It wasn't an entirely exciting game to watch. The home team even bobbled a few passes and had missed shots, but the Winnipeg Jets were able to hold off the Nashville Predators and Connor Hellebuyck garnered his second shutout of the season with a 3-0 win. That includes a 42 -save performance Drew Stafford opened the scoring with his first of the season, while Mark Scheifele potted his twelfth goal of the season and Adam Lowry got his sixth. Both were empty-netters.
The victory finally ends an ugly five-game losing skid and exactly zero points for their dismal efforts away from home. Ten points wasted. Not even an overtime or shoot-out loss. Not one extremely important point. From second in the central to sixth and two points out of a wild-card playoff spot. Yes, after the 20-game mark, I'm talking about the playoffs.
The good news is the other teams in the central division didn't take full advantage of the Jets skid to pull even farther ahead. After blowing a chance to challenge even the Chicago Blackhawks for the central division lead, the Jets sit now with 22 points. Miraculously, they are only one point removed from the second wild card spot and even more believable; they are only five behind St. Louis for second. With a team like the Blues, even two to three games may be insurmountable with a team like the Jets who have a hard time putting a winning streak together. But a few good bounces (not to mention the return of injured players like Brian Little) may put the Jets in a decent position to control their own fate.
The Jets themselves are the most frustrated as you can guess. A lot of talent, youth and exuberance. Unfortunately at this time, that magic "gel" hasn't come to fruition...yet. When the experience of these players arrives, the Jets will be a team to reckon with as most insiders have been predicting for the two seasons.
