GAME DAY: Jets at Predators - Game 7

As a franchise, this is the first time the Jets have been in a Game Seven, while the Predators are 1-1 in that scenario. Tonight's tilt will also be the first time Nashville hosts a Game Seven.
But to a man, every Jets player can look back on previous 'big game' experiences in their careers.
Wheeler himself scored the championship-winning goal for the University of Minnesota in the 2007 WCHA Final Five.
As a freshman, Connor Hellebuyck was a wall between the pipes for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, helping the school to NCAA Hockey East conference titles in 2013 and 2014, recording shutouts in both final games.
Patrik Laine scored seven goals (and accumulated 13 points in seven games) to not only help Finland to a IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in 2016, but also accomplished the feat with the pressure of playing on home soil.
While Laine admits tonight's Game Seven is a bit of a different animal, he's not nervous.
"I'm still just as excited as I was when I played in those tournaments," said Laine after the pre-game skate.
"We've played some good hockey in this building. Now we have to if we want to win. They're going to come hard for sure, and it's probably going to be both teams with their best games in the series so far. We have to be able to play better than we've played so far, and just try to win."

Regardless of where the experience comes from, head coach Paul Maurice believes it's valuable.
"When you're 18, what do you know? You're going to play for the World Championship, or you're playing for the World Junior Championship at Christmas. It's the same kind of idea for all these guys," said Maurice.
"Most of these men have had success in this environment. Individually they had to have had, in order to get to the National League. That's what their memory is coming into this, and that's what will drive them tonight."
No line-up changes are expected for the Jets, who come into Bridgestone Arena with some confidence. Winnipeg has won two of the three match-ups in Nashville's home rink this series, and have scored 14 goals along the way.

"Ultimately there are going to be parts of the game that they're going to control and the crowd is going to be really into it," said Wheeler. "You just have to fight through that. I think we've done a great job staying with it, and not allowing those moments to take control of the game, and try to get through them. When you get through them, you try and jump on some opportunities."
Each game in the series has had it's own identity: an outstanding defensive effort in Game One, double overtime in Game Two, and a comeback from three down in Game Three are just examples.
But the best may be upon us.
"I think it'll be the fastest. It's at the right time - two days off, lots of energy, lots of emotion," said Maurice. "Both teams know each other inside out now in terms of match-ups.
"I think this will be the best game of the series."

Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT on CBC in Canada, while fans in the USA can watch on NBC, as well as
online.
Buckle up.
- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com

JETS GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets play the first Game 7 in franchise history tonight at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville against the Predators...The Jets had a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 6 on Monday, but lost 4-0 to the Predators at Bell MTS Place...The winner of this series faces the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
On the Road for Game 7
Tonight is the second Game 7 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs and only Game 7 of the Second Round... In the 21 Game 7s since the 2014 playoffs, the road team is 11-10...While the Jets don't have any history in Game 7s, they are trying to become the third team in as many seasons to win three games on the road in a series, including Game 7 (St. Louis in 2016 and Pittsburgh in 2017).

Winnipeg in Game 7s
The first incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets were 0-2 in Game 7s with both games coming on the road in the first round...In 1990, the Jets lost 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers at Northlands Coliseum...In 1992, the Jets lost 5-0 to the Vancouver Canucks at Pacific Coliseum...During the WHA era from 1973-1979, the only two Game 7s the Jets played were in 1977... Winnipeg beat the San Diego Mariners in Game 7 at Winnipeg Arena in the first round in 1977, but lost to the Quebec Nordiques in Game 7 of the AVCO Cup Final later that season.
Faceoff Circle
The Jets won a series-high 60.6% of the faceoffs in Game 6...The Jets have had more success in the faceoff circle as the series has moved along...The Jets won less than 40% of the faceoffs in each of the first two games, but have won more than 50% of the faceoffs in three of the last four games...Bryan Little paced the Jets in Game 6 by winning 12 of his 16 draws.

Top 2
This series is a meeting of the top two teams during the regular season in terms of points...Nashville won the Presidents' Trophy after earning 117 points... Winnipeg was three points back with 114 points...This is the fifth playoff series since 1990 that pits the top two teams from the regular season against each other in the playoffs...It's the second time in as many seasons that the top two teams play each other in the second round, as the Washington Capitals played the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
Fearless Leader
Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who is coaching in the postseason for the sixth time in his career, is 2-0 all- time in Game 7s - both of which happened when he was coaching the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009...The Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils on the road in the first round and the Boston Bruins on the road in the second round in overtime...Maurice is 32-36 behind the bench in playoff games, with the highlight of his postseason success coming in 2002 when he coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final...The Game 1 win against Minnesota was his first playoff victory since 2009 when he coached Carolina.

Game 7 Experience
Paul Stasny and Matt Hendricks lead current Jets players with three Game 7s on their resume...Stastny has five points (2G, 3A) in the three Game 7s and was on the winning side of two of the three contests...Stastny's best Game 7 came in 2016 when he was a member of the St. Louis Blues, as he scored a goal and added two assists in a 6-1 road victory over the Dallas Stars in the second round...Mathieu Perreault has played in two Game 7s in the NHL, while Tyler Myers, Blake Wheeler, Dmitry Kulikov and Shawn Matthias have each played in one...Goaltender Steve Mason posted a .939 save percentage in his lone Game 7 - a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers in 2014 when was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Kid Heats Up
Rookie forward Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist in Game 5 against Nashville to produce his first career playoff goals...He's the first rookie in franchise history to post a three-point game in the playoffs...Connor went nine games without a goal after scoring nine goals in his final 13 regular season games.
Wingman Wheels
Blake Wheeler had a trio of assists in Game 5 to record the first three-assist playoff game of his career...He leads the Jets in the playoffs with 10 assists, which includes nine assists in his last eight games...Eight of Wheeler's 10 assists have been primary assists...During the regular season, Wheeler had a share of the NHL lead with a career-high 68 assists in 81 games.
OT Magic
Dustin Byfuglien and Paul Stastny are the only two players on the Jets roster to score an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs...Byfuglien did it during his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, while Paul Stastny did it with the Colorado Avalanche, which occurred against these same Wild on Apr. 17/14...In that game Stastny also scored the game-tying goal with 14 seconds remaining in the third period.