Jets add to franchise milestones with Game 7 victory against Predators

NASHVILLE -- The Winnipeg Jets' season has been all about moving into uncharted territory.
It has been about franchise records and firsts, like 114 regular-season points (52-20-10), first-ever win in a Stanley Cup Playoff game (3-2 against the Minnesota Wild on April 11), first series win (in five games against Minnesota in the Western Conference First Round), first trip to the second round and now, with a 5-1 victory in Game 7 against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday, a first berth in the Western Conference Final.

The Jets play the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 at Winnipeg on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS).
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Despite their playoff inexperience -- the Jets have used 10 players in the postseason who had never played a playoff game -- they are halfway to their goal.
"I think right now we're just thrilled to move on and we're pretty pleased to knock off a team like Nashville," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "That was every bit the series we expected it to be. What a great team they are.
"There's no doubt why they had the best regular-season record (53-18-11, 117 points) and they're just tough from top to bottom and made our life miserable all series. And it's what we tried to do to them as well.
"It's too bad one of us had to be knocked off here. I think nights like tonight, you really try to soak it in and enjoy it and then wake up tomorrow and get ready for a big game on Saturday."

Wheeler said he was elated for Jets fans, who have embraced a team that had made the postseason once (2015) since the 2011 relocation from Atlanta.
"I think we're just so happy to allow our fan base to have a celebration," he said. "I'm a sports fan, too, and when my teams go on runs, it's amazing. It's a great feeling.
"Our fans have been with us filling up our building for seven years and we haven't always had the most success and they've always been supportive all over the city. I don't think I've heard a negative comment in seven years. So now we're just happy to keep playing for them."
The Jets had far less playoff experience than the Predators, by 1,324-364 man-games, at the start the series.
Coach Paul Maurice said he was especially pleased with how his team played on the road in the second round, winning three times and losing once in double overtime in Nashville.

"The telling stat for me in this series is we played four games in here and never lost in regulation," he said. "Against the best team in the League. That's what you worry about with a young team.
"It's a physical series. We've got some skaters. Kyle Connor got better as the series went on, stronger. I really liked [Nikolaj] Ehlers game on the puck. But that's a difficult thing to do, to get out on the road ... to play well in here as consistently as we did, it's impressive."
In Game 7, the Jets looked fine at the start, which was a question mark after a 4-0 loss at home in Game 6 when they had a chance to end the series.
"Once we got off to a good start and we were playing our way, we felt strong ... very confident," said goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who made 36 saves. "It's fun playing that way."
Goals from Tyler Myers at 8:41 and Paul Stastny at 10:47 of the first period allowed the Jets to play their skating game.

"It was just great to see our group play our game," Wheeler said. "That was our goal coming into this one, that win or lose we wanted to play our game. It's what has given us success all year. That was it. Keep it pretty simple, have a good first period and play our game all night.
"We got a couple of greasy ones early, and when you're assertive and playing fast, sometimes you get those bounces."
That was the message Maurice tried to give the Jets after Game 6, to focus on their own strengths.
"We didn't throw pucks away," he said of the first period of Game 7. "We came out right and looked right. There's not going to be a domination in a series like this. It's 2-1 for an awfully long time. It's a tight game. We felt like we were going to play well in the second [period], because we had. We just needed to play well in the first. We didn't feel we had. And that was the key."

Maurice said it was the same story right from early in the season.
"We've got really, really good leadership in our room," he said. "They prepared themselves and then came out and did the two things we wanted to do in this game, one was play fast ... but also enjoy playing the game. Make plays, play with some confidence and some courage. And we looked like that right from the start."
And with that, the Jets keep moving their finish line deeper into the playoffs.