All-but-dead Jets now in show-and-tell mode

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This article was published 13/03/2017 (3164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NASHVILLE — Mathematically, the Winnipeg Jets are alive in the NHL playoff race.

Realistically, it’s a very different story for a team that one website currently lists as having a 0.2 per cent chance of making the post-season, and even then only if they win at least 12 of their remaining 13 games.

And so the best question for this maddening hockey team heading into a Central Division battle here Monday night against the Predators is no longer “what if?”

It’s “what now?”

“I don’t think that you’re looking at these last (13) games to tell you something completely different than you’re already learning,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said here Monday following his team’s morning skate. “We’ve got players who’ve been in the league a while and we have a pretty good understanding how they play.

“But the younger group — and that’s about half our team — is still defining what they’re good at and now they’ve got a little different set of pressures. We’re going to ask them to do the hard things as we have all year. And their ability to do that will give us an idea of where they slot in next year.

“We’ve scored some goals this year, so we feel we have enough firepower… but we haven’t kept enough out of our net so we need those guys to prove that they can put the puck in the net and still be good defensively.”

The Jets are currently ninth in the NHL in goals scored this season, but just 27th in goals against. The biggest culprit to blame for that disparity? A penalty kill that ranks 28th in the NHL and has been even worse than normal lately, extinguishing just five of 10 over the last two games in losses to Pittsburgh and Calgary.

Still, Jets centre Mark Scheifele says the bottom line for his teammates now remains the same as it was when they were still in the hunt.

“Wins. That’s what we’re going for. That’s what we have to focus on and that is our focus here.”

It’s been a while — the Jets head into Monday’s game riding a three-game losing streak that all but killed what slim hopes the team had of climbing back into the playoff race.

They trail the St. Louis Blues by nine points for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference and the Blues have two games in hand.

The Jets are scheduled to fly out immediately following Monday night’s game to the New York area, where they are scheduled to play the New Jersey Devils Tuesday and the New York Islanders on Thursday.

But there is now some uncertainty surrounding that schedule, with a massive blizzard expected to hit the region late Monday and continue through Tuesday. Airlines have pre-emptively cancelled 1,000 flights into New York airports on Tuesday and the Jets have made alternative travel arrangements in case their charter flight is unable to land in New York early Tuesday.

The Devils issued a statement on their official Twitter account Monday afternoon saying that their game with the Jets “is still currently scheduled…. Follow us, as the most updated info will be posted here. #BlizzardWatch.”

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The Jets will be without defenceman Jacob Trouba Monday night against Nashville. Trouba was cut on the head during a fight with Calgary’s Sam Bennett Saturday night.

Trouba took the morning skate in Nashville but Maurice said he won’t be in the lineup and is listed as day-to-day.

Connor Hellebuyck is expected to make his 14th consecutive start in net for the Jets.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek