The Winnipeg Jets will take on the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday night in a clash between the top two clubs in the NHL.
Washington (47-15-8, 102 points) is the only team to punch its ticket to the NHL postseason, and the Jets (48-19-4, 100 points) can secure their own playoff berth with a victory.
The Capitals are coming into Winnipeg red-hot, having swept a three-game homestand with victories over Detroit, Philadelphia and Florida. The most recent result, a 6-3 win over the Panthers, came on Saturday.
“We’re all excited and we’re all happy to take care of business at home and carry that momentum out on the road,” center Connor McMichael said. “We’ve got some tough opponents coming up … obviously in Winnipeg and Minnesota, so it’s going to be a big test for us.”
Beyond that sweep at home, the first-place Capitals have put together a run of nine wins over their last 10 contests. However, that’s not something anyone in Washington is leaning on as a measure of future success.
“We’re always trying to get better,” Capitals defenseman John Carlson said. “In that stretch, we probably found a lot of ways to win in a few of them. You need those things. Nothing is going to be perfect down the stretch here.
“The more ways you can find a win, the more confidence you have in reaching back in different situations.”
While Carlson emphasizes the importance of finding different ways to win, the Jets’ top line has been relying on their team’s depth to do just that.
The NHL’s highest-scoring line, featuring Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi, has mostly been kept off the board over their last four games, with Connor scoring twice, Scheifele picking up two assists and Vilardi not finding the scoresheet at all.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel is confident the trio will begin to combine for more offense soon. (Vilardi sustained an upper-body injury Sunday in a 5-3 loss to Buffalo and is considered week-to-week.)
“They’ve had a lot of chances,” Arniel said. “Players and lines go through stretches where it just doesn’t seem to go in the net, but the number of opportunities over the last few games has been really good. The idea is just to keep getting inside, keep shooting the puck and keep making those plays.”
The lack of finish by Winnipeg’s top line added to the disappointment of a missed chance to earn a postseason spot Sunday against Buffalo, during a game in which the Jets outshot the Sabres 36-17.
“At the end of the day, we’re focusing on our game each night,” Jets forward Brandon Tanev said about bouncing back from that defeat. “Shift by shift, practice by practice, you know, that mentality. There are some positives to take out of that game … (we’ll be) ready for the next one here soon.”
Washington captain Alex Ovechkin enters the game seven goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record.
On the injury front, Jets blueliner Neal Pionk remains out week-to-week with an undisclosed injury.
–Field Level Media
