Jets need to prove they can compete with the NHL’s best

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This article was published 14/03/2024 (575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is a numbers game the Winnipeg Jets have ample time to correct before the narrative takes on a life of its own.

As the stretch run heats up, the opportunities to measure themselves against the top teams in the NHL will be plentiful and ultimately how the Jets stack up will only be determined once the Stanley Cup playoffs begin next month.

With the Jets in the midst of an inconsistent stretch, the search for answers is about to begin in earnest, beginning with Friday’s conclusion of a three-game homestand against the Anaheim Ducks.

With Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators, the Jets record against teams above the playoff line since the Christmas break dipped to 3-7-1, a mark that isn’t exactly in line for a team that has gone 41-19-5 on the season and had no shortage of signature wins over upper echelon teams during the first 32 games of the season.

The recent 11-game span includes the remarkable rally with five unanswered goals in the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes and another third-period breakout in the first meeting of the season with the league-leading Vancouver Canucks.

However, it also includes a lopsided loss to the Canucks in the rematch and a disheartening defeat earlier this month to fall to 0-3 in the season series with the Dallas Stars.

So, it’s more than fair to suggest there’s room for improvement in this category.

“It’s a tough question because those are the teams that we want to put our benchmark against,” said Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon, asked to assess the recent play against those teams above the playoff line. “For instance, the fact that we’re 0-3 against Dallas, that pisses us off and it’s something that we’ve talked about now. They came into our rink twice and we went there and we kind of got spanked around.

“Of these 17 games left, I don’t know how many are against playoff teams, but those are going to be games where we do need to understand there’s a sense or urgency in those games. We’ve put ourselves in a good enough spot where we want to make the playoffs and we feel strongly that we’re going to make the playoffs. But we need to prove to ourselves that we can play with the best.”

Before the conversation came to a close, Dillon reinforced the importance of backing up the belief the Jets have with action on the ice.

“We feel we are one of the best teams in the league,” said Dillon. “Instead of us talking, meeting, doing video and all of that stuff, we’ve got to go and play well against those teams.”

Going into Friday’s action, nine of those final 17 games for the Jets are against teams above the playoff line, three are against teams well out of it and five are against clubs trying to stay in the fight.

It’s important to remember the Jets are 2-0 against the Florida Panthers this season, 2-0 against the Hurricanes, 2-0 against the surging Colorado Avalanche and handily defeated the Boston Bruins in the final game before the Christmas break.

So, this isn’t to suggest the Jets are only playing well this season against bottom feeders.

But this is the time of year where the games get harder and teams around the league are trying to refine their structure and clean up some of the correctable issues.

“It’s one thing to acknowledge the lull. There’s a difference between accepting it and trying to work your way out of it and learn from it,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “That’s what we’re trying to do. We clearly know our game isn’t where we want it to be or where we know we’re capable of playing. We’re coming to the rink, we’re trying to work on these things and we’re trying to find different areas where the game has slipped a little. Maybe the details have slipped a little.

“So that over these next 17 games, we can get them to the point where we have complete confidence in every area and these things become second nature.”

With the passing of the NHL trade deadline, the Jets boast an improved roster and so do several teams around them. That increases the importance of those head-to-head battles against the likes of the Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, the Stars and the Canucks.

Lowry discussed the current state of affairs Thursday after practice.

He calmly detailed some of the areas requiring attention, while also showing why he’s been such a calming presence and is clearly excelling in his enhanced leadership role.

When asked for his viewpoint on the recent woes against high-end teams, Lowry was neither dismissive nor combative.

“It’s something to bring awareness to, but it’s not something that’s necessarily a focus,” he said. “Over these next 17 games and looking back to reflect on the last 20, how do we get from being a good team to a great team to an elite team, so that when we come up against some of these teams in the playoffs, whether it’s Dallas or Colorado or Nashville or whoever it may be, we put ourselves in the best position to succeed.

“It would be great to be running the table on them, but it’s about learning to win in those close games, where we find ourselves getting down. How can we be patient in our game, not break it open and not give them free chances and use that to chip away and to generate our offence and our style of play to create the bounces going in our favour.”

The Jets recognize the emphasis must be on diligent team defence, which has been the foundation of the five-on-five success for the better part of this season.

“When we are really successful, we’re really patient in the game, we’re relentless,” said Lowry. “Our forecheck, our back pressure, our D gaps are really good and we make it hard on the other team to create offence and they really have to earn their opportunities. Sometimes when we get out of that style, we create a lot of chances for the other team based on puck management. That’s where from one game to the next, the consistency hasn’t been there. When we’re an elite team, we’ve shown what we look like and when we struggle, there are areas that we get away from.

“Regardless of the opponent and the score, we want our game to look similar from night to night.”

Even someone with as much experience as Jets bench boss Rick Bowness is still searching for answers when it comes to why inconsistency has crept into the equation of late.

“Every coach in every sport is trying to figure that out,” said Bowness. “With this group, we do know what we look like when we’re going well. There are lapses and this team has always responded after lapses. We’ve just got to minimize those lapses.

“All we can do is keep pointing out what is going wrong and what is going well and keep pushing.”

That push will lay the groundwork to the Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Jets hope they will find a way to peak at the right time.

“When you get to the playoffs, health is critical, but it’s usually the hottest team (that wins),” said Lowry. “A goalie can go on a run or some teams can capture that lightning in a bottle, but in order to put yourself in the best position to do that, you have to be firing on all cylinders and you need contributions up and down the lineup and you need to have a really stingy five-on-five game, a real concrete identity and that’s what we’re building.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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