Jets Down Sharks to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

Although not too likely, the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Pacific division-leading San Jose Sharks 4-3 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.  I realize this is a little contradictory from the last post that stated the Jets near impossibility of making the playoffs, as they still are, but being a life-long Jets fan (yes including the 15 years in between-we Jets fans are a hardy bunch) but with every win, I still have the fire of hope burning; even if no one else does.  Of course even that's dwindling with every loss and every remaining game comes and goes.

Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien scored for the Jets and Toby Enstrom scored late for the winner.  This still leaves the Jets seven points out of the last wild card spot with eight games left.  That's an available 16 points on the table.  However the Jets have four games remaining on this five-game road trip and they are against some of the NHL's elite teams.  So the Jets have quite the hill to climb.

The Winnipeg Free Press's take.

Loss to Stars Pretty Much Seals Jets Fate for Season

With last night's 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Winnipeg Jets playoff hopes are now, although not yet officially, dead in the water as it pertains to this season.  This will mark the seventh straight season the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers have missed the NHL's post-season party.  That's only second behind the woeful Edmonton Oilers, who have missed the post-season the last eight years, including this one.  While that last sentence fills me with sheer delight to write, as I still personally hold great resentment towards the Oilers, stemming from their complete domination of the Jets 1.0 in the 1980s.

So, the obvious question is, what to do to make this a playoff team and beyond?  Keeping interim head coach Paul Maurice is a good start.  Maurice did the annual "Coach's Summit" with local Winnipeg media and said he likes this young squad and would like to be around to see this club grow into its potential and eventually become a Stanley Cup contender.  Maurice is a good fit and has shown he can improve this club, but he has to have a "dinner table" discussion with his family about moving to Winnipeg full time.  I can't really get a good read on Maurice's intentions, as he has spoken about his potential future in Winnipeg quite vaguely.  He may recieve other, more palatable offers from other teams witnessing the turn-a-round Maurice has done with the Jets.  As this article notes, Maurice is a good fit for the Jets.  My feeling is he'll be back next season.  As for some Jets players, that's another story.

Jets Begin Playoff Death Spiral

With last night's 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Winnipeg Jets pretty much now have to go undefeated through the last 10 games to have any semblance of hope in making the 2014 NHL playoffs.  But even with at, they would have to have some almost impossible help from other teams collapsing in the same stretch.  That's more closer to actual impossibility given the amount of games left, points available that may not be enough anyway, the recent play of the Jets and the ongoing better play of the teams that they're pursuing in the Central division.

It looks like the best the Jets can hope for for the rest of 2014 is a couple of decent draft picks.

With Buff, Bogo Out Jets Down Avs in OT

They're still alive.  With all the odds against grabbing the last wild card spot and making the NHL playoffs, the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in overtime at the MTS Centre tonight, frustrating teams like the Vancouver Canucks (who the Jets leap-frogged over tonight by a point) Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars; who thought the little team from River City would roll over by now.

The Jets now have 73 points and sixth place in the Central, just four points out of reach of that second wild card spot currently held by the Coyotes with 77 points.  The Jets need to go about 9-3, at minimum, in these last 12 games to hopefully garner enough points to sneak in the NHL's post-season.  As mentioned before, they also need those aforementioned teams to falter quite a bit to make up any points lost in March's collapse of six straight losses.

The Jets were without Dustin Byfuglien tonight who suffered a lower-body injury against St. Louis and defenceman Zach Bogosian was injured during the warm-up tonight and did not play.  Byfuglien is expected back Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Andrew Ladd had another chance to score the Jets first hat-trick since 2010 as he had two goals tonight and was all over Avs goaltender Reto Berra in the third period trying to notch that elusive third goal.  Al Montoya made 23 saves for the win.

Jets Back in Loss Column After Battle with Blues

Their no the NHL's number one ranked team for nothing.  The St. Louis Blues showed why they have kept opposing teams to two goals or less this season and the acquisition of Ryan Miller will just extend that ability.  Even though the Jets Eric O'Dell scored on St. Patty's Day, it wasn't enough as The Blues beat the Jets last night 3-1 (with an empty-net goal) as they continue their dominance of the Central division and put the Jets in even more of a pickle to make the last wild card spot.

The good news is the Jets competitors vying for that same playoff spot also lost their respective games with Vancouver, Minnesota and Phoenix all dropping their chances to improve on the Jets.  The Dallas Stars were idle.



