TIGHT QUARTERS
Jets back in first place, but rest