BOSTON – In the chase for a playoff spot, every game on the regular season schedule seems to carry more weight. Sure, divisional clashes – like the last three that the Winnipeg Jets have played, going 2-0-1 in that span – always have the rivalry aspect and a bit more cache as a result, but as the calendar moves into late March, even games against teams in another conference are of the utmost importance.
Take tonight’s tilt between the Jets and Boston Bruins. The Jets (28-28-11) are opening a three-game road trip after a season-long eight-game stretch at home that saw them go 5-2-1. Winnipeg is four points out of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with 15 games to go – so every point is critical.
“Like everybody, in both conferences, so many teams are in the mix,” said head coach Scott Arniel. “You have to be ready to go every shift. Boston is in their own little race, their own battle, here in the East. But that two points for us is just as important for us as it is to them.”
The Bruins (37-23-8) are in a playoff spot as of Thursday morning – holding down one of the two wildcard spots – but are trying to secure that position against surging teams like Columbus and Ottawa while also trying to put pressure on Montreal for third in the Atlantic.
All this is to say Thursday’s clash will have the urgency metre turned all the way up.
“Every game is a big game right now,” said Gabriel Vilardi after Tuesday’s shootout loss to the Nashville Predators. “We’ve been winning and picking up points, so it’s been pretty good. You know, we got to keep going though. Every game’s playoff mode right now for us. That’s the position we put ourselves in.”
In nearly every statistical category, the Jets were the better team on Tuesday. The more conventional statistics would show Winnipeg’s 39 shots on goal (three off the season high of 42) to the 23 given up as one piece of evidence, while Natural Stat Trick gave the Jets a 13-6 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five, as well as 55 percent of the shot attempts.
Still, the only number that matters is the one on the scoreboard at the end of the night. So the Jets roll into Boston trying to bounce back from the shootout loss to Nashville.
“It’s just find a way. Keep staying in all these games,” said Arniel. “We’ve got a real tough road trip here. We’re back into these four (games) in six (days) and three (games) in three and a half (days). We got to take care of business.”
Based on the morning skate, the Jets won’t make any changes to their line-up:
