Jets' Byfuglien wants more minutes in meeting with Sharks (Jan 07, 2018)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Dissension in the locker room is never a good thing.
Well, almost never.
Dustin Byfuglien was in an ornery mood Saturday, a day after scoring his first goal of the season in the Winnipeg Jets' 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
His reason? He "only" played 17 minutes, 53 seconds -- his lowest total in a non-injury game since 2014-15 -- which included sitting on the bench for the final 2:50 while the Jets clung to a one-goal lead.
"I think I should be out there," the 32-year-old hulking defenseman told a media scrum after practice. "I would rather play big minutes than just sit there."
While most NHL defensemen would be happy playing nearly 18 minutes in a game, it's foreign territory for Byfuglien. He led the NHL in ice time last year, playing an average of 27:26 and has been averaging about 24 minutes this season.
Coach Paul Maurice said Byfuglien's reduced ice time was a function of the number of penalties the Jets had to kill but he didn't have a problem with his highest-paid player speaking out.
"We'd want everyone to feel that way," Maurice told the Winnipeg Free Press. "We would like everybody who's not on the ice preferring to be, especially the guys who like to score goals with the goalie out, that's prime time. Everybody wants that.
"I liked the way the other (defense pairings) were playing. I think that's probably, barring the games he was kicked out of or in the penalty box, that might be the first time he's under 20 in an awfully long time. It won't happen too often again. He'll be alright."
After missing the playoffs in five of their first six seasons since returning to Winnipeg, these are the kinds of problems that the Jets would kill for. They lead the Central Division with 55 points.
Maybe lining up beside his long-time partner Toby Enstrom for the first time since November against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon at Bell MTS Place, will improve Byfuglien's mood. Enstrom was confirmed in the starting lineup at Saturday's practice after missing seven weeks with a lower-body injury.
The Sharks, in third place in the Pacific Division with 48 points, come to town riding a two-game losing streak -- 6-5 in overtime against Ottawa on Friday and 3-2 in a shootout to Toronto on Thursday. The loss to the Senators was particularly disheartening as the Sharks surrendered a three-goal lead in the third period and the winner seven seconds into overtime.
"It was just one of those nights," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer told The Mercury News. "Over an 82-game season, you're going to have a night, or a couple of nights a year, where the other team grabs some momentum and it's hard to get it back. That's what happened tonight."
San Jose's Brett Burns, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, is starting to heat up with a goal and three assists in his last three games, and shares the team lead in points (29). Couture has a club-most 15 goals but hasn't scored in seven games.