Post-game comments upcoming.

Jets Own Stars

In their first blowout of another team this season, the Winnipeg Jets dominated the Dallas Stars 7-2 last night at the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg.

Dustin Byfuglien scored twice and was just inches away from the Jets first hat trick as Al Montoya stood fast and held the fort.  The Jets are now two points richer and move to within four points of the Central division's second wild card spot currently held by these same Dallas Stars.  However still standing in the Jets way are the Phoenix Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks with 75 and 72 points respectively.

With the win the Jets stop a merciless six-game losing streak that has almost put them out of the playoff picture. 

Injury Report

A couple of Jets went down Friday night against the New York Rangers and will miss action based upon their individual injuries.

Ondrej Pavelec is out for at least the next two games with a non-descript lower-body injury suffered in a goal-mouth scramble and Chris Thorburn is out with a bruised foot after blocking a shot against the Rangers.  Jim Slater is also out, again, indefinitely with a fractured talus, the heel bone between the tibia and fibula.

Coach Maurice, the injuries and what he expects from his own players and the Stars when Dallas visits the MTS Centre tonight:

Jets Fall to Rangers, Playoff Hopes Fizzle

Now that the Jets have lost to the New York Rangers 4-2 and are now on their longest losing streak of the season at six games (they acquired two out of a possible 12 points in that time with losses in overtime and a shootout) a streak that has not happened since February 13 until February 25, 2011  while the team was still in Atlanta.  To put it into perspective, this is even a longer drought than what Claude Noel was fired for back in January.  A five-game losing streak has happened twice this year and around the same time last season (a streak that killed their playoff chances after either leading the South-East division or being just a few points out of the wild card spot this season.)

There certainly is no "mo magic" when it comes to the Winnipeg Jets now.  Unless a complete miracle happens in which the Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks all slide in the standings dramatically.  In other words, although mathematically, they are barely still in the hunt, it's pretty obvious without an extreme bit of luck, the Jets are done for this year.  Especially since starting goaltender Ondrej Pavelec suffered a lower-body injury late in the first and Chris Thorburn is out with an injured foot.  Pavelec is expected to miss at least the next two games.  The Jets have called up Michael Hutchinson from the St. John IceCaps to be the back-up to Al Montoya.

This was Andrew Ladd's 600th NHL game and he added a beauty off of the left post coming down the right wing on Henry Lundquist, his 19th of the season.


POST -GAME Mar. 14

No Mo Magic

The magic that first accompanied Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice (affectionately known around Jetland as "Mo Magic") when he took over the bench-boss duties from Claude Noel has apparently used up its pixie dust.  The Jets are the reluctant owners of a spanking new five-game losing streak.  Their second such streak of the season.  This one courtesy of the supposed sinking Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in a shoot-out.

This was supposed to be a must win for the Jets.  One that was supposed to be easier than this against a club that had won only one of their last seven before last night.
Canucks' Alexandre Burrows had not scored all season until last night's contest versus the Jets.  He scored the two Canucks regulation-time goals.  Leave it to the Jets to snap a season-long goal-less drought.

The Jets are fading fast, but are still in it by a thread.  However, it will now take a considerable amount of sliding by the other teams hunting for the last playoff spot in the Western conference for the Jets to even begin to start thinking about praying.

The Jets are now 30-28-9 for 69 points and sixth place in the Central division.  Just three points up on last-place Nashville and now five points behind Dallas for the last wild card spot.  The Phoenix Coyotes have 73 points, one point behind Dallas, while Vancouver is one point ahead of the Jets with 70.

Jets Lose Fourth In a Row: Downed by Avs in OT

A great effort for the Jets, indicated by their 6-0 penalty kill, but it wasn't enough as Winnipeg lost their fourth straight, going down 3-2 in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche.

Jets Go Down to Senators, Find Themselves in Three Game Slump

Although the Winnipeg Jets are mathematically still in the playoff hunt for the second and last wild card spot in the NHL's Western conference, with the loss today to the Ottawa Senators, it just may be over for this season.  The Senators won 5-3.

