TAMPA – The first objective for the Winnipeg Jets has been accomplished on this four-game trip:
Start with a win.
They accomplished that with a 4-3 victory in New Jersey on Tuesday, improving the club’s record to 21-24-7 and giving the Jets two straight road wins along with a season series sweep of the Devils.
Now the goal is to make it three straight wins overall – and two in a row on the trip – tonight when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Of course, no win comes easy in the National Hockey League, especially against the Lightning who have won six in a row in their home rink and are 33-14-4 this season.
This road trip was always going to be a challenge given the quality of opponents, so the fact the Jets found two points early on in the trek through the Eastern Conference isn’t a small thing.
“It is going to be a tough trip going into Tampa. Florida and Dallas at the end of it,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel after the win in New Jersey. “So, to get the first two points that is big. Hopefully, that is momentum that carries us through.”
What stood out to Arniel in the win over the Devils was the details. Winnipeg blocked 21 shots and took over the game in the second period with three unanswered goals to build a lead. Overall, the Jets are 9-9-4 against the Eastern Conference this season, but will need to improve that record to continue to climb in the wildcard race in the West.
“They're one of the hottest teams, if not the hottest team in the league, so we've got to make sure that we're doing all those things correctly,” Arniel said of Tampa Bay, who are 28-10-2 since the start of November, the third best record in the NHL in that span.
“We just need to be consistent. It has to come back,” continued Arniel. “That game we played (Tuesday), it wasn't a perfect 60 but a lot of those things we did, whether it was shot-blocking, wall plays, recognizing the right time to do things with the puck -- that has to be a constant, especially against Tampa in their building.”
The Jets didn’t hold a practice on Wednesday after arriving in Tampa in the wee hours of the morning. The morning skate will be the best indication of whether Arniel and his coaching staff elect to make any changes to the line-up, including if they decide to keep Gabriel Vilardi with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
That lethal trio combined on Winnipeg’s first goal against New Jersey just 93 seconds into the game – though it was on a shift where Vilardi hopped on as part of a line change – and then connected again, this time as a permanent line, 3:23 into the second.
Overall, the trio held a 72.7 percent share of shot attempts at five-on-five together and outshot their opposition 10-3.
“Gabe is awesome. We obviously love playing with him,” said Connor. “When he's going in, and just like anybody that you know puts up with me and Mark, it makes a big difference. And he's been playing great, and he obviously gave us a boost.’
Perhaps what makes the consistent success of the Lightning even more impressive this season is the fact they’ve accomplished it with numerous injuries throughout their line-up.
Just take the 2-0 win over Utah on Monday as an example. In that game, Tampa didn’t have Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman or three-time 40-goal scorer (and 51-goal producer in 2022-23) Brayden Point.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Tampa Bay has outscored their opponents 117-83 at five-on-five and is third in the NHL in expected goal differential (54.99 percent) and tops the league in high-danger chance differential at 56.39 percent.
The Jets will be aware of those numbers – as well as several more from their in-depth pre-scout – but ultimately they know they have to be at their best every night. There are four games left before the Olympic break, and Winnipeg wants to continue to move past of teams ahead of them in the Western Conference wildcard race.
“We’ve got to take it day by day,” said Nino Niederreiter, who sits on 499 points and is trying to become the third Swiss player to hit 500 career points. “We can’t look too far ahead. It was a big win (Tuesday), starting off the road trip on the right foot. Now we go down to Tampa and try to do the same thing there.”
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
