DENVER – Round one went to the Colorado Avalanche, and now the Winnipeg Jets want to do everything they can to take round two of the home-and-home set with their Central Division rival tonight.
Thursday’s tilt at Canada Life Centre was a physical, end-to-end clash between two skilled teams, but Colorado’s two goals in the opening 3:55 of the third period proved to be the difference, as the Jets (30-30-12) could only get one back – leading to the 3-2 final.
Three seems to be the magic number in the season series, which has seen the Avalanche (48-13-10) win two of three. Both of Colorado’s victories have been by 3-2 scores, with Winnipeg earning a 3-1 win on March 14.
Whatever the final score is tonight, the Jets want to be the ones leaving Ball Arena with two points.
“They’re a great team and we’ve got to turn around and now we’ve got to go into their building,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said Thursday night. “We’re going to have to get inside and throw some pucks into the blue paint and look for some greasy goals because they do a good job of trying to keep you to the outside, as we try to do to them.”
The Jets held an optional practice on Friday. Morgan Barron, who left Thursday’s game to go into protocol, didn’t participate in the skate. Forwards Parker Ford and Danny Zhilkin were recalled on an emergency basis from the Manitoba Moose ahead of the Jets’ four-game road trip.
How the line-up looks will be a mystery until warm-up with the 5:00 pm MT (6:00 pm CT) puck drop on Saturday. Both Zhilkin and Ford have experience in the National Hockey League. The 23-year-old Zhilkin played his first four games between January 8 and 13, with Ford’s resume having 14 games on it with 11 of them coming this season.
In the American Hockey League this season, Ford has six goals and 21 points in 45 games and Zhilkin has a career-high 11 goals and 22 points in 54 games.
Even if the line-up is different, the mission remains the same for the Jets – find a way to get two points and try to cut into the five-point deficit that separates them from the Nashville Predators for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
“We need two points every single night, so it doesn't matter who we're playing,” said Cole Perfetti. “Obviously this road trip, going on a four-gamer, these four games are going to be crucial for us. If we have that effort and battle level that we did tonight, I think most nights we're going to get the right result.”
The road trip will take the Jets through Colorado, Chicago, Dallas, and Columbus. Three of those four teams are in playoff position as of Saturday morning, so the challenge of trying to make up points in the standings won’t get any easier.
“I was talking to (Adam Lowry) about it the other day, he said ‘You can’t make every game a do or die game because it puts so much pressure on yourself,’” said goaltender Eric Comrie. “You have to go out there and focus on your process and have your process be right and let results take care of themself. You go out there and you’re going to get nervous and things are going to get away from you.
“But if you go out there and commit to playing a proper, right game, the way you want to play it, to our system to our coach’s identity, to our identity, to the way you want to play, I think you’re going to get the better result than if you go out there and break your stick and try too hard to win games.”
Comrie is riding a personal six-game win streak and has full confidence in his teammates. As researched as he is on the league, he’d likely have an idea that this road trip brings the Jets into the buildings of teams with three of the top 10 home records in the NHL – Colorado (third), Dallas (seventh), and Columbus (ninth).
But his confidence is unwavering.
“I think that’s one of the things you have to understand as a professional athlete,” Comrie said. “You have to go ‘Hey, my job is to go out there and do my process the best I possibly can and let results take care of themselves.’ And I think that’s what separates the best.”