It seems the Jets are back into their pre-Paul Maurice ways and are finding ways to lose once again as this game was over in the second period with the Sens scoring three unanswered goals.
Time is quickly running out on their playoff chances if the Jets don't put some wins together fast.  That of course has to be augmented by divisional rival losses.  But with the way Nashville, Dallas and even Pacific division teams like the Phoenix Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks, who are also in the hunt for that same wild card draw, are playing, the Jets will be hard-pressed to make up any ground.

In hindsight, maybe Kevin Cheveldayoff should have made a move or two at the trade deadline.

Streaking Kings Thwart Jets

For the fifth consecutive game, the Los Angeles Kings have tasted victory and are undefeated since the Olympic break after defeating the Winnipeg Jets 3-1.  It rightfully should have been worse as Ondrej Pavelec made saves to keep the Jets in it when he had no business doing so.  Pavelec was peppered with 41 shots in the game; a pattern is forming as Pavs had had to endure the target on his chest shots during the night just as he has the last three contests. 
One hundred eight pucks have come Pavelec's way in the last three games and he's still given the Jets a chance to win in all of them.  That's six juicy points stripped down to two because of sots against and quality shots at that.

Even though the Kings dominated, the score would have you believe that the game was closer than it was. If it was close for any amount of time, it was only because of Pavelec Ondrej Pavelec. Olli Jokinen opened the scoring for the Jets, but after that the Kings opened it up and shut it down, scoring three unanswered goals and putting on a clinic on puck control and possession.  The end was never in doubt after 15:51 of the third period.

Jets Stand Pat at Trade Deadline

For the second straight year the Winnipeg Jets made no sinifigant moves at the NHL trade deadline.  There were reports that Devin Setoguchi may back headed back to San Jose, along with Chris Thorburn, and the reports that Setoguchi left practice after yesterdays optional skate at the MTS Iceplex just added fuel to that rumor.  It turns out that Setoguchi wasn't traded, nor was anyone else wearing a Jets jersey, but that Seto simply chose not to speak to reporters.

Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff decided to go with the group he has now.  That's not to say other teams were not interested in the current Jets roster, as there was more than interest in Mark Stuart as perhaps a rental player for a couple of contenders this season.  Othjer names thrown around as trade bait were Olli Jokinen, Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien.

But Cheveldayoff decided not to interupt the current cohesivness that's put the Jets into a chase for a wild card spot in the NHL's Western conference, despite the injury to rookie center Mark Scheifele; who will be out for at least six to eight weeks.

Jets Go Down to Islanders in OT; Scheifele Out for Season with MCL Tear

As the Winnipeg Jets were trying to figure out the frustrating New York Islanders, ultimately losing to the visitors 3-2 in overtime, they were also watching one of their star rookies Mark Scheifele go down with an MCl injury after a cheap knee-on-knee hit from the Isles Calvin deHaan.












The point stolen from the Islanders (and it was stolen as the Isles controlled most of the play as the Jets were lucky to tie it up late in the third) keeps the Jets in the hunt for the final wild card spot in the Western conference with 67 points, falling one point behind the Dallas Stars.  The Jets are tied with the Phoenix Coyotes and are one point ahead of the falling Vancouver Canucks who stand at 66 points.

The Jets also announce they have signed defenseman Mark Stuart to a four-year extension.

Jets Down Predators

The Winnipeg Jets have started another winning streak, albeit just two games since the Olympic break, by defeating division rivals, the Nashville Predators 3-1 this afternoon at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Ondrej Pavelec earned the Jets players player-of-the-game award by donning the "pilots helmet" for the second consecutive game as he made 39 saves in a game where the Jets were outplayed and thoroughly out shot 40-20.  If you include shots blocked by the Jets and shots that missed the net entirely, the Predators threw over 70 pucks Pavelec's way.  He deserved all three stars of this game actually.  The defense in front of him has improved, thus so do his numbers.  Those improved numbers should cool off the fair-weather fans, as any fan with any knowledge as much as the average fan purports to do...if you get me.
He may not have won over his detractors who want him traded, bought out or *ahem* traded "to the minors," however that works.

But as it stands, he remains the Jets number one netminder and his confidence level has increased tremendously since Paul Maurice has taken over head coaching duties.  Having a vastly improved defensive core doesn't hurt either.  Maurice commented on people's perception of Pavelec's play overall.

With their 30th win of the season, the Jets are now tied with the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks with 66 points and may now lay claim (at least temporarily) to the second wild card spot and the eighth seed in the Western conference.