Day of rest for battered crew

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/04/2015 (3828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DENVER — Bloodied and bruised — but not beaten — the Winnipeg Jets touched down in the Mile High City in the wee hours of Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

And the boss opted to give them a day to rest, relax and recover after a pair of back-to-back road wins over Minnesota and St. Louis — both of which took a physical and mental toll.

To the victors belong the spoils, all right.

“It’s all physical,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice Wednesday. “We need the day to recover. Minnesota was really fast and, of course, St. Louis was quite a physical effort to recover from. The mindset doesn’t necessarily change. We worked on feeling strong and feeling positive going into the last month-and-a-half before every game.”

The Jets took a chunk of the day to go over video and do some rehab while those who likely won’t be in the lineup Thursday against the Avs — Dustin Byfuglien (who will serve the final game of his suspension) and Toby Enstrom (upper-body injury) — did some on-ice work. A win against the Avs clinches a playoff spot for the Jets and would represent a major achievement for the franchise that had few believers when training camp opened last September. As well, this crew has been hardened over the last while in the chase for a playoff spot.

“That seems like a long time ago,” Maurice said. “Where we are right now, we felt like we’ve been in that the last six weeks probably, certainly in the last two. It doesn’t feel like any different a day than two weeks ago, three weeks ago. We’ve got hockey to be played. We can handle our own destiny right now and that’s a good feeling because we like the way we’re feeling.

“Clearly when you get to this time of year there’s more on the line, but our routine wouldn’t change. It’s a normal day for them, which is important.”

THE WORD IS…: The NHL’s department of player safety looked into the cross-check by David Backes of the Blues to Mark Stuart in Tuesday’s 1-0 Winnipeg win and decided it didn’t warrant additional punishment.

A department of player safety spokesman said the play was part of a scramble for a loose puck and in the end, they believed it wasn’t forceful enough to rise to the level of supplementary discipline.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

WORTH NOTING: The Jets now have 42 victories and 96 points — both one shy of the franchise record set in 2006-07 when the club made its first and only playoff appearance (43-28-11, 97 points)… The Jets are also about to set a franchise record for goals against. They are at 208 goals against; the previous low was 237, set last season… Winnipeg is 6-1-0 in games in which Chris Thorburn has scored a goal this year.

MORE ONDREJ THE GIANT: Ondrej Pavelec became the first goaltender in Jets/Thrashers history to post shutouts on consecutive days after blanking Minnesota 2-0 on Monday and St. Louis 1-0 a day later. Two other netminders have accomplished that feat this season: Vancouver’s Ryan Miller (Jan. 15-16) and Ottawa’s Andrew Hammond (Feb. 25-26).

Pavelec now has 15 career shutouts, moving him past Kari Lehtonen and into sole possession of first place on the franchise’s all-time shutouts list. Pavelec is 22-16-7 this season with 2.34 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.

Pavelec is 9-2-0 in his last 11 starts dating back to March 14, including three shutouts, a .946 save percentage and 1.63 GAA in that span.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait