The Jets sit atop the Western Conference right now thanks to their current seven-game win streak, which is their third seven-game win streak of this season.
"The biggest thing, for me, is turning off the last game whatever happened. Winning obviously makes it different, but you have to move on to the next opponent. Guys have done a fantastic job, sometimes based just on how many games we have to play in such a short period of time, but guys have done a fantastic job of forgetting about last night's game,” said head coach Scott Arniel.
“We look at some video or talk about it briefly and then we'll move on to the next opponent and get ready. Sometimes you've got to play different styles, different games. Going from the Carolina game to this game? Two exact opposites, so it's us kind of resetting and getting ready for the next game.”
The Islanders come into tonight part of a log jam of teams in the Eastern Conference trying to fight their way into one of the two wild-card spots. New York is four points behind Detroit for the second wild-card position and are 8-2-0 in their last ten games despite the fact that they are missing Ryan Pulock, Noah Dobson and Matthew Barzal.
"Yeah. You give (Islanders head coach) Patrick (Roy) a lot of... You tip your hat to him. They've done a lot of good things there like you mentioned through all of those injuries. They've brought in some NHL players, whether it was through waivers or (Tony) DeAngelo, bringing him back from Russia, they've brought in some NHL guys that certainly have helped them,” said Arniel.
“When you see teams do that, you know they're probably playing a really structured hockey game. And that's just the look I've got on watching the Islanders. That's what you're seeing."
Winnipeg has done a great job of adapting to whatever the opposition is throwing at them this season. Much like games against Carolina and Los Angeles, the Jets will have to remain patient.
“I feel like they’re a team that can almost wait you out in a sense. You’ve got to counter that by not getting frustrated and doing what you do best and not changing your identity either, because they can sense that when someone else is getting frustrated and that’s kind of when they pounce,” said Mason Appleton.
“They’re very well-structured team and they do a lot of things right. They almost try to, for lack of a better word, play a boring game sometimes. And they’re very effective at that. We’ve gotta manage our game and play super-fast.”
