WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets will welcome the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to Canada Life Centre tonight.
Florida is missing Sasha Barkov, Dmitry Kulikov and Seth Jones plus they are on the outside looking in at the playoff picture in the east. Despite that the Jets are expecting a tough battle.
“Anytime you're playing a team that’s gotten to the top, it's a measuring stick game, but they're so beat up, I think it's hard to compare where their team is right now to what they looked like the last two postseasons,” said Adam Lowry.
“Obviously, they get a big boost with (Matthew) Tkachuk coming back last game and but they're still a great team over there. So, you know, we're approaching it like we've approached the last several, two points are critical for us.”
Winnipeg has points in six of their last seven games (5-1-1) and their starts have to be looked upon as a big reason why they have been successful.
“We are scoring the first goal more and that is beneficial for us,” said Dylan Samberg.
“We are playing quicker and playing on our toes and our forwards are getting back, which allows of defencemen to be gapped and that is when we are at our best, and play at our fastest, Obviously, it is coming down to the wire, and we need to continue to win games.”
The Jets are coming off a gritty 3-1 win over division rival St. Louis on Tuesday as Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey had three points apiece, Eric Comrie won his second consecutive start.
“It was huge. Coms played fantastic; he made a lot of big saves when we needed him to,” said Scheifele Tuesday night.
“Just to get the win is huge for our group. We just need to keep it rolling.”
Winnipeg’s special teams came up big in the win as the Jets were playing their third game in four nights. They went 2-for-3 on the power play, and the penalty kill went 3-for-4, despite the fact the PK gave up a goal, they came up huge in key moments on Tuesday night.
“That four-minute (power play) that they had, that second part we had to kill that two minutes or they would have tied the game. That was a big turning point for me. That was one that got us feeling,” said Scott Arniel.
“The two power play goals by us got us into the game, got the crowd into it, but that kill by us, and then later on we had another one in the third. Those are moments within games, especially this time of year, specialty teams can win you games and I think they did for us.”
Make sure to watch the Jets pregame show “The Check In” at 12:30 CT with Sara Orlesky and Jamie Thomas on YouTube, X or Facebook.
