Jets making believers of themselves

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/11/2014 (3973 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Pittsburgh media type said Thursday morning the way to beat the Penguins was to punch them in the nose. The Winnipeg Jets must have been listening.

The Jets fell 4-3 in the shootout to the Penguins on Thursday night, but along with the two points, the Pittsburgh crew left with ice bags on their hands and faces.

The Jets, so often an easy touch for the Penguins, made sure the visitors knew they were in a game. More than a game. This was a fight. Complete with the tension and blood that comes along with such an event. Simply put, it was the game of year so far in Winnipeg.

The Jets have now picked up points in seven straight games, winning five of the matches while only allowing nine goals along the way.

Doubt still hangs in the air around the Jets, but it’s beginning to get thinner and thinner.

Thursday’s match was the perfect moment for the momentum to go ebbing away from a Winnipeg team that has been putting in great efforts. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have a way of doing that to teams.

And while the Jets left the ice as the losers, they didn’t do so until after they’d made an announcement.

Right now, the Winnipeg Jets are not to be taken lightly. How long this lasts remains to be seen, but stack up a few more weeks with wins against teams such as the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators, as well as taking the Penguins to the shootout, and believers will start to crop up all over the NHL landscape.

The Jets appear ready to take a bigger bite out of the NHL than we’ve seen in the past.

Gone is the talk of fragility and losing confidence during games.

This is different than anything we’ve seen before from the Jets. They looked defiant and sure of themselves and their plan. They looked like a team that believed it could win. Regardless of the opponent.

Coach Paul Maurice has been preaching team defence outside of the dressing room. But inside there must be a different kind of message being put forth. One of belief and strength.

Sure, the Jets have holes in their roster. Only a few teams in the NHL do not. But Maurice’s job isn’t to remind the Jets of what they don’t have, but rather to tell them what they do have. Size, speed and youth.

Too often the Jets have looked intimidated and aware they didn’t belong in the game. We saw this plainly during the opening week of the season when they gave the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings far too much room to operate.

The biggest indicator of how the Jets felt about themselves on Thursday against the Penguins was the gap they gave the opposition. It was just right most of the night. Winnipeg challenged rather than sagged.

There were mistakes and some of the foolishness and lack of discipline could have made this a laugher for the Penguins. It seemed headed that way when they went up 3-1 in the second period.

Previously, this would have been time for the folding-chair act. But there was Jacob Trouba blasting a high heater past Marc-André Fleury late in the middle frame to trim the lead to 3-2.

Then came Evander Kane, already the victor in a scrap with Simon Despres, blowing down the centre of the ice and beating Fleury to even things at threes.

Huh? The Winnipeg Jets? Erasing a two-goal lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins? No chance, you say.

Down the stretch the Jets kept pushing and looking for the winner. They weren’t afraid to take this game. They wanted it. They believed it was theirs for the getting.

In the end it didn’t happen, and the Jets shouldn’t be interested in moral victories. This loss should anger them and fuel their next day of work.

This wasn’t a litmus test. This was another game in 82. One to build on and learn from.

The biggest lesson? When they play with speed and physicality and pay attention to their structure — they can be dangerous. What Maurice has been selling — they need to keep buying. It’s working.

Maurice can’t make believers of us all. And frankly, he likely cares very little about what outsiders say of his team. He’s convinced the people he needs to convince. His players.

In the end, this may be his most important stroke so far. Maurice has made the Winnipeg Jets believers in the Winnipeg Jets.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless