Josh Morrissey Joins Historic Group as Streak Continues

It has been an incredible first half of the season for Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, thus far.

We say ‘thus far’ as the Jets have played just 33 games – a far cry from the complete 82-game schedule, and even significantly fewer games than a typical 41-game half would include.

With the Christmas break right around the corner, the Jets are certainly thankful for the play of Morrissey through the opening three months of the 2022-23 calendar year.

Beginning the season with eight assists in his first eight games, ‘J-Mo’ really began turning heads by game No. 15, as his offence had not yet seemingly dried up. It appeared as though his contribution to the team’s goal-scoring success was sustainable.

After a rarity in game No. 9 (being held off the scoresheet), Morrissey put that anomaly behind him and went on a six-game point-scoring streak, to which the 27-year-old blueliner tallied a goal and seven assists for eight points.

He then had himself another pointless outing against Pittsburgh on November 19, before bouncing back tremendously with a two-goal night against Carolina the following game. That game not only marked his first of two overtime winners on the season, but it was also the start of yet another lengthy streak. This time it was a five-game scoring streak that saw him register four goals and five assists for nine total points.

Yes, J-Mo scored the overtime winner on a breakaway against the Canes, before doing it all over again versus Dallas just four days later. He had five points in the two games after his second game-winner, so the emotional high certainly appeared to feed into his personal offensive success.

December 2 marked the last pointless outing of the year for Morrissey, who then went on to begin the longest scoring streak of his young career. Over the next 11 games, J-Mo scored at least one point in each contest, with one goal and 13 assists in the process. Twice this season he has been a +4 player in a single game, while currently sitting at +17 on the year.

He has six goals and a career-high 39 points on the year in just 33 games, while 14 of his total points have come on the power play – just one off his career-high set last season.

Again, we are just 33 games into the 2022-23 season… not even halfway there. Oh, by the way, his 11-game point-scoring streak makes him one of just five active defencemen in NHL history with streaks that long (Shayne Gostisbehere, Roman Josi, Cale Makar, Tyson Barrie). The 11-game assist scoring streak makes him one of just 10 players to ever do so (Paul Coffey, Brian Leetch, Bobby Orr, Phil Housley, Cale Makar, Al MacInnis, Dennis Kearns, Garry Galley, Denis Potvin).

“It’s definitely something that I don’t take for granted. It’s a pretty cool achievement,” Morrissey said of his success. “Like I’ve been saying all year, when you play with great players and give them the puck, assists, obviously you need to get them the puck and they need to score. It’s easy with the guys that we have on our team.”

Morrissey’s 39 points lead all Jets players and ranks second to only San Jose’s Erik Karlsson in terms of points by defencemen. Karlsson – who is enjoying a bounce-back season with the Sharks – also has 33 assists, but has seven more goals than Morrissey’s six. On the flip side, Morrissey’s 39 points are more than all of Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes and Adam Fox’s totals on the year.

“He has elite hockey IQ, that’s what he has,” Morrissey’s first-year coach Rick Bowness said. “Elite players are one step ahead, that’s what they see. Josh has that ability with his hockey IQ. He’s one step ahead of what’s going to happen next. That’s why he’s able to read the play, break up plays, get there first, his gaps, all those things, it’s his ability to stay one step ahead. Any elite player in any sport has that high IQ for that sport, and he certainly has it.”

Blake Wheeler, a guy who has seen him from Day 1, has always known what J-Mo has been capable of, but he really only saw it come into fruition at times last season.

“I think there was a lot of that last year, too,” Wheeler said when asked about Morrissey’s 2022-23 season. “Last year was kind of the coming out party a little bit. And now he’s establishing himself as a premiere defenceman in the NHL. We’ve seen it, we’ve seen a lot of it here throughout the years. Last year we saw it pretty consistently. He’s certainly elevated his game. We’re certainly proud of the way he’s playing.”

Even rookies have taken note.

“Obviously, he’s contributing all ends of the ice and playing huge minutes,” forward Cole Perfetti said. “His defensive game speaks for itself, but obviously it’s hard to score in this league as a defenseman. To put up the numbers he’s putting up is pretty impressive. It’s great to have a guy like that on the team. he’s so offensively gifted, skates so well, he can join the rush and be the first guy back. it’s fun to play with him and he makes it look pretty easy out there.”

Another newcomer, his backup netminder David Rittich is in awe of his abilities.

“He is one of best in the league,” Rittich stated. “He’s great in d-zone, making plays, finding open guys and Seattle goal to Schiefs and today one to KC. It speaks for itself.”

Though the English may be a little broken, the overall theme certainly rings loudly: J-Mo is good at hockey.

With one final game before the Christmas break, Morrissey and the Jets will look to dodge being on the wrong side of history as they take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals in Washington on Friday. Still sitting at 800 career goals, Ovi is one back of Gordie Howe’s 801 for second place on the all-time list. Over his career, Ovechkin has scored more goals against the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise than any other club.

Puck drop on game 34 is set for 6:00 PM central time on Friday.