FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Say this about Arniel and the Jets: They’re staying true to their identity. His reluctance to speak about anything beyond tonight’s game against the Ducks — such as a certain playoff series that is on tap — demonstrates how laser-focused this group has been all year. To be fair, it has clearly served them well.
While the coach and his players talked about using this as an opportunity to fine-tune certain elements, the main priority is to have everyone finish the game healthy.
Between Nikolaj Ehlers going down in Chicago and then Dylan Samberg getting stung with a slapper against Edmonton, it feels like a dark cloud has been following the Jets around lately. Ehlers is now listed as being week-to-week, while Samberg escaped any lasting damage and will be back in the lineup tonight. Does anyone have some bubble wrap they can spare?
While the overall stakes are rather low, there’s still plenty to play for.
Forward Kyle Connor could hit the century mark with a huge night, as he enters play with a career-best 96 points. That’s the most any Jets player in the 2.0 era has posted, but it’s four off tying the official franchise record of 100 held by Marian Hossa.
Cole Perfetti needs one more goal to match the career high of 19 he set last year, and just one point to hit 50 for the first time in his career.
Captain Adam Lowry has already set a new personal benchmark for goals, but needs two points to match his career high.
Neal Pionk needs one more goal to match a career high. Mark Schifele needs two assists to hit 50 for the second time, while Josh Morrissey needs three apples to hit 50 for the third time. And Iafallo, fresh off signing his extension, needs two goals to match a career-best.
Finally, six players — Connor, Scheifele, Perfetti, Iafallo, Nino Niederreiter and Dylan DeMelo — will play their 82nd game tonight, which gives them the “perfect attendance” award for the season.
KEN SAYS: The Jets have said all the right things about finishing the season the right way and you can be sure they won’t be going through the motions here.
They know what is just around the corner, but that will be the focus starting on Thursday when preparations for the Blues begin to ramp up.
In the meantime, they’ll be looking to secure one final victory with a sound effort against an up-and-coming Ducks team that has given them some issues this season.
It will be interesting to see if Hellebuyck gets the complete game or if Eric Comrie gets some work in the third period. Hellebuyck is set to make his 62nd start and 63rd appearance and he’s got something to play for in the quest to finish first in goals-against average, save percentage, shutouts and wins.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is set to make his 62nd start and 63rd appearance this season. (Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press files)
He’s already locked up the final two categories, but enters Wednesday’s action tied with Darcy Kuemper of the Kings for goals-against average (2.02) and is just behind Anthony Stolarz of the Toronto Maple Leafs in save percentage (.926 to .924).
Hellebuyck has sewn up a third Vezina Trophy, but the Hart Trophy as most valuable player remains a possibility — and a strong final outing could sway some of the voters who are undecided, especially if he sweeps those four categories.
As for the Ducks, they’ve taken another step forward with a pretty young and talented group. They got tougher to play against over the course of the season. No doubt acquiring former Jets blue-liner Jacob Trouba to go with rugged Radko Gudas is part of the reason for that.
Ducks leading scorer Troy Terry has three goals and four points against the Jets this season, while Mason MacTavish is having another strong campaign, with 22 goals (tops on the Ducks) and 51 points (second on the team).
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Tanev-Lowry-Appleton
- Gustafsson-Barron-Anderson-Dolan
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Stanley-Schenn
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: G Driedger, D Miller, D Fleury, D Heinola, C Toninato
INJURED: RW Vilardi (upper body), LW Ehlers (lower body), C Kupari (concussion)
ANAHEIM DUCKS
FORWARDS:
- Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn
- Vatrano-Strome-Terry
- Zegras-MacTavish-Colangelo
- Lundestrom-Washe-Harkins
DEFENCE:
- Lacombe-Gudas
- Zellweger-Trouba
- Mintyukov-Helleson
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Moore, D Kylington, RW Leason, F Nesterenko
INJURED: G Gibson (lower body), LW Fabbri (hand), LW Johnston (upper body), LW McGinn (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets head coach Scott Arniel on the pursuit of a franchise record for points against the Ducks:
“I don’t want to diminish any of the things we’ve done, because they’re outstanding. These are all (things) you talk about after everything is over and done with. At the end of the day, it’s another thing to be proud of, but we still have a team that’s trying not to let us do that.
“It’s a young team that’s playing pretty loose and carefree like we’ve seen recently out of some teams. They’ve got some top-end skill. We still have to go out and … we’ve got to be detailed, we’ve got to be structured and we’ve got to be competitive.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken and Mike will provide double coverage in the final regular-season game.
Ken has a piece on the Alex Iafallo extension and Mike tees up the Jets and Blues series, digging in on the battle of the Schenn brothers. Mike will also have the game analysis. The stories will be available later tonight on our website and in Thursday’s newspaper.
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