Jets hope to press home ice advantage

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This article was published 29/11/2011 (5065 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Claude Noel and the Winnipeg Jets don’t need a refresher math lesson – they understand fully there are still 82 games in a National Hockey League season and, officially, their last comes on April 7 before the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But this next stretch coming up, with 13 of the next 15 at MTS Centre and beginning Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators (7:30 p.m.; TSN Jets; TSN Sports Radio 1290), could go a long way in determining whether those games in late March and early April have any significance for the Jets franchise.

“We can’t lose sight of that eighth-place line (the final playoff spot) that we’re trying to battle for,” said Noel after the Jets’ practice Tuesday morning. “(Ottawa is) two points ahead of us and they’re an Eastern Conference team.

“We’ve got to be able to get to .500. That’s what we want to focus on: playing well and playing more consistently, stay out of the penalty box and that type of stuff. That’s what we have to do a lot more of.”

Winnipeg, 9-10-4 this season, is 4-1-1 in its last six, but still sits 13th in the Eastern Conference – three points out of eighth. The Senators – 11-10-2 overall – won the first meeting of the two teams 4-1, back on Oct. 20 in Ottawa.

“I like their team,” said Noel of the Sens. “They used that game that we played against them and they spring-boarded off that to win. They really moved ahead. I didn’t like the game we played in Ottawa. We were kinda all over the place at that time. They play a good team game and got some things going. I’m not overly concerned about them, no disrespect to them, but we’ve got to get some things going.”

Tuesday’s game marks the first of a five-game homestand for the Jets, who want to establish MTS Centre as a tough building to play in every night.

“It’s huge,” said forward Tanner Glass. “It’s just like the stretch we just had with all those road games. If you go something terrible, like 1-10 on the road, then that’s a big stretch, too. But we’re at home for a long stretch and having teams come in here for the first time, having our fans behind us and maybe surprising some teams with the atmosphere in this building.”

Asked if there was a number the team had in mind as to how many wins they want to rack up in the homestand, Glass grinned:

“The number for me is one – for tonight,” he said. “That’s about it. I’ve learned in this league if you look past the game in front of you then teams are going to be looking at you through their rearview mirror.”

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@WFPEdTait