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Win or go home.
That’s the harsh reality facing the Winnipeg Jets, who have quite the mountain to scale if they want to avoid another first-round crash and burn.
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“There’s not one guy in that room ready to call it a day and call the season over,” Jets coach Rick Bownes said following Tuesday’s morning skate. “So, I’m very confident that we’re going to see the A-game from everybody tonight. There’s a great mood in the room, the practice was good, lots of energy, so we just hope that carries into the game tonight.”
After taking the series opener 7-6 in Winnipeg, the Jets have dropped the last three outings by a combined score of 16-5. They’ve also lost a couple valuable players to injuries, with Brenden Dillon (skate cut to the hand) and Vlad Namestnikov (puck to the face) both unavailable tonight.
“Vlad’s got a colourful cheekbone, I’ll tell you that. I saw him today,” said Bowness. “Actually, I called him (Monday) night when he got home. He’s nauseous, he hasn’t eaten. So, he’s not feeling great. Dilly, of course you know him, two broken hands he’d still want to play, but we’ll give him a couple days.”
Two new faces enter the lineup tonight, with forward Cole Perfetti and defenceman Colin Miller drawing in.
“Just excitement. I’m anxious to play. I just want to get to the game tonight,” said Perfetti, who has been a healthy scratch despite a 19-goal, 19-assist season. He’ll start on the second line with Sean Monahan and Kyle Connor.
“Obviously, I’ve wanted to play in a “Whiteout” for a while and now I’m getting the chance to do that in a huge game. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m just looking forward to it, and I’m just going to try and enjoy it and play my game and probably just soak it all in. It’s going to be fun.”
Bowness has reunited the trio of Mark Scheifele, Gabe Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers on the top line, while big trade deadline addition Tyler Toffoli is moved down to the fourth line with David Gustafsson and Alex Iafallo. Only the usual third line of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton remains intact (although Ehlers was in Niederreiter’s spot at the start of Game 4, so technically all four lines have changed).
Connor Hellebuyck, who was pulled after 40 minutes in Sunday’s 5-1 loss that put the Jets on the brink, starts in goal for the hosts. He’s now been beaten 19 times on 146 shots through 11 periods of action, which are shocking numbers for the Vezina Trophy favourite. Can he come up with his best game tonight? His team sure could use it.
As for the Avalanche, they’d love to finish this off in enemy territory and earn themselves some additional rest while the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars pummel each other in a series that is going at least six games.
“I think for us, the main thing is going to be sticking to our game plan and, hopefully, having a good start. It’s always tough to end a team’s season… for us, it’s going to be an extra tough test tonight,” said defenceman Cale Makar.
If another game is required between the Jets and Avalanche, that would go down Thursday night in Denver. A Game 7, if necessary, would happen Saturday in Winnipeg.
Here’s some other information to get you set:
FROM THE PRESS BOX
KEN SAYS: Well, we’ve arrived at that uncomfortable part of the program and if the Jets want to avoid heading into next-year country, they’ll need to play their best game of these playoffs.
Much like Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said going into the series when he claimed the Jets simply hadn’t seen their best game during the three games in the regular season, the same can be said of Winnipeg in these playoffs.
Quite frankly, outside of a few spurts and 10-minute blocks, the Jets haven’t shown the Avalanche their B-plus game, let alone their A-game. Can that change before it’s too late? That’s up to the Jets to show — right here and right now.
Tactically, that means getting back to playing within their defensive structure and providing better support to help with cleaner breakouts so they can attack with speed and make life a bit more difficult on the Avalanche defence corps.
Eliminating the undisciplined penalties would also be a smart idea since the Avalanche are cooking on the power play and have taken over each of the past two games.
When it comes to folks who need to step up their respective games, it’s a long list.
As captain Adam Lowry said Monday: “Everyone in this room would agree that we all can play better, and that’s what we’re going to look to do.”
This is the type of accountability that is required from each and every player that suits up in this elimination game.
Whether that’s Hellebuyck making more saves than Alexandar Georgiev or each line and D pairing doing what it takes to try and win their matchups.
The Jets’ struggles in elimination games are well documented, with the lone victory in seven chances coming during the second-round series in 2018 against the Nashville Predators.
That leaves them 0-5 since then, and while the historical context does not need to be a motivating factor for this group, one would suspect the urgency level will be high to try and get the series back to Denver for a Game 6.
There’s a lot at stake for this core group, as another first-round exit would prompt some changes, just as there were last offseason when Pierre-Luc Dubois was dealt and Blake Wheeler was bought out. But that’s a topic for another day.
For now, we’ll see if Bowness’ spin of the blender ends up providing a spark for an offence that has been limited to five goals since exploding for seven in the opening game while giving up 16 (including three empty-netters).
This isn’t about one line producing, the Jets need contributions from throughout the lineup, and Ehlers back with Scheifele and Vilardi is one unit I’m watching closely.
The trio had tremendous success for a good chunk of December but couldn’t recapture the good feelings, despite seeing limited time together.
“Well, they had some success earlier. The second time we put them together, it wasn’t as successful,” said Bowness. “But again, we’re not scoring goals. So, it’s an easy move, and I’ve done it quite a number of times over the season. When you don’t see it clicking, you just flip-flop the wingers. We’ve done that for the most part, and I’ve talked to them all and they’re all aware. Let’s try this, and if we’re still not generating enough offence, then we’ll just flip the wingers around.”
Vilardi was asked if having that past chemistry and success is something they can draw on, despite not playing together much down the stretch?
“Yeah,” said Vilardi. “For me, I kind of let them do their thing, whether it’s with (Connor) or (Ehlers) or whoever it is. Especially with Mark, I just try to get to the front of the net. I’m not as dynamic off the cycle as they are. I’m better in front of the net. My job is more to recover pucks and let them do their thing and create the plays.”
Cole Perfetti has played 140 regular-season games over parts of three seasons with the Jets, but tonight will be his playoff debut against the Avalanche. (Matt Slocum / The Associated Press files)
MIKE SAYS: No pressure, kid. Perfetti enters the lineup at a critical time for his club, and the excitement and energy as we spoke this morning was palpable. The 22-year-old has played 140 regular-season games over parts of three seasons with the Jets, but tonight will be his first-ever playoff contest.
“Obviously it’s been tough, but at the same time I’ve been able to watch and learn the game a little bit more,” he said of starting this series from the press box. “Kind of what I’ve been trying to do is preparing in case I was going to get a chance, and watching those first four games, seeing what Colorado was doing, seeing what we were doing and how I could come in and try to help that. Yeah, just been trying to learn and watch and grow, and like I said it hasn’t been easy, but at the same time tonight’s going to be exciting. I’m so excited to get in and just been really looking forward to it.”
I know there are some in this town who believe the Jets are “ruining” Perfetti with the way they’ve handled him, including several healthy scratches in the second half of the season. Bowness admits there’s been some tough love at times but praised Perfetti for how he’s handled the emotional ups-and-downs.
“He’s handled it like a pro. He wants to play, no question. He’s a great kid. He’s going to have a great career,” said Bowness.
“I always use Kuch (Nikita Kucherov) as an example, first year in Tampa we scratched Kuch a couple times. Sometimes, the young guys just need a little bit more time. He’s anxious to play tonight. I had a good talk with him today, he’s looking forward to it. We gotta get him in there somewhere. We’re not scoring, we can’t wait any longer. So, it’s a good opportunity for him.”
I’m writing more about Perfetti for an early story today, and I’m looking forward to seeing him on a big hockey stage tonight.
As for the rest of the team, we’re sure going to find out a lot about them based on how this plays out. If recent history repeats itself and they lose four consecutive games (as they did last spring) in relatively ugly fashion, it’s once again going to be a long, uncomfortable offseason around here.
For those wondering if it could be Bowness’ last game with the team, he sure didn’t sound like a guy who feels the end is imminent.
“It’s what we love, man. It’s what we love. It’s all about playing at this time of year and playing in these important games, so yeah, I’m excited,” he said. “I know I’m getting old. I know there’s a lot more behind me than ahead of me. But we’re going to enjoy every day.”
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