Jets strive for simplicity against Predators in Game 5

WINNIPEG -- The further the Winnipeg Jets get into the Western Conference Second Round against the Nashville Predators, the greater the need to keep things simple, coach Paul Maurice said Friday.
The Jets and Predators are tied 2-2 in the best-of-7 series that resumes with Game 5 at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS). Game 6 will be in Winnipeg on Monday.

The Predators won 2-1 in Game 4 at Bell MTS Place on Thursday, buckling down in the neutral zone for much of the game and causing the Jets to stray from their speed game and start going in all directions - sometimes, it appeared, at once.
"Simplicity," Maurice said, asked what matters most for games ahead. "The game becomes simpler. Which would be a good view of what happened to us in the neutral zone last night. It was a very complex set of routes that we ran, hard to read."
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The Jets are not heavy on Stanley Cup Playoff experience; 10 players on their roster had never played a postseason game in the League before this season. Not so for their coach, however.
Maurice coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002, winning three six-game series before losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Final. In 2009, the Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference Final with two seven-game-series victories before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Learning how to handle the marathons is the point of the 82-game regular season, he said.
"Define your game, define your game, define your game, so that you can get to the very basics of the game," Maurice said. "The hockey doesn't necessarily get better as you go. Fatigue sets in, pressure mounts. Simplicity is the key."
Winnipeg's trouble in the neutral zone in Game 4 was labeled "stubborn" by forward Blake Wheeler. The Jets seemed determined to carry the puck into the offensive zone instead of dumping it in and trying to forecheck a turnover.
"Why? I have no idea," center Mark Scheifele said Friday. "It's just the way it happened. It's not the way we wanted it to go but that's something we can look at and fix, and we'll be better in the future because of it."

Maurice was quizzed extensively Friday about what the Predators may have changed that allowed them to protect a 2-0 lead they established in the second period of Game 4, when in Game 3, Nashville was unable to defend a 3-0 first-period lead that eventually turned into a 7-4 Winnipeg win.
"They didn't change anything, they had a 2-0 lead, they played the exact same way, probably, the way they played with a 3-0 lead," he said. "But we weren't efficient with how we moved. We dealt with that today, back at it tomorrow."
While Maurice's call to get back to basics will be a priority, so will urgency, Scheifele said.
"Every game you look at is a must-win," said Scheifele, who has seven points (four goals, three assists) in the series. "It's going to be important. They're going to come out strong and we're going to want to come out strong so it's a big game in both our minds. It'll be a matter of who wants it more."
The Jets know Bridgestone Arena won't be a friendly environment Saturday, but they already have won there in the series, a 4-1 victory in Game 1.
"Obviously both teams have had games at home and on the road, an even-up series," defenseman Josh Morrissey said. "The next game is extremely important. I expect it to be definitely at another level for intensity and compete and everything like that.
"We're confident going in there that we can have success in their building. It's a tough building to play in. Their fans are great. But we've been able to win there before and that's our goal going in there in Game 5."
Despite the Jets' troubles in Game 4, Maurice sees the road game Saturday as an opportunity.
"Exciting, really," he said. "On the road, normally you get a real good chance to play your game. You're not getting too wound up, you're not forcing a lot of things. I think they played a real good road game in here last night and we're going to have to do the same."
The first three games of the series had a combined 25 goals; there were three in Game 4. Have we seen the last of high-offense, many-chance games?
"Our games with Nashville always have different intangibles, whether it's big hits and offense, up-and-down-the-ice play or great saves from two great goaltenders," Morrissey said. "I can't say for sure. We've had a bit of everything in this series, and I guess I'd just expect more of the same the rest of the way."