Jets excited to return to whiteout for Game 3

It's a new day, and just as the Winnipeg Jets didn't get too high after a victory in Game 1 over the Vegas Golden Knights, they're not about to be down on themselves after Thursday's Game 2 defeat.
After all, there is plenty of reason to look on the bright side.
"Obviously we had an opportunity to go up 2-0, but they played well and changed some things," said defenceman Josh Morrissey. "Coming in here we expected a long series and we're excited to have home ice advantage coming home."
And that's just it. By splitting the two games at T-Mobile Arena, the Jets have wrestled home ice advantage away from the top-seeded team in the Western Conference.
That doesn't mean the work gets any easier - Vegas did have a 26-7-8 record on the road in the regular season, the third best in the National Hockey League - but the Jets have a lot of confidence in their game at Canada Life Centre.

Their 26-13-2 mark in downtown Winnipeg in the regular season was the third best in the Western Conference, and that doesn't even take into account the best part about playoff hockey in Winnipeg:
The whiteout.
"Our rink in Winnipeg can be very loud," said head coach Rick Bowness. "So it'll be fun to go home and play with the whiteout, play before our fans again, and get the emotional level back up to where it needs to be at this time of the year."

Morrissey played in it during the run to the Western Conference Final in 2018, then again in 2019 against St. Louis, and while the team enjoyed a sweep of the Edmonton Oilers in 2021, there were no fans in the building that spring.
On Saturday, they'll be back.
"It's incredible. The experience, the atmosphere is like nothing else I've ever played in," said Morrissey. "It's electric, an electric atmosphere and it's a ton of fun to play in. It's been a while since we've been able to do that and I know the fans are ready - and so are we. We couldn't be more excited."
Ditto, says Pierre-Luc Dubois.
"To have that energy on our side, it's going to be really fun. I'm really excited," said Dubois. "A lot of us haven't experience the whiteout with COVID, then last year not making the playoffs. To get the good start, it's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason."
To give that raucous crowd even more to cheer about, and have the opportunity to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, the Jets will have to clean up some areas that plagued them a bit on Thursday night. Dubois felt it just came down to little mistakes.
"When you make one, you want it to stop at one, you don't want it to get further than that," Dubois said. "One mistake led to another, led to a goal, and then so on and so forth. We didn't play horribly. They're easy mistakes we can fix."

When Bowness watched the video of Game 2 over, he pinpointed three spots he'd like to see his team tighten up heading into Game 3.
"We lost body position too much on our forecheck. We were on the wrong side, which allowed them to play a lot faster than the game before," said Bowness. "Puck battles behind the nets that we lost, that we didn't lose (in Game 1). We didn't drive the net like we did in the first game. There were times we did, there were too many times we could've and we didn't. So those three areas have to be improved."
The Jets have managed to get to this spot without having Nikolaj Ehlers in the line-up, as the forward remains day-to-day with the injury sustained in the 81st game of the season.
"Hopefully they clear him tomorrow and we're able to put him back in the line-up," said Bowness. "We were hopeful he'd be able to play. That's why he was able to practice with his teammates well aware of the issue he's dealing with. I think there's respect there to stay away from him to make sure you don't bump into him."
The afternoon start on Saturday, combined with no practice and a travel day on Friday, means information on whether Ehlers gets cleared by team doctors and Head Athletic Therapist Rob Milette won't be known until closer to game time.

Whether the speedy forward is in or out, the Jets know their mindset can't change.
"We've had the same mentality all year, whoever is out of the line-up, whoever is in, we try to play the same way. It's that next guy up mentality," said Morrissey. "He's a good player and we miss him, but when anyone isn't in the line-up, there's' nothing you can do. You can't hang your hat, you have to go out there and try to play the same way."
Playing a certain way earned the Jets the split in Vegas. They know if they clean up a couple areas, they'll have a chance to put themselves in a great position Saturday afternoon.
"We're a confident team at home. We've played well at home this year," said Morrissey. "Certainly our fans bring us a ton of energy, confidence, and we've tried to make it a tough place to play all year. I think all those things, having that extra game at home is huge. We're excited to have playoff hockey back in Winnipeg here."