Mason Appleton's Week of Football, Birthdays and Slump-Busters: "I'll Certainly Take it"

Mason Appleton scored his first goal after going 25 games without lighting the lamp.

For Winnipeg's Mason Appleton, his slump-buster on Tuesday night couldn't have come at a better time. 

The now 28-year-old - who is in his second stint with the Jets, (after being selected by the Seattle Kraken in their expansion draft and later trade back to Winnipeg) - was able to watch his hometown Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, he then celebrated a birthday on Monday, and put the cherry on the top of his magical start to the week with a goal on Tuesday.

It may have been a "greasy one" as he called it, but it was so much more for the Jets' 2015 sixth rounder.

“Great start to the week," he chuckled postgame. "It was obviously a good Packers win, but it was a big win tonight by us."

Always one to credit the team versus personal success, Appleton was quick to put the 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders into perspective.

"When you go on such a long win streak and then you drop one game, you want to get right back to your winning ways... We think that good teams don’t lose two games in a row, especially at home, so that was a big win for our club.”

Sure, the Islanders have now lost four of their last five games, and Winnipeg has just one loss in its last 10, but being shut out 2-0 over the weekend by Philadelphia could have started a streak in the other direction, should the Jets not have responded the way they did on Tuesday, and Appleton knows it.

His goal proved to be the winner, in what was the second of two Jets tallies over a span of just 2:39 in the middle stanza.

“When you have quite the streak of not scoring, you’ve just gotta get a greasy one around the net," Appleton said. "That was kind of funny how that one went in, but I’ll certainly take it.”

Having scored six times in the team's first 17 games of the season, it took another 26 games for the 290-game NHL pro to find the twine again. His goal song, Kenny Chesney's 'Keg in the Closet' hadn't been played at Canada Life Centre since November 18 vs. Arizona. 

“No, no he really hasn’t," Appleton said when asked if Chesney had ever sounded better. "Yeah that was nice.”

Although outwardly frustrated in the days leading up to his goal, Appleton never appeared disgruntled in the media, using his blue-collar work ethic as a basis to his hopeful mentality. 

“It can be tough," he reflected. "It’s not always in my job description. But, I had a hot start to the year scoring and then you go on a stretch like that and you’re maybe gripping it a bit. 

"It was funny, I was just aimlessly shooting pucks in the net after practice yesterday and (associate coach Scott) Arniel came up to me and was like, “Just take a breath, get around the net, it’ll happen for you,” so it was just nice to see one go in."

It wasn't just Arniel taking notice either. Head coach Rick Bowness made a point of bringing up Appleton's play around the net, as well as away from the puck, as areas to which the bottom-six forward contributes on a nightly basis for Winnipeg.

"He's still helping the penalty kill, and he's an assertive player," Bowness said. 

"He goes up and down that wing, he's very strong on his feet, an excellent skater. And he plays hard. He's a good Winnipeg Jet hockey player. He plays hard and he plays smart. And he uses his size when he can around the net. He takes the puck to the net. Does a lot of little things that we like."

A fine perspective from the NHL's most experienced coach - in terms of games spent on the bench, at least.

But perspective can be found anywhere, perhaps even from one of the Jets' least experienced youngsters. Cole Perfetti - a 22-year-old veteran of just 112 NHL games played, who is known for strong commentary and thoughtful responses - also gave some insight into the ups and downs throughout a lengthy 82-game NHL campaign:

"Stuff like that happens; you can get hot, get cold," Perfetti said of Appleton. "He's been a huge part of this team as well, so nice to see him get on the scoresheet. He was a little relieved and hopefully, the floodgates are open for him now. Game-winning goal. It was big." 

As for his early-season goal projection after starting off so strong, Appleton could only laugh and toss out a quick an even Rocket Richard pace of "50".

“No, no," he smiled. "I never really put a number on it like that, but just rather play a consistent game and when they fall, they fall. Sometimes they don’t for a little bit. Some of the best scorers in this league go on 15-20 game streaks. It’s over now, so you can put that in the past.”