Jets know game vs. Preds crucial to bottom line

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This article was published 20/01/2016 (3549 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

April may seem like a long way off but finish-line urgency is here to stay in the Winnipeg Jets dressing room in late January.

The Jets, to a man, aren’t even fighting the notion they’re already into must-win games, or the next DEFCON level to it.

Thursday is another home game against the Nashville Predators. The Jets and Preds played a wild one at the MTS Centre last Thursday, with Winnipeg pulling a 5-4 overtime victory out of the fire.

Nashville holds a three-point advantage in the standings (48-45) and both teams are behind the Colorado Avalanche, who held down the Western Conference’s final playoff spot at 49 points entering Wednesday’s play.

“Maybe a couple of weeks ago I might have said it’s early but there are a few teams battling for basically one spot right now,” Jets defenceman Tyler Myers said after Wednesday’s practice. “And every game is so important, especially against a team like Nashville, given where we are in the standings.

“It’s going to be a big game every game from here on out. We’ve been dealing with it since I came here last year. And we’re going through the same thing.

“I think all the guys in the room are used to it and we’re not putting any extra pressure on ourselves, we’re just focusing on how we have to play as a team and how we have to execute.”

Added Jets centre Bryan Little: “It’s our next, biggest game of the season. Every game we play is more important than the last one.”

The Jets believe they have improved how they have handled pressure and that their game has come some distance from those lost days of a 4-9-1 November.

As expected, traction in NHL races gets more difficult the longer you wait. So while improved, Winnipeg is only 6-5-1 since the Christmas break despite having made progress in the goals-against vulnerability that was sinking the ship.

Since Dec. 27, the Jets have surrendered 26 goals in 12 outings, a 2.17 per game clip and much more attractive than the 3.00 clip that marked most of the first half of their year.

“I think we’ve done well,” Myers said when asked about that progress. “I think about where we were a month ago, even two months ago, and now I see a much better systematic team than back then. We play the game a lot tighter, we’re not giving up as much and we know our group can score goals so I think tightening up the defensive part of our team game has helped the group.”

The X’s and O’s are one thing but the game is played by big, fast men in a confined area and as last Thursday’s game shows, emotions will play a big part of any outcome.

“Where both teams are in the standings, there’s that urgency,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said about Thursday’s game. “I do think when you play a team over a short period of time, there are carry-over grudges. It’s just like a playoff series.

“Guys remember hits and each game becomes more and more physical.”

Whatever that emotion, the Jets say they want to keep the plan in focus.

“I definitely think we want to cut down on their shots against and that’s tough because they have a lot of great offensive players that like to shoot the puck a lot,” Little said Wednesday.

Myers insisted the Jets are up to it.

“Whenever the stakes are higher, guys seem to elevate their play,” he said. “With the group we have here, we’ve played a lot of good hockey of late. It’s just carrying those good moments into future games and obviously these three leading up to the (all-star) break are a big chance for us to pull really close to the spot to come in after the break.”

After Thursday, the Jets have two more games at home before the all-star game, Saturday against New Jersey and next Tuesday against Arizona.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca