So you’re telling me there’s a chance

Don’t look now, but that double-digit deficit has been cut by more than half.

By rattling off at least a point in each of the six games coming out of the Olympic break — and by going 11-4-5 during the past 20 games — the Winnipeg Jets have pulled within five points of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

It’s still a tall task, but it looks a whole lot more manageable with 20 games left in the regular season, including Tuesday’s tilt with the Anaheim Ducks.

“You’ve got to keep winning games,” said Jets centre Jonathan Toews. “It just goes to show that anything can happen. It’s a horse race. You never know who is going to come from the back and put on a real charge in the last stretch here.

“A lot can change in the matter of a couple of days. Teams are playing every other day, so it’s interesting to watch. But obviously, there’s not much more we should be worrying about, other than our game.”

The Jets appear to be playing their best hockey of the entire season, just as things are ratcheting up another notch.

Although there are still some areas to tidy up, the Jets seem to be settling into their structure and doing a better job defensively, while also finding a way to play faster — which is something that has plagued them at various points of the season.

After the trade deadline, the Jets moved from having the oldest team in the NHL to being 25th of 32 teams (averaging 29.69 in age, compared to 30.45 for the Minnesota Wild, who are now the oldest).

With a core group that is battle tested, the Jets figure to be able to lean on one another when times get tough.

“Our experience and the belief we’ve had in the locker room all year is going to matter a lot,” said Toews. “There are going to be moments where younger teams maybe ride that emotional roller-coaster.”

That’s the thing.

Some of the teams the Jets are chasing — whether it’s the Seattle Kraken or Utah Mammoth (who are above the playoff line) or the San Jose Sharks (who are just below it) — haven’t been in this position often during the past several seasons.

There’s a different kind of pressure that comes with having to fend off the teams chasing you during the stretch run, when the margin for error is extremely slim.

“I feel like we’re not putting as much pressure on ourselves. We’re just going out there and playing,” said Toews. “Our energy is translating into results. Things are really starting to tilt in our favour.”

Given the hole the Jets dug for themselves, things aren’t going to get any easier and they’ll basically need to keep playing around a .700 winning percentage through the end of the regular season to have a chance to qualify for the second wild-card berth.

“We’ve been on the outside looking in all year,” said Jets forward Morgan Barron. “We have a tough stretch of hockey. It’s nice to have a good homestand here, but we’ve got to keep stacking these games together and keep continuing to play the way that we know is going to make us successful.”

Of those 20 remaining games, 11 of them are against Central Division opponents while 11 will come against teams currently below the playoff line.

However, four of those games will be played against the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, who are the top two teams in the NHL.

“We’re just trying to accumulate as many points as possible and keep going until we can’t anymore. We’ll see what happens,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “The schedule doesn’t get any easier here with the games and even the opponents. So a huge stretch for us here to kind of finish off this homestand.”

Even in some of the recent games that required late rallies, the Jets have put together a much more consistent effort, often resembling the template they used to have success in each of the three previous seasons dating back to when Scott Arniel arrived on the scene as an associate coach on Rick Bowness’ staff.

They’re also looking much more comfortable in one-goal games, which is an area that’s brought more than its share of challenges this season — both in regulation time and those that went to overtime and shootouts.

“It’s hard to say,” said DeMelo. “Maybe during that stretch where we weren’t winning, we were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot. Maybe we’ve just been staying with our game a little bit and executing at the right time.

“It’s hard to say to really pinpoint one thing. But it just feels like we’ve been on our toes — assertive. We haven’t sat back, just going at teams. And maybe that’s a reflection of why we’re winning those one and two-goal games.”

The other thing the Jets are doing well is playing with more pace, the best example coming in the 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.

“Everybody’s been on the same wavelength,” said DeMelo. “That first two-thirds of the year there was an absolute grind. It’s more mental than physical. Your mind’s going to tell you you can’t do something before your body. So, being able to recharge was huge for this group.

“We came in with kind of that training camp mindset, where everybody is excited. You’ve got that good feeling again. There were a few things we touched on with regards to playing faster. And I think also we saw where we were and we’re like, ‘We’ve got nothing else to lose. Let’s just go after it.’ Maybe playing a little bit more loose. Not with regards to being careless, but just kind of that mentality that we weren’t playing tight, where we were kind of gripping the stick. We’re just going after it and just doing our best and just kind of seeing where everything falls.”

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