GAMEDAY: Jets vs Coyotes

WINNIPEG -A brief look at the standings shows that the opponent the Winnipeg Jets face tonight - the Arizona Coyotes - are seventh in the Central and 16 points back of the Jets for that final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
Winnipeg (39-29-3) has taken pride all season in not taking an opponent lightly, and tonight, it would serve them well to double down on that.
The reason being that outside of the fact the Jets know they need every point they can get to shore up their lead over Calgary and Nashville in the playoff race, Arizona has been anything but an easy out for teams, going 6-0-2 in their last eight.
Since January 15, Arizona is 14-8-6, putting them in the top half of the NHL in that span. Change the scope to February 1, and Arizona has the ninth best record in the league (11-4-5).
All this is to say that the Jets will need to be at their best to earn the valuable two points tonight, and bounce back from a 3-0 loss to St. Louis on Sunday.

"Honestly, at this point of the year, we can't be looking at who we're playing against," said Pierre-Luc Dubois. "We need to win games and we need to play well. There are a lot of things we have to improve on. It doesn't really matter who we're playing against."

Offence hasn't come easy for the Jets since the calendar turned over to February.
In that span, the 48 goals they've scored in 19 games is the third fewest in the NHL. One has to think that some of the shooting percentages, or offensive skids some of the Jets players are stuck in, will start to turn eventually.
The Jets feel they can help themselves out in that area, and it all starts with puck management.
"We have not managed the puck well, which is affecting our goals for and we're not managing the puck well which is affecting our goals against," said head coach Rick Bowness. "We've got to get back to managing the puck a lot better at the blue lines, managing the puck better in the offensive zone so we have better support on the puck."
Bowness won't make any changes to the skaters for the Jets tonight, with the line rushes at the morning skate looking like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Niederreiter
Ehlers-Dubois-Wheeler
Namestnikov-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Stenlund-Maenalanen
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Connor Hellebuyck will get his league-leading 55th start in goal, and one of his 30 wins this season has come against the Coyotes. He suited up in the second meeting of the season, making 20 saves in a 2-1 Jets win on January 15.
That night, Dubois scored the game's opening goal, which is something the Jets would love to do tonight.
In nine of the past 10 games, they've given up the game's opening tally. That stretch includes the loss to the Blues, and Bowness felt his team didn't respond well in that situation on Sunday.
"We got careless. Well now you've got to buckle down and get going again," said Bowness. "They're going to score. You can't go into a shell or change the way you're playing every time they score a goal. We've got to keep playing the same way that we started the first four minutes, and we didn't."
One of the challenges of playing teams like the Blues or the Coyotes is that they're both out of contention when it comes to this season's playoff race. In that context, teams tend to take more chances, play a little more loose, and are - in a general sense - unpredictable.

It's a trap the Jets can't fall into. They need to remain committed to what makes them a successful team.
"We're talking about scoring goals and everything, but if we go out and we're the best team for the next 11 games, we're probably going to win most of them," said Dubois. "You score goals because you play well. You don't score goals because of anything else, you score goals if you play well. Playing east to west, neutral zone, you can look at it whatever way you want. We know what good hockey is. We know how to play good hockey. It's just a mindset now of if we're willing to do it. That's what these next 11 games are for."
Somehow it's hard to imagine that 71 games have passed, but that's the reality of the situation.
Winnipeg has worked hard to put themselves in a playoff position and be in control of their own destiny.
Calgary remains four points back, Nashville is five, and the Jets play both of those teams one more time within the next 11-game block.
But as Dubois says, who the opponent is doesn't matter. It's how the Jets play that will determine where things sit at the end of 82 games.
"My mind is only on these last 11. We have to play better. We will play better," said Dubois. "Me personally, I can play better. We have 11 games here. It's the end of our year. Last year we were chasing and this year we're four points into a spot. We just have to play well."
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
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