FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Beware the first-place curse? If you ever needed proof the playoffs truly are a different animal, look no further than what’s already gone down this spring. The Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights have been eliminated.
The Atlantic Division champion Toronto Maple Leafs just got crushed on home ice and are now one loss away from golf season.
The Metropolitan Division champion Washington Capitals, who also finished on top of the Eastern Conference, need to win three straight elimination games starting tonight in order to keep playing.
And, of course, the Central Division/Western Conference/Presidents Trophy winning Jets are in a heap of trouble.
Perhaps the ultimate goal should be to finish second or third in your division over the 82-game marathon that is the regular season. What gives?
“When you get in the playoffs, all that stuff, other than having home ice, kind of goes out the window. Whatever team is up and running and playing their game consistently for five, six, seven games, however long it takes, that’s what it’s about at this time of year,” Arniel told me this morning when I asked if he had an explanation.
“And there’s a different brand of hockey that you often hear guys talk about. You see it some nights through the 82 games, but during the playoffs it’s another animal.
It’s a whole different type of hockey. And the teams that can play it consistently the most are the ones who usually are standing at the end.”
The trick for Winnipeg, as I see it, is that they need to find a way to generate more offence without sacrificing their usually sound defensive structure. In other words, no cheating.
The Jets can’t win all three games they need at once tonight, so taking things shift-by-shift, period-by-period is the required approach. Easier said than done, of course, when you no longer have any room for error.
In that sense, we’re going to learn plenty about this group tonight.
“We’re really not worried about 6 right now. This is Game 5. We’ve got to make sure we win it,” said Arniel.
“We’ve talked about it over the course of the year, we’ve been through it in the St. Louis series about responding after tough games and being better the next one.
These are all lessons learned. Whatever we’ve learned through the 82 games, coming off those moments when we weren’t at our best and bounced back, putting that game behind us.
We’ve done our review, now it’s time to move forward and be the best version of ourselves tonight. That’s all we ask. We’ll worry about what happens after tonight. Make sure we get the job done.”
KEN SAYS: It’s not like the Jets are playing poorly in this series with the Stars. But when looking at things through the games, the Stars feature the most dominant player in this series (Mikko Rantanen), the Stars have the only players with a hat trick (Rantanen and Mikael Granlund).
They have the most complete defenceman (Thomas Harley, by a slim margin over Josh Morrissey, who has been excellent since returning for Game 2), the better goalie (Oettinger) and the better special teams (the Stars have outscored the Jets 4-1) so far.
There is still time for the Jets to turn the tables in all these categories, but they’ll need to do it quickly, first to extend the series and then to give them an opportunity to potentially return for a Game 7 on home ice.
The Jets don’t have to worry this evening about the fact they’ve lost nine consecutive road playoff games, they simply need to bring their best effort of the series — and the season.
Reuniting the identity line means that Lowry will be tasked with keeping Roope Hintz and his linemates under control.
It also means the Scheifele line will be freed up to find some additional offence. Connor had two of the best scoring chances in Game 4, but he was stoned by Oettinger on the doorstep after a great feed by Iafallo and then on the shorthanded breakaway that came shortly before Granlund completed the hat trick.
Ehlers has been an offensive force in the series, scoring three goals and an assist to lead the Jets, but the Jets need to get some additional contributions from Perfetti and Namestnikov, both of whom have been held off the scoresheet so far.
Hellebuyck has been closer to his level on home ice and he’ll be looking to build on the 21-save shutout in Game 2.
The Jets said all the right things in the morning and seem to be in a good headspace, but they’re determined to not be eliminated in five games for the third time in as many springs — even if this time it comes in the second round instead of the first.
For a team with championship aspirations, finishing with five of the 16 required wins would be a difficult pill to swallow.
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) blocks the shot from Winnipeg Jets left wing Alex Iafallo (9) in the second period of Game 4 in Dallas on Tuesday. (Gareth Patterson / The Associated Press files)
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Tanev-Barron-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-Schenn
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Miller, D Stanley, D Heinola, C Kupari, C Gustafsson, C Toninato, F Anderson-Dolan, G Driedger
INJURED: None
DALLAS STARS
FORWARDS:
- Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen
- Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
- Benn-Johnston-Robertson
- Steel-Dadonov
DEFENCE:
- Harley-Heiskanen
- Lindell-Ceci
- Bichsel-Lyubushkin
- Petrovic
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Dumba, D Smith, C Bourque, F Blackwell
INJURED: D Lundqvist (shoulder)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Luke Schenn, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, on what advice he would have for his Jets teammates given their current predicament:
“These are the games that are obviously exciting. It’s one game at a time, really, that’s all it comes down to. Obviously you kind of learn some things throughout the series, make adjustments, and at the end of the day you play for the guy in the room next to you and just leave it all out there.
You don’t want to hesitate in a game like this, you want to be on your toes, be aggressive, and, just, it’s exciting. These are the games that are exciting, you play for, and yeah, just everyone’s got to bring good effort tonight. And saying that, obviously, when you’re on the other side of things you’re always looking to close out a series, so it’s going to be a hard-fought game tonight.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken will have game coverage of Jets versus Stars, while Mike will have an early notebook and a late-night secondary column following the contest. You can read our work online at winnipegfreepress.com and in Friday’s print edition.
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