Jets in basement of NHL’s Western Conference

By: Tim Campbell Posted: 3:33 PM CDT Saturday, Mar. 19, 2016

The Winnipeg Jets woke up today to find themselves alone in the basement of the NHL’s Western Conference standings for the first time this season.

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The Winnipeg Jets woke up today to find themselves alone in the basement of the NHL’s Western Conference standings for the first time this season.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/03/2016 (3540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets woke up today to find themselves alone in the basement of the NHL’s Western Conference standings for the first time this season.

After a 4-0 loss at home to Chicago on Friday night and Edmonton’s win over Vancouver, the Jets are 29-37-5 for 63 points with 11 games to play and only the Toronto Maple Leafs, at 59 points, trail them in the overall standings.

Winnipeg’s four-game homestand continues Sunday afternoon with another high-powered opponent, the Anaheim Ducks, who have risen to second spot in the Pacific Division at 39-22-9 after being just .500 at New Year’s Eve.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chicago Blackhawks' Andrew Shaw (65) is crushed by Winnipeg Jets' Dustin Byfuglien (33) during first period NHL hockey action, Friday, March 18, 2016.

The Jets held a 45-minute workout at the MTS Centre today, working much of the time on special teams.

The practice went without veteran winger Matt Halischuk.

“He’s part of the team flu program that we’re running,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said today. “We’ve had almost everybody join so far.”

The Jets have played the Ducks once already this season, losing 4-1 in Anaheim early in January.

Maurice was asked how much last spring’s playoff result — an Anaheim sweep — still matters to him or motivates him today.

“Only insofar in that we competed in that series as hard as we possibly could and didn’t win a game,” he said. “There were stretches where we had control of the game and the lead is a probably more accurate way of putting it. But it was part of the movement to youth. I think we had maximized that group, got an awful lot out of them, played very hard and we needed to get a skill-base change and we’re doing that through young players coming in.”

The Jets could be leaning towards Michael Hutchinson as their starting goalie for Sunday’s game.

“He’s far more aggressive in the net without swimming or covering too much ice,” Maurice said. “He’s back attacking some pucks and feeling more confident in the net.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca