The Jets' third line is back together and excited

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Defense? Check. Scoring points? Check. Good health? Check it out too.

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They may not have the glitz and glamor of hockey stars, but with the Winnipeg Jets' third line healthy, it's exactly what the team needs during beard-growing season.

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“I think it's huge,” Jets right tackle Mason Appleton said when Nino Niederreiter returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing five games after rupturing his Achilles tendon.

“This time of year, there's too much recreation,” he said. “Obviously, you want to find that perfect balance, but it's going to go a long way for us to get that back and feel good about our lineup and go full out these last couple games.”

After Niederreiter confirmed his desire to go on Monday, Appleton said he was happy to click with his full-time teammates.

Along with Jets captain Adam Lowry, they formed a trio that combined for 103 points with 44 goals and 59 assists.

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“I think (Lowry) and (Niederreiter) are two great players,” he said. “There's a lot of similarities in our lineup or between all of us, and then I think that shows how we can play against anybody in the league and generally do a good job.”

Together they played 66 of the first 80 games this season, which saw the team surpass the 100-point mark for only the second time in franchise history.

Even in Niederreiter's recent absence, the line has had three goals and four assists, plus eight, over the past two games.

The streak's three points in the past two contests have come from David Gustafsson, who stepped in in Niederreiter's absence in Dallas and Colorado to cap Winnipeg's recent four-game road trip.

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The Swede played only 38 games this season and was not an everyday player for the team. But Gustafsson's latest contribution did not go unnoticed.

“He did a great job,” Appleton said. “It's not an easy task when you enter the team like this. And he played his butt, and he was very effective in his role.”

The line has excelled offensively, but Appleton says it shines most defensively.

“We're not always a line that fills the scoreboard, but I think we're really solid defensively,” he said. “We can shut down a lot of the best lines in this league.”

That will be put to the test soon, with the Jets guaranteed to face the Avs in the first round of the playoffs. Colorado leads the Central Division in scoring, led by the fearsome trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Mikko Rantanen.

Entering Tuesday's event, the Jets allowed the fewest goals in the NHL with 194, four fewer than the Florida Panthers, the only other team below 200 total.

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