Being named the NHL’s top player over the past seven days wasn’t at the forefront of Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers' mind at the beginning of last week.
Instead, the 21-year-old was still wondering where he misplaced his offence and why his team had just suffered two embarrassing defeats, while seemingly losing sight of successes they found, at least offensively, during their preseason schedule.
“My start (to the regular season) wasn't good,” Ehlers said on Monday at Bell MTS Iceplex. “But the last three games I've taken a step from the first two. I've played more the game that I played in the pre-season, which I was happy with. I've been playing simple, fast, hard, getting pucks to the net. And the guys I'm playing with are doing pretty well, too.”
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Indeed, just before practice began for the Jets, Ehlers was named the NHL’s first star of the week, an honour saved for a player who exceeds all others. And Ehlers certainly did that over the past seven days.
With two forgettable games under his belt, Ehlers found his rhythm in a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers a week ago. Ehlers scored a natural hat trick and added an assist to help the Jets to their first win of the season after a dismal 0-2-0 start.
It was a sign of things to come for Ehlers.
He would net two more goals in as many games, including the game-deciding tally in a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, giving him five goals, two assists and a pair of game-winners in the three-game span.
“It's pretty cool. It's something I can be proud of,” Ehlers said. “But it's only one week. We have many weeks to go. So I want to try and keep this going, keep getting better. The team has been doing well the past three games, so it definitely feels good and is something I can be proud of.”
The same can be said for the Jets and their current three-game winning streak, with Ehlers’ play becoming symbolic of how the team rebooted itself.
“Our first two games are forgotten, but those were not very good,” Ehlers said. “That's not the way we played in pre-season. That's not the way we wanted to start off the year. And it wasn't the Winnipeg Jets. We got together and we knew what we had to do. We've gotten it done the past three games and it's something we want to keep doing.”
Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he sees a confident player when he looks at Ehlers.
“Happy for him. He had a great training camp,” Maurice said. “And he, like the rest of the hockey team, the first two he didn’t look anything like the training camp he had. He got right back on it. Confident player right now, big smile on his face when he’s playing the game, that’s usually when he’s at his best. And that line has had some moments of really powerful hockey.”
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As for his teammates, well they’re just enjoying the ride.
"It’s really fun to watch him right now,” Bryan Little said. “I think it’s some of the best hockey he’s played in his career so far. I think he’s just getting started. The potential he has, the speed when he has the puck, he’s going to be a really big player for us. I think he’s starting to show how good he is.”