Winnipeg’s hopes soar alongside Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are hoping to avoid the distractions that come with being one win away from making the first conference final in the city’s history.
“I’m not going to do much grocery shopping,” captain Blake Wheeler said jokingly.
The Jets got to within one victory of clinching their second-round series with the Nashville Predators Saturday after surviving an early onslaught before pulling away for a well-earned 6-2 road decision in Game 5.
Winnipeg had never seen one of its teams pick up even a solitary win in the second round before this spring.
The old Jets, who became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996, got past the first round twice only to be cannon fodder for Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers in four-game sweeps in 1985 and 1987.
The new Jets, formerly the Atlanta Thrashers until 2011, made the post-season for the first time in 2015, but were swept aside by the Anaheim Ducks in the opening round.
Now this young, fast, resilient team is one victory from reaching the Western Conference final at what will no doubt be a thunderous Bell MTS Place Monday night.
The Predators, last season’s West champion, will need a big night to force a Game 7 back in Nashville — something defenceman P.K. Subban guaranteed following Saturday’s loss.
“The fact of the matter is we had to go to Winnipeg anyway,” he said.
“We’re going to go there, we’re going to win a game, we’re going to come back here. It’s that simple.”
Predators head coach Peter Laviolette, whose club won this year’s Presidents’ Trophy, said he expects a response from his players in a series of highs and lows and featuring the two teams with the NHL’s best regular-season records.
“This group’s been built for a game like the one that’s coming up,” he said.
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence.
“I believe in them and I know that they believe in each other.”