MONTREAL – If the Winnipeg Jets (13-12-0) are looking for optimism, perhaps the fact they’ve been in this scenario before is helpful.
Just a couple weeks ago, the Jets fell to Seattle in the fifth game of a six-game trek through the Pacific Division, and needed to find a way to channel the disappointment from that loss into the road trip finale in Calgary a couple nights later.
They were successful in that quest and now, faced with a similar scenario tonight, they have a chance to do it again.
Captain Adam Lowry pulled the group together for a meeting following the 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres in the penultimate game of this current five-game trip, and tonight’s tilt with the Montreal Canadiens will be when the Jets will have the chance to respond.
“We're a veteran group, we recognize that we just embarrassed ourselves and we're going to have to be a heck of a lot better in the next one,” head coach Scott Arniel said in Buffalo. “We kicked ourselves in that one. We gave up all of those rush opportunities and they capitalized on them."
For all the speed the Jets saw against Buffalo, they know they’ll see just as much tonight against Montreal – even if the Canadiens are playing their second game in as many nights after a 5-2 loss to Ottawa.
Winnipeg’s preparation for the first of two meetings with the Canadiens will undoubtedly begin by looking back at the video from the Sabres game and will include a pre-scout of the Canadiens.
Ultimately, as Dylan DeMelo sees it, it comes down to each individual player being at their best.
“We need to start picking up some wins. We need to start stringing some games together,” said DeMelo, who played 22 minutes against Buffalo. “I think that’s the biggest concern, just the inconsistency we have right now in our game, in all facets. We need to find that, first off, individually. You have to find that in your own game, and that will bleed through into our old game. If that’s assignments, doing our job system-wise, winning battles, maybe we can start there and go from there and let our skillset take over and do what makes you successful and gives you a chance to win every night.”
Tonight’s game is the 11th of the last 14 that Winnipeg will be on the road. They started out the season winning each of their first four away from the Manitoba capital, but haven’t been able to seize that momentum of late.
Still, the veteran group remains positive.
“Hopefully we look back on this and we grow from it, we learn from it, and use this as a positive in the future,” said Kyle Connor, who is tied for the team lead in goals with 13. “I believe in this group, the leadership that we have, the players in here. It's in this room. It's got to be us to figure it out and turn this thing around, grab that identity and grab a hold of something that makes us tick.”
Arniel stated after the Buffalo game that Eric Comrie will start against the Canadiens. Morning skate at the Bell Centre also revealed that Neal Pionk - who has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury - will make his return.
"It was just a touchy sort of thing, so I was taking the doctor's advice and the trainer's advice and making sure I'm ready to go," said Pionk. "This is a great rink to play in, I always love playing here. They have a really good team, really fast team, a young team with a lot of offence. It will be a fun one tonight."
