And now Nashville beats Seattle. With the Kraken, Kings, and Sharks all losing, everyone in the Western Conference playoff race did what Winnipeg needed them to do...
Except Winnipeg.
Arniel on whether he needed more from his top players tonight:
"If we're going to get in, our top players have to be our top players. We've said that from the beginning. But everybody else has to also play their roles. It was throughout the lineup."
Winnipeg's biggest contracts, its captain, its alternates:
Mark Scheifele
Gabriel Vilardi
Kyle Connor
Josh Morrissey
Adam Lowry
Zero shots on goal.
Scott Arniel: "That part about getting shots? We didn't have the puck. Anaheim had the puck most of the night."
Scott Arniel, describing Winnipeg's performance in tonight's game with so much on the line:
"We laid a big fat egg."
The #NHLJets pressured but could not polish their third.
It's 4-1 Ducks, with Jackson LaCombe finishing into an empty net with 26 seconds left.
Jets time out with 1:14 to go in the third.
Connor Hellebuyck to the bench with a little over 3 minutes left
*chant
Sorry, forgot a word
A "shoot the puck!" emerges, lambasting the #NHLJets who are down 32-11 on the shot clock tonight. It is loud but then quickly dies off.
PP1 does get out there but can't get a controlled entry. The power play expires.
Winnipeg gets an early third period power play. Scott Arniel starts PP2, which may only be about the Jets top line having been on the ice for almost a minute...
...Or it might be his way of making sure he has PP1's attention.
Winnipeg's best-case scenario was a win and scoreboard help, getting within three points of a wild card spot.
They're getting quadrupled 28-7 in shots after 40 minutes. They trail 3-1 where it counts. Their $28 million star trio doesn't have a single shot on goal.
Not close to good enough.
The circle of life makes a single turn, changing the #NHLJets top two lines:
Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Nyquist is credited with a wrist shot at 19:57 of the first.
The Ducks have scored again. Ryan Poehling's stick check turns a Jets breakout into a Ducks 2-on-1 inside the Jets zone. Alex Killorn buries.
It's 3-1 Ducks, as Anaheim goes bang-bang-quack in less than two minutes.
This has been an oddly ineffective game from Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi so far.
They've been on for both Ducks goals, for one thing. There have been some odd mishaps when they've tried to break the puck out or go on the attack, too.
Need to answer the bell to get the Jets going.
They've adjusted the time. Reads as 14 seconds between goals on the NHL media site now.
The tie lasts even less time than Winnipeg's lead did. Ryan Poehling's deflection takes all of the right bounces to make it 2-1 Ducks.
15 seconds from up 1-0 to down 2-1.
Winnipeg's lead is short lived. Haydn Fleury gets turned the wrong way trying to box Tim Washe out from Jansen Harkins' rebound.
Washe cashes and it's 1-1.
Cole Perfetti gets the second assist on Barron's game opening goal.
Morgan Barron gets the puck on net, keeps battling in front, and then tips Elias Salomonsson's point shot past Lukas Dostal to open the scoring. It's 1-0 #NHLJets 5:04 into the second period.
Josh Morrissey being honoured right now for becoming the all-time franchise leader in points by a defenceman, accomplished Saturday against Vancouver.
Tonight he becomes the franchise leader in games played by a defenceman, too.
The consensus seems to be that there's more of a buzz on the concourse tonight than in recent weeks and months.
Could the #NHLJets be on to something here? Beat Anaheim and Winnipeg can pull as close as three points away.
Full lines:
Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Nyquist-Toews-Rosén
Koepke-Barron-Lambert
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Fleury-Bryson
Hellebuyck
Comrie
Sabres taking the ice for warmups. Logan Stanley is out there. Visa must be sorted out.
"You can see the spark in everybody realizing the task in front of us — it’s very doable."
Kyle Connor says Winnipeg's playoff dream is alive and well, no matter what the odds say.
Those odds, plus five more #NHLJets stories to watch down the stretch ⤵️
www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...
Here's where you can send questions for my next #NHLJets mailbag ⤵️
www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...
The top 5 #NHLJets storylines during unlikely push for the playoffs, draft pick watch
www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...
FIRST STAR – MARK SCHEIFELE, C, WINNIPEG JETS
"Scheifele compiled 3-5—8 and a pair of game-winning goals across three appearances to propel the Jets (26-26-10, 62 points) to a perfect week"
Scheifele was named first star of the NHL for the week that ended March 8.
As close as the #NHLJets get? The beginning of fresh magic? Or something mushier and more middling.
What say you, Jets fans?
(Note: Seattle is playing Ottawa and San Jose is playing the Islanders right now)
