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The Jets have to improve in goal and without the puck. Getty Images Photo by Dilip Vishwanat /Getty Images
Two straight blowout losses may have left the Winnipeg Jets with a bad case of the Blues.
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They’re counting on a return to home ice putting the rock ’n roll back into their game.
Their first-round playoff series tied at 2-2 after a Sunday afternoon loss in St. Louis, the Jets host the pivotal fifth game late on a whiteout Wednesday, well aware they’re one win away from a night-and-day mood change.
“There’s some disappointment and that’s OK,” defenceman Dylan DeMelo said of the way the series has turned in the Blues’ favour. “It’s all a part of it. Take it for what it is and move on and be ready to go. Guys are excited. I’m excited we get to play Game 5 and our home crowd.”
While the Blues have the momentum, the Jets are taking some solace in the fact they have yet to play their best for an entire game.
Even 5-3 and 2-1 wins in Games 1 and 2 had stretches where they seemed off. Some of that was due to St. Louis’s play.
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Not all of it, say the heavy series favourites.
“To be 2-2… that’s really encouraging for our group, that we haven’t shown our best,” DeMelo said. “We’re confident that if we put a good effort and play our best hockey, we give ourselves a really good chance to win. We’ve said that all year. For us to get back to that, get to our team game, everybody pulling the rope the same way and making sure we’re ready to go.”
While one hand is pulling the rope, the other can be pushing a teammate.
“Like we’ve been doing all year,” forward Kyle Connor said. “I expect that (Wednesday) night.”
Trouble is the Blues have been trying to pound the Jets into submission.
Target No. 1 in Game 4 seemed to be Mark Scheifele.
Jets coach Scott Arniel says it comes with the playoff territory.
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“That’s all of our guys, and not just our top players,” Arniel said. “They’re playing a physical brand of hockey. We know that if you’re going into the corners and you’re going to touch the puck, they’re going to try to go through you.
“We’d like to do a little bit more of it the other way.”
Arniel likes the way Scheifele has handled the heavy going. He and Connor lead the Jets with five points apiece.
All but one, though, came in the first two games.
“He’s been one of our best forwards,” the coach said of Scheifele. “He has to continue to do that.”
Gabe Vilardi comes off the injury list to join Scheifele and Connor on the top line for Game 5.
Some scoring from Winnipeg’s second line would go a long way to taking some of the heat off the first.
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Centre Vlad Namestnikov went the last 16 regular-season games without a goal and is still looking for his first of the playoffs.
Cole Perfetti has gone 10 games, including playoffs, without one, but his coach doesn’t see any frustration building in his game.
“If he knows he’s getting chances, he knows he’s in doing the right things,” Arniel said. “Hopefully, that happens (Wednesday)… he gets that first one, and off and running.”
With Vilardi back, Alex Iafallo (one goal) takes his Swiss-Army-Knife abilities to Line 2 on Wednesday.
Injured winger Nik Ehlers has been skating, but he’s still at least a few games away from taking his rightful place there.
The Jets have to improve in goal and without the puck, too, if they want to live up to their regular-season hype and bury the memory of the last two playoff years.
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Giving up a combined 12 goals in the last two games has driven that point home.
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“They made an emphasis about getting to our net, and getting shots and volume there,” DeMelo said of the Blues. “They executed it very well. So now it’s our turn to try to counteract that.”
This was supposed to be a long playoff road for the Jets.
Either they straighten themselves out and stay on it, or the Presidents’ Trophy they nailed down as the top team through 82 games will be corroding in the ditch of underachievement.
“We’re just trying to go out there and win Game 5 and be the best version of ourselves we can be on the ice and see what happens,” DeMelo said. “I know the sense is if you win that game you win the series, or if you lose the game you lose the series.
“Just means you have a bit of a head start.”
Someone will take that head start into Game 6 in St. Louis on Friday.
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