Aiming to maintain a high level of intensity as the playoffs approach, the Winnipeg Jets head to Vancouver to face the Canucks on Tuesday.
Just trying to stay afloat, the Canucks (31-25-11, 73 points) were dealt a 3-1 defeat on Sunday against Utah — one of the teams they’re trying to hold off in the playoff race — after blowing an early lead.
“You look at the standings before the game … trying to distance yourself from teams, it seems pretty compact, so to not be able to do that … it stings,” Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk said following the loss. “But you have to move forward. … That’s what a playoff mentality is all about — trying to stay even-keeled.”
The win brought the Utah Hockey Club within two points of Vancouver. Both sides are locked in a four-team race for the second wild-card berth alongside the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet acknowledged the coaching staff’s frustration after the defeat, highlighting his club’s inability to make a play when needed and his struggle to improve how “some guys handle pressure.”
Given where the Canucks are in the standings, the last thing their coach wants is for his players to feel disheartened.
“You’ve got to let it go,” Tocchet said when asked about the playoff implications of the loss. “It’s not different if you lose a playoff game. You’ve got to flush this. Are we disappointed? Yeah. But … we’ve got a big Winnipeg team coming in … it’s game to game from here on in.”
The NHL’s first-place Winnipeg Jets (47-17-4, 98 points) keep finding ways to win. They roll into Vancouver on a three-game winning streak and have been victorious in five of their last six contests.
The Jets, coming off a 3-2 overtime win in Seattle on Sunday, have not yet locked up first place in the Central Division or the Western Conference.
“We’ve talked about it: Take care of your own business,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said about avoiding attention to the standings with less than a month remaining in the regular season. “… Don’t worry about what’s going on down there.”
So, if the Jets coach isn’t paying attention to the postseason chase, are the players?
“Yeah, we know, but I don’t think we’re focused on it,” goalie Eric Comrie said. He was responding to a question about Dallas’ overtime loss to Colorado on Sunday, which extended the Jets’ lead over the Stars to 11 points in the Central Division. “We’ve put ourselves in a good scenario where we’re in control of our own destiny. If we do our job and control what we can control, we have the upper hand.”
Canucks center Filip Chytil missed Sunday’s game (concussion protocol) and won’t play Tuesday. His condition will be monitored over the next few days before deciding if he will join Vancouver’s upcoming six-game road trip. Goalie Thatcher Demko (lower-body injury) could also be getting closer to a return, as he participated in practice on Friday but is not yet ready for game action.
Jets defenseman Neal Pionk is week-to-week due to a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media
