skate away from Pionk. Cooley proceeded to deliver a full two-hand slash to Perfetti’s lower body.

Perfetti was serious about becoming a pest. 

“I mean, depends on who. Obviously, I’m not much of a fighter, so gotta be smart with that,” he said. “At the same time, I can get under his skin for two seconds, maybe. And he’s got his mind elsewhere. And that’s a success. Just trying to add that element. Obviously, that’s not my main thought going into each shift, is to be a pest. It’s just to grow and be the best player I can be and adapt in every way possible, and that’s just maybe one thing I can add to my game.”

The more you can do well, aside from just goals and assists, the less of a burden it is when you’re snake-bitten. 

Right from the drop of the puck, you could tell that Perfetti was out to be a difference-maker. He didn’t look like a player squeezing his stick too hard amidst a dry spell. 

And he was rewarded for that on his second goal, where he picked up a loose puck net front to score the eventual game winner.

His third goal of the night was an empty-netter that Ehlers set up, marking the Danish winger’s 500th career point. 

“He thanked me a few times tonight,” Ehlers said. “We all struggle with scoring goals sometimes, and sometimes you think over it a little too much.

“And then he has a night like tonight, where he’s in the right spot and plays great and gets three goals. Sometimes you’ve just got to keep grinding, keep shooting. And I’ve been telling him that: shoot, shoot, shoot.”

Jets fans are hoping, for both Perfetti and their team’s sake, that this isn’t another one-off. Perfetti’s two-goal outing on Nov. 29 — which snapped an 11-game goal drought — looked like a jumpstart. But then he went on to score just one goal in his next 25 games. 

At some point over those last 25 games, though, a light switch seemed to go off for Perfetti. If he’s going to become the top-six forward many believe he can be, he needs to bring more than just raw offensive talent to make an impact night-in and night-out. 

“Talking with the coaches, the biggest thing is I need to find a way to impact the game, when not producing, That’s kind of been my thing. If I can get a couple hits, if I can get a couple blocks, get in on the forecheck, then I can help the team win in a different way,” he said. “My mindset is just trying to adapt and be the best player I can be.”

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