GAMEDAY: Jets vs Oilers

WINNIPEG -How quickly can the Winnipeg Jets turn a four-game losing streak into something positive?
Paul Maurice believes it can happen rapidly.
"Potentially one game," he said Wednesday, ahead of the final regular season meeting with the Edmonton Oilers.
"I don't think we're that far off it," he said. "I think the things we do well, we can get back to fairly quickly."
Doing so would be beneficial for the Jets (27-18-3) not only to stop the skid, but a victory would also pull them back into second place in the North Division.
On top of that, they'd pick up a victory against an Edmonton team that has been them five consecutive times, for a total of six victories in the eight match-ups so far this season.

Maurice takes more of a long-range view.
"If you won a game and your goaltender had to stop Connor McDavid seven times, you could say 'hey there's our plan.' I don't like that plan," Maurice said. "We have to get our game right in the next eight. It's not even so much now getting the game right for the season, it's getting your game right for the playoffs because it's a different game."
McDavid has 19 points in eight meetings with the Jets this season, with four of them coming in the 6-1 final score at Bell MTS Place on Monday.
Winnipeg Jets : Ground Control
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Fly By - April 28, 2021 - WPG vs EDM
More than the final result tonight, Maurice wants to see his team play fast, play smart, but also within control. That's especially if they fall behind early.
"Last game we opened it up far beyond anything we've done in the past," said Maurice. "The frustration of three previous losses worked totally against us, and we did the exact opposite of what we would have done maybe in the first 35 games of this year."
Maurice won't make any changes to the line-up tonight, including in goal, where Connor Hellebuyck will make his 40th start of the season.
In front of him, the lines will look like this:
Copp-Scheifele-Appleton
Connor-Dubois-Wheeler
Vesalainen-Stastny-Perreault
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Benn-DeMelo
For his part, captain Blake Wheeler had one assist in the loss to Edmonton on Monday.
There are still over two weeks left in the regular season schedule, but the probability of the Jets and Oilers meeting in the postseason seems to get more likely by the day.
Wheeler feels the Jets can feel confident if that's the case, but they'd like to use tonight's final regular season meeting with Edmonton to build confidence in their game.
"You'd like to establish a bit of a game plan that you have confidence going into not just a playoff series but any game," said Wheeler. "There are some things that our team does really well and some things that Edmonton does really well. We've yet to do the things that we do really well against Edmonton, which coincides with feeding into the things that they do really well.
"There are some things we've done all year that have given us success and we just haven't done them against these guys yet. So hopefully we can push in that direction tonight."
Kyle Connor plays on the opposite wing of Wheeler and was held to one shot on goal on Monday. He echoes his captain's sentiments, adding that this type of adversity late in the season is something the group can rally around.
"We know we're a good group. It's definitely been a tough stretch here, these last four games, and there's lessons to be learned," he said. "We've looked at a lot of video and I think, in the long run, I think this will help us. For sure, going into the playoffs, we can look back on this and draw strengths."
One thing Connor feels the Jets can do better in the offensive zone is make things more difficult for Oilers goaltender Mike Smith. The Jets had 37 shots on goal on Monday, but want to get a bit more bodies in Smith's line of sight.

Then there is the puck-handling skill that Smith possesses. That's an area Maurice feels the Jets can make some adjustments.
"He's going to get out and touch a bunch of pucks and you want to have a plan for it," said Maurice. "The idea is that any of the ones that you can change how you put the puck in and still be effective, you have to be mindful of that. I've felt in the games we've been casual with how we put the puck in, we can't be casual with it."
So, the list of things to improve tonight for the Jets has a few items on it.
They're a group motivated to get a good feeling back in the room with a three-game road trip looming.
Time to lace up the skates and get to work.
"Hockey's a game that, more often than not, it's going to reward you for the simple things. And having a game plan that everyone can believe in and rally around and just play their ass off for 60 minutes," said Wheeler.
"In my 10 years in Winnipeg, we haven't always had teams as talented as this current one. But we've always been damn proud of how we've competed every single night. That's kind of what our organization's been built on. Sometimes you've just got to get back to that."
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Winnipeg Jets conclude a five-game home stand tonight.
Winnipeg is 35-for-40 (87.5%) on the penalty kill in their past 12 games and have not surrendered a goal on the penalty kill in four of their past five games.
Mark Scheifele is 10th in the NHL in scoring with 55 points (19G, 36A) in 47 games this season.
Derek Forbort ranks fourth in the NHL this season with 100 blocked shots.
Nine of the 14 meetings between the Jets and Oilers have been one-goal games. Three of the other five meetings have been decided by a margin of two goals.
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