Lowry, Wheeler pot a pair as Jets clinch playoff spot with win

CALGARY - The winning feeling is back in the Winnipeg Jets dressing room, and along with it comes the satisfaction of clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"All you're looking for when you start the season is an opportunity. Anything can happen now," said Blake Wheeler. "It was nice for everyone to get a result tonight. I think our game has been way better the last few games and it was really important for our team to get rewarded so it was a good result for us tonight."
The Jets earned a 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night to snap a seven-game losing skid.
Adam Lowry scored twice - which gets him to 10 goals on the season - while captain Wheeler added a pair of goals of his own to become the fifth active US born player to reach 800 career points.

Personal accomplishments aside, Wheeler is just happy for his team, who has had to battle the mental roller coaster of a losing streak this late in the season.
"This night belongs to our team and the fact that we're going back to the playoffs. That's all I play for, especially this part of my career is just having opportunities to achieve the ultimate goal," said Wheeler. "It's really important for our team to get that good feeling back and hopefully we can snowball that into four good games to end the regular season and go into the playoffs with a lot of confidence."
Speaking of confidence, Connor Hellebuyck had a lot of that in goal on Wednesday. He made 32 saves for his third shutout of the season.
"I think if you draw up a perfect game, this is pretty dang close to it," said Hellebuyck. " Every single guy chipped in in that room tonight. There's a lot of character in there. And we knew it was going to happen but, to come out and play like this, it was just another notch -- another level that we have. It's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to seeing where we go from here."

Lowry got the Jets offence off to a strong start 1:09 into the game, carrying the puck end to end up the left wing and - after looking off Mason Appleton on the odd-man rush - snapped his ninth of the season into the twine behind Jacob Markstrom.
Lowry, who grew up in Calgary, wasn't done there. Early in Calgary's second power play of the game in the second period, the Jets stood up the Flames at the blue line and forced a turnover. That sent Lowry in all alone on Markstrom, and with a nifty move to his backhand, Lowry beat the Flames goaltender through the legs to make it 2-0 Winnipeg.
The shorthanded goal was massive in terms of it giving the Jets a two-goal lead, but add in the fact the Jets went 1-for-3 on the power play, and special teams played a big role in the win.
"I think special teams are critical, especially as you move forward into the postseason," said Lowry. "I think sometimes you take it for granted, an incredible rate our power play was clicking at earlier in the year. I think we had six chances in Ottawa and it felt like we had some good chance and it just wouldn't go. Tonight we score that big fourth goal and it kind of puts the nail in the coffin. On the penalty kill, too, we're building off last game where we killed them all there."

With 1:14 left in the middle frame, the Jets would get another breakaway chance. This time it was Wheeler, who took advantage of a puck that hopped over Juuso Valimaki's stick at the Jets blue line and took off down the right wing. The Jets captain cut into the middle of the ice, then flipped a backhand over Markstrom to build the lead to 3-0.
It's bounces like that one that the Jets weren't getting near the tail end of the losing skid.
But in head coach Paul Maurice's mind, this was an adjustment the Jets had to go through to be ready for the postseason.
"The game we've played, we have a chance to win with," said Maurice. "We're going to play in the playoffs in the first round, teams that would have elite freak show talent on it.
"So for us to go in and trade with either of those teams, you have no chance. We didn't trade in the last three or four games."
The goal extended Wheeler's point streak to five games and was career point number 799 for the captain.

He didn't have to wait much longer for point number 800.
On a Jets power play early in the third, Mark Scheifele's pass found Wheeler wide open in front of the Calgary net after two Flames defenders collided in the middle of the ice. Wheeler tucked home the backhand for his second of the night and his 800th career point.
The assist also meant a milestone for Scheifele, who hit 500 career points on the same play.
"Mark gets it," Wheeler said, regarding who gets the game puck from that play.
Hellebuyck held the fort the rest of the way and now the Jets head home for four games to close out the regular season schedule.

As much as the skid taught the Jets about the style of game they need to play to be successful in the playoffs, what stands out to Maurice is how the room stuck together through it all.
"You're in the room as a coach and you try to get around and gauge temperature all the time, but you don't really know the dynamic in the room until you see it under duress," said Maurice. "They're all hanging together, practising together. You can tell by the way they talk to each other. You'll walk into a meeting before it starts, you listen on the way in, and they're excited. They're chirping. I think they're a connected group."