Time is now for Jets to get their game right

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This article was published 07/05/2021 (1631 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After putting a seven-game losing streak behind them with a victory Wednesday over the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets must now look toward the future.

Ahead of them — quite literally — is the home stretch, with all four of their final regular-season games to be played at Bell MTS Place. Despite what little runway remains, the Jets must use the time they have left before the playoffs to fine-tune their collective engine if they hope to take off when it matters most.

While collecting wins will be important, the main focus is on whether the Jets can get back to a consistent game and style, one capable of making a good push against what will be a formidable opponent in the opening round. With a loose grip on third place, and no real chance of moving up, the Jets will either be up against the Edmonton Oilers or, if they fall to fourth place behind the Montreal Canadiens, they’ll face off against the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Winning games is going to make you confident, but it’s if we win games the right way then we’ll find a blueprint that we really like, and we think that we can copy night in night out in the playoffs,” Jets forward Andrew Copp said following practice Friday.

“We think that’s going to be our avenue to success. I don’t think it’s result driven, necessarily, but winning some games, getting on a little bit of a run here and doing it the right way, because if we play the right way we’re confident in our game and we should be coming out victorious most nights.”

It’s a recipe the Jets claim to have found, in part, over the last few games, even while the losses kept piling up. To those outside the locker room, it’s hard to be convinced the Jets have found any kind of a groove, and a victory over a less-than-impressive Flames team, a club that fired its coach midseason only to produce more middling results, has suddenly fixed what ails them.

Copp admitted the stretch of losses was tough to endure, with the frustration only magnified by the team’s feeling their effort didn’t match some of the end results. There was also an acknowledgment that there was a mental cost to trying to climb out of their hole and the focus needs to shift to not only playing a better and consistent style of game but to also incorporate the little nuances that come with high-stakes playoff hockey.

“It’s just a matter of kind of getting that playoff game solidified and getting comfortable in it and trying to recreate a little bit of the energy and the preparation that goes into that,” he said. “It’s a little bit more dialled in on your warm-up, maybe quieter in your prep, and then kind of sticking together on the bench, all that stuff that when you face adversity you’re going to need to rely on each other. And we’re going to need to do that in the next four (games) to kind of prepare ourselves for what lies ahead.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice will be responsible for monitoring the mood of his team, and providing them with what they require mentally and physically to be at the top of their game. There’s also the task of determining who will be in his opening lineup come playoffs, with a few decisions still need to be made.

Maurice said the schedule is spread out enough over the next week that anyone who needs to play the rest of the season to get into a better rhythm can do so without the risk of fatigue. There is also a need to provide much-needed experience for players who have been underused but might need to be relied upon come playoffs, especially in the event the Jets get hit with the injury bug.

It’s become a fine balance between rest and rust.

“The guys want to be right. They want to get their game right, they want to feel good about their game. We’re not sure when we’re starting (playoffs) but we can’t imagine it’s more than two or three days off after that (last regular season game). So we have this good rhythm here, we’re at home,” he said. “What I would say is I’m not going to run anybody 23 minutes. That would be the only tell for you watching the games. I’m not going to run the bench that hard.”

From a strictly personnel point-of-view, Maurice is set with his forwards group. Adam Lowry is back from a neck injury and dynamic forward Nikolaj Ehlers (shoulder) is on track to return for the playoffs, and could be back on the ice as early as Saturday. The same could be said between the pipes, with Connor Hellebuyck expected to be a big part of the team’s success. Laurent Brossoit provides a solid backup plan.

Where things get a bit tricky is with the defence. The blue line has been a revolving door of late, with players such as Logan Stanley, Ville Heinola and trade-deadline-acquisition Jordie Benn in and out of the lineup.

Heinola might just be the most intriguing piece of all; the recently turned 20-year-old will play a second consecutive game for the first time all season. While Heinola might lack experience — he has just 11 NHL games under his belt since being drafted 20th overall in 2019 — he makes up for it in poise, as well as the kind of puck-moving ability the Jets desperately need from the defence if they plan to fix their transition game.

“We’ll move him around with different people a little bit,” Maurice said of his youngest defenceman. “We want to get all those guys enough games that we’re comfortable with any of them playing.”

Being healthy is always a good thing, but since the Jets haven’t had to juggle many injuries this season it’s left them, at the very least, wondering what exactly they have in the cupboards. With the need to find a consistent game down the stretch, and lose any of those bad feelings from seven straight losses, the Jets won’t have the luxury of playing with these mostly unused pieces.

While that may not ultimately come back to bite them in the behind, there’s no ignoring the Jets look like the same team from last year’s playoffs that is one or two injuries away from an early exit. Money is also an issue.

“That’s the idea of Ville and Logan playing, Jordie as well. (Benn) has got quite a bit more experience than the other two. And then you’ve got some forwards. But we also can’t exceed the cap. So I can’t pull four guys out and put four guys in — it doesn’t work like that. I mean, that’s the challenge that you have,” Maurice said. “I don’t know that getting a guy an extra eight-minute game is going to change anything. You just hope to hell you stay healthy and then the teams that have an awful lot of depth going into playoffs usually survive their injuries a little bit better and you always get a surprise, right? You get one or two guys that you didn’t know were going to respond to playoff hockey and they get in there and off they go.” 

Winnipeg has just four games to iron the wrinkles out, beginning Saturday against the visiting Ottawa Senators — a team that has been eliminated from the playoffs but should offer a valuable test, having defeated the Jets twice in the last three games they’ve played.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton