Jensen’s self-confidence boosts Capitals’ blue line
BUFFALO, N.Y. Washington Capitals defenceman Nick Jensen has finally started to find his stride, with his consistency and confidence on the ice increasing. Over the past six to eight games, the 29-year-old has become one of the steadiest blue liners for the Capitals.
During an up-and down stretch for the team, Jensen’s play has stood out. He has played 20-plus minutes a night for the past three games, including season highs against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday (22:43) and then against the New York Rangers on Thursday (22:41).
“Consistency is just one thing players strive for,” Jensen said. “The season is long, it’s a marathon, you’re going to go through ups and downs, it’s about minimizing the downs and maximizes those ups.”
In the team’s 5-2 Saturday win against Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena — another game in which Jensen played well and recorded another assist — he saw 20:11 of ice time. The coaching staff is trusting him in more situations in a season that has included rough patches for Jensen, a player whom Capitals Coach Todd Reiden has repeatedly called “a work in progress.”
“The consistency for me is really important,” Reirden said. “I think we’ve seen more consistency from him recently. Obviously he’s gotten a few more points as of late on some really nice plays, and for me it’s that consistency of defending and thinking about keeping the puck out of our net first, and when we have an opportunity to make a play, let’s make a play.”
Jensen made a couple of head-turning plays Saturday against the Penguins, specifically with his primary dish to Richard Panik for the team’s third goal of the first period to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead.
He followed that up midway through the third period, when he shook off Jason Zucker at the blue line and broke free before passing it to Jakub Vrana for a good scoring chance below the circle. He also finished with a team-high four blocked shots and added three hits in a physical contest.
Jensen partially chalks up his overall improvement over the past few weeks to playing with a little more confidence than he did earlier in the year.
He does think the group has been able to play more in the offensive zone the past few weeks, which has helped him grow that aspect of his game.
“Sometimes throughout the season you are just going through stretches where you are handling the puck and it feels like you forgot
The season is long, it’s a marathon, you’re going to go through ups and downs, it’s about minimizing the downs and maximizes those ups.
how to play hockey, and that is just the way the sport goes,” Jensen said. “I’ve been playing it for a long time, and I know a lot of guys have gone through that and I’ve gone through that before, and you got to find a way to (persevere) through it.”
Jensen added that when simply trying to avoid mistakes, it’s hard to play the game — and it’s difficult to stop that habit.
“It’s also not as easy as some people say, like ‘Oh, just don’t play like that,’ ” Jensen said. “It’s your subconscious, it’s your natural feeling, you can’t help it. That goes in the confidence category.”
Jensen’s improvement has helped up and down the blue line.
If he can be relied upon to play 20-plus minutes a game regularly, his spot in the top four next to Dmitry Orlov could be a lock come playoff time. Michal Kempny has skated with Jonas Siegenthaler on the third pair the past two games for the Capitals, with Brenden Dillon still accompanying John Carlson on the top pair.
But as Reirden continues to switch up defensive pairings, trying to find the best six defencemen he trusts to be on the ice against all lines, Jensen’s progress is a good sign.
“There is no secret to playing with confidence, it’s just you build off it and build off it and build off it and the better and better you play, the more confident you feel, and you keep building off those games,” Jensen said.