With nine games remaining in this shortened season, the Winnipeg Jets have an opportunity to use scheduling advantage they've been given in which seven out of the remaining games are in the "comfort" of the MTS Centre. On Saturday they battle the surging and always dangerous Philadelphia Flyers. This is a must win for the Jets. If they don't, they might as well kiss the season goodbye; because the Washington Capitals have seemed to have found their game late in the season and are a considerable and real threat to not only knock the Jets from the South-East division crown, but if any of the teams under the Jets right now, including the Caps, develop any sort of playoff push, the Jets could find themselves out of the playoffs altogether. Teams in the middle of a surge of these last few games include those same Philadelphia Flyers.
It's precisely this reason that the Jets need to win at least five of the next six at home and hopefully both their two remaining road games. But with six of their last nine games inside the MTS Centre, the Jets must take advantage of the familiar surroundings and the seventh player-the boisterous, die-hard Winnipeg Jets fans.
But is that enough? Has the magic of the home-ice advantage of the MTS Centre disappeared? Was it just a first-year anomaly? Is a sophomore jinx responsible (other than the uninspired play of the Jets themselves?)
Whatever the reason, the Winnipeg Jets have to find the answer and find it yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow's game against the Flyers will answer some of these questions and moreover set the Jets back on track.
