Jets aim to take care of business as they enter final stretch
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2025 (191 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg Jets captain Adam Lowry had a couple of wishes Saturday as he celebrated his 32nd birthday.
“I would like a little more space, you know,” he said with a chuckle following a full team skate at the Hockey For All Centre.
Lowry was talking about the current distance between his club and the scorching-hot Dallas Stars, who began the day six points behind the Jets in the race for top spot in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.

Winnipeg Jets’ Adam Lowry (Matt Slocum / The Associated Press files)
Dallas was playing Saturday night in Seattle followed by a rematch on Monday inside the same rink. Lowry admitted he texted his father, Dave — an assistant coach with the Kraken — asking for a little help.
What was the reply?
“That they’ll do their best. That’s all you can ask for, right?” said Lowry.
“You know what, obviously we’d love to get some help from some teams. But as long as we kinda take care of our own business and win the games in front of us, we control what happens.”
The Jets have done a solid job of that lately, downing the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (3-2 in overtime) and then following that up with an impressive 4-0 victory on Friday against the New Jersey Devils.
A four-game homestand, which began six days ago with a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, will conclude on Sunday afternoon against a desperate Vancouver Canucks team fighting to stay alive in the playoff race.
“We certainly want to be a lot better than what we were in that game down there,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel, referring to a 6-2 loss back on March. “We gave up a lot of rush chances, coverage chances that are not normally sort of in our DNA, and we need to clean that up. I think since then our team game has been a lot better.”
Vancouver is coming off a wild 7-6 shootout loss on Friday night in Columbus and will be wrapping up a six-game road trip. They began the day four points behind the St. Louis Blues for the final wildcard spot in the West.
“This very well could be a team we run into in game 83 (a.k.a. the first round of the playoffs) so let’s make sure that we’re a heck a lot better than we were in their building,” said Arniel.
The Canucks are without top centres Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil and winger Nils Hoglander due to injuries but have been getting valuable contributions from several young players in his absence.
“It’s a group there that’s working hard and (coach Rick) Tocchet’s pushing them. They’re making that run to try to get in,” said Arniel.
He wouldn’t tip his hand about a starting goaltender, but Connor Hellebuyck would seem the likely candidate to make a league-leading 55th start with backup Eric Comrie on baby watch. His wife is due to give birth on April 7, but Comrie told the Free Press she was already in early labour and the hope was their son could be delivered this weekend.
The Jets beat the Canucks 6-1 at Canada Life Centre earlier this season.
“I know Vancouver’s missing some key guys but they’re fighting for their lives, every point is so critical for them,” said Lowry.
“We saw what can happen with their transition and how dangerous they can be with their speed when we were in Vancouver. It’s going to be one of those things like the last couple games where you stay above their speed in the neutral zone, smart puck decisions and things like that. Play a real structured game and that’s where we’ll find success.”
Winnipeg is also missing a trio of players due to injuries. Defencemen Neal Pionk (lower-body) has missed seven straight games while forward Gabe Vilardi (upper-body) has been sidelined for two. Both are still considered week-to-week and are not skating.
“(Pionk) is doing a lot more off-ice, weight-room type stuff. He’s getting closer. A lot closer,” said Arniel.
The update wasn’t as clear on Vilardi.
“It’s not one of those ones where it’s an automatic four-to-six. Where he is, it’s week-to-week. He’s a ways away. He’s away from even trying to get into the weight room right now. He’s more on just getting better,” said Arniel.
Depth centre Rasmus Kupari is considered day-to-day after missing Friday’s game.
Saturday’s practice had a family feel to it, with the children of several players on hand to take part in a fun skate once the formal session was complete. No doubt plenty of parenting tips were being swapped, especially with Comrie on the cusp of being a father for a second time and Kyle Connor becoming a first-time Dad this past Wednesday.
“With our kids here, we get to spend some time with them before we go out on the road for a good week,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo.
“Any time you get to share those experiences with your own they are valuable and I know my little guy is going to talk about it all day and this is probably warm up for more mini sticks when we get home.”
DeMelo was asked if there are now enough children to have a full game with the parents and said they’ll need to wait for Luke Schenn’s trio to arrive from Nashville, where they are still in school. Schenn just moved into fourth all-time on the NHL’s career hits list on Friday against New Jersey.
“He said they have a little more skill than he does right now but I am sure they are hard to play against,” joked DeMelo. “No easy ice out there.”
After hosting the Canucks, the Jets will play three straight in enemy territory starting Tuesday night in Los Angeles. That’s followed by visits to Las Vegas (Thursday) and Utah (Saturday).
“It’s always fun to be in these races. To be fighting not only for the division title and conference title, but to be the best in the league. We’re pushing every day,” said Lowry.
“We’re just trying to have our game in a spot where we feel comfortable. Whether it’s at home, whether it’s on the road, I think that’s our mentality we have. Coming down the stretch, obviously we want to take care of our own things and make sure we get home ice as far as we can.”
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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