BOSTON – In the chase for a playoff spot, every game on the regular season schedule seems to carry more weight. Sure, divisional clashes – like the last three that the Winnipeg Jets have played, going 2-0-1 in that span – always have the rivalry aspect and a bit more cache as a result, but as the calendar moves into late March, even games against teams in another conference are of the utmost importance.
Take tonight’s tilt between the Jets and Boston Bruins. The Jets (28-28-11) are opening a three-game road trip after a season-long eight-game stretch at home that saw them go 5-2-1. Winnipeg is four points out of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with 15 games to go – so every point is critical.
Ditto for the Bruins (37-23-8). They’re in a playoff spot as of Thursday morning, holding down one of the two wildcard spots, but are trying to secure that position against surging teams like Columbus and Ottawa while also trying to put pressure on Montreal for third in the Atlantic.
All this is to say Thursday’s clash will have the urgency metre turned all the way up.
“Every game is a big game right now,” said Gabriel Vilardi after Tuesday’s shootout loss to the Nashville Predators. “We've been winning and picking up points, so it's been pretty good. You know, we got to keep going though. Every game's playoff mode right now for us. That's the position we put ourselves in.”
In nearly every statistical category, the Jets were the better team on Tuesday. The more conventional statistics would show Winnipeg’s 39 shots on goal (three off the season high of 42) to the 23 given up as one piece of evidence, while Natural Stat Trick gave the Jets a 13-6 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five, as well as 55 percent of the shot attempts.
Still, the only number that matters is the one on the scoreboard at the end of the night. So the Jets roll into Boston trying to bounce back from the shootout loss to Nashville.
“It's just find a way. Keep staying in all these games,” said head coach Scott Arniel. “We’ve got a real tough road trip here. We’re back into these four (games) in six (days) and three (games) in three and a half (days). We got to take care of business.”
The Jets stayed off the ice on Wednesday and just used the day to travel to Boston, so stay tuned to the morning skate for line-up information as it comes available.
Boston won the first meeting between these two teams back on December 11 by a score of 6-3. The Jets opened the scoring, but Boston scored three times in a span of 2:44 to take a 3-1 lead. Winnipeg fought back to get within a goal twice, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
The Bruins are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday. In fact, four of Boston’s last five games have gone past 60 minutes of regulation time. In that stretch they have overtime wins over Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, a shootout victory over Washington, and overtime defeats to New Jersey and Montreal.
David Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 83 points this season and comes into Thursday’s game with 498 career points. In terms of goals, Winnipeg product Morgan Geekie’s 34 are not only a career-high, but also lead the Bruins by eight over the next closest skater (Pastrnak).
TD Garden has been a friendly place for the home side, with the Bruins holding a 25-9-1 record on home ice – the best record in the National Hockey League.
So the challenge in front of the Jets is obvious, but it’s one that they’re taking head on.
“We have a tough road trip in some tough buildings,” said Arniel. “We're getting contributions from everybody, and that's what we need. We need it by a committee and can't just rely on the one line. And I think that we're seeing other groups do that.”
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
