From Thrashers to Jets, players savor first playoff win

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets had a couple more must-do items on their list than most teams in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Jets, born as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999 before moving to Winnipeg in 2011, were without a playoff win.

And as good as the regular season was with 114 points, second-most in the NHL, and a franchise record, Winnipeg had eight players -- Connor Hellebuyck, Andrew Copp, Brandon Tanev, Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine, Joel Armia, Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor -- in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Minnesota Wild who had yet to play in the postseason.
RELATED: [Complete Jets vs. Wild series coverage]
Put a check mark in both columns.
Laine and Joe Morrow each scored their first NHL playoff goal in the third period to help the Jets to 3-2 win at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday.
"A goal is always a goal but the atmosphere is just like the place exploded," Laine said. "It was a maybe a little nicer."

The goal brought a little extra celebration from Laine, an underhanded right-hand wave. Laine usually opted for more reserved reactions after his 44 goals during the regular season.
"I was saving my goals and celebrations for the playoffs," he said. "Now you can [celebrate] a little harder."
In Atlanta, the Thrashers were swept in the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by the New York Rangers.
In Winnipeg, the Jets were swept in the 2015 Western Conference First Round by the Anaheim Ducks.
And in Winnipeg's own history, there hadn't been a playoff victory on home ice in nearly 22 years. Winnipeg had a 4-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings on April 21, 1996, in Game 3 of a series the original Jets lost in six games.
The Jets have five players on their roster who began their NHL careers with the organization in Atlanta.
Forward Bryan Little was one, and he admitted after the win that he had thought about some of the history on Wednesday.
"The best part [about winning] is probably not having to be asked about it again," Little said. "You can check that one off the list and hopefully there's a lot more this year.
"And a lot of guys, this was their first playoff game. All of that was definitely in the back of my mind, but at the same time I was thinking we just want to win Game 1 real bad, especially on home ice. That was more my thinking. There's obviously time to think about it after, the significance of it, but it's one game and now we can let it go."

Jets captain Blake Wheeler, who also came from Atlanta in the relocation, said he had a tight focus on business Wednesday.
"Our goal was to win Game 1," he said. "That's been our focus. That's all we could control. History is what it is. We had nothing to do with any of that. This town's got nothing to do with the history of this franchise.
"We're in the present right now and this group had one opportunity and we won the first game. We're going to enjoy it a little bit tonight and start preparing for Game 2."
Bell MTS Place was rocking inside and outside. Donald Street in downtown Winnipeg, bordering the east side of the arena, was closed for a street viewing party.
"The atmosphere was the playoffs," Little said. "Very similar to last time [in 2015]. They were loud the whole game."
Laine also was impressed.
"It was a lot of fun, pretty unreal to skate on the ice for the first time," he said. "It's hard to describe what kind of feeling it was but it was just incredible."

Now Winnipeg's young players have one less thing to think about.
"I think they can probably relax a bit," Little said. "It was just the unknown, a little nervous before the game and in the first period. That will help, going into the next game, knowing what to expect now and knowing what the atmosphere and the pace is going to be like. It's definitely nice to get that first one for them."
Coach Paul Maurice said there was significance on multiple levels for what the Jets earned with a Game 1 victory.
"I think there is for the players that have been here since the team came back," Maurice said. "There's a lot of grind that went into it. Certainly, ownership and management, and probably more than anybody the fans.
"There are two different versions of the Winnipeg Jets and it's been a long time since they've been able to go home in a good mood after a playoff game."