Jets ready for playoff takeoff

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/01/2018 (2828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite their early-season success, I chose to wait and see how the Winnipeg Jets fared during the 15 games of December before deciding whether this club had what it takes to do some damage in the playoffs.

Their schedule offered up a number of challenges. Their response told me what I needed to know.

My pre-season prediction in this space was that they’d make the playoffs, but I couldn’t decide if they’d be the first or last qualifier from the Central Division — it looked that tight.

They started December with home wins over the Vegas Golden Knights (7-4) and Ottawa Senators (5-0).

However, they hit the road and promptly lost three in a row (Detroit Red Wings 5-1, Florida Panthers 6-4 and Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime).

This was of particular interest to me, as the Jets had been playing decent hockey and had been steadily improving their puck-possession numbers before this blip.

I had major concerns with this at the start of the year, when wins were being dictated by Connor Hellebuyck standing on his head while his teammates were defending far too often.

Due to an improvement in spending more time in the opposition zone, I didn’t let a couple of regulation losses to inferior teams take away from the good, underlying things that were happening.

The Tampa Bay game was basically a chess match, and getting a point against the best team in the league was a solid reboot for the club.

Winnipeg then went home and pounded an inferior Vancouver Canucks team 5-1 before getting demolished 5-1 by the Chicago Blackhawks.

It was too early to write off a fourth loss so soon in the month. Some small concerns settled in at that point.

Were old Jets habits reappearing?

The next big test brought a three-gamer with top Central Division opponents.

Splitting a back-to-back series with the St. Louis Blues (losing 2-0, winning 4-0) and beating the Nashville Predators 6-4 put things back on track.

Blues goalie Carter Hutton stole the first game, as the Jets were the dominant squad on both nights. Beating Nashville was a solid team effort against a good club.

They followed that up with two losses to head into the Christmas break (Boston Bruins 2-1 in a shootout and New York Islanders 5-2).

They had a decent game against Boston, but didn’t have anything in their tank against New York.

At that point in December, they were 5-5-2 — not the type of record that inspires great confidence, but I’ll come back to this.

The Jets returned after Christmas to win three in a row — against the Edmonton Oilers twice (4-3, 5-0) and the Islanders (4-2). It looked like they needed that break, but they showed something earlier in the month, too.

They’d impressed me with their lack of panic and ability to hang in there when things weren’t going well.

That resilience wasn’t just apparent when they stopped a possibly crippling losing streak before it got started, but also in-game as well.

While this resilience is something the team has often spoken about, we’ve seen Jets clubs in the past that didn’t walk their talk.

Their confidence in each other is obvious, and everybody has learned how to stick to the systems on most occasions. Stay the course.

The players’ growth within head coach Paul Maurice’s game plan has been notable. This absolutely had to get better, as the early wins the Jets were stealing were going to end without it.

They now sit comfortably in the top half of the league in Corsi and expected goals. These are usually good indicators of future success, and while their improvements are significant, there’s certainly room for growth.

Part of this rise is due to their furious forechecking that baffles many teams when they’re at their best. Mixing that with their ability to create offence off the rush, utilizing their high-end talent, and you’ve got a special combination here.

Of course, improved defensive play is helping their advanced stats and, most importantly, wins.

Can this team make a long run in the playoffs?

Let’s take a quick look around the Western Conference.

The playoffs are a time where matchups mean everything. The Jets have as much talent as anyone in the West, although when you play a best-of-seven series the opponent’s style of play is a true test.

At a glance, the teams that I believe will give the Jets the most trouble are Vegas (speed), Nashville (great defence, decent forwards), Anaheim Ducks (strong centres, defence corps) and San Jose Sharks (good special teams and possession).

There are many variables in this game, including puck and injury luck, and the trade deadline of Feb. 26, but we can still guess.

While Mark Scheifele is missed, the Jets can now grind out wins they couldn’t in past years, and he’ll be fresh for a long playoff run when he comes back.

Winnipeg has the goaltending to run through multiple playoff rounds with Hellebuyck and have the fourth-best power play in the league. The penalty killing has crawled up to the middle of the pack.

Add in the possession and shot numbers mentioned earlier and the sum of all that should put the Jets among the top contenders come playoff time.

Yes, there are good reasons to believe that the Jets can do some serious winning this spring.

Chosen ninth overall by the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and first overall by the WHA’s Houston Aeros in 1977, Scott Campbell has now been drafted by the Winnipeg Free Press to play a new style of game.

Twitter: @NHL_Campbell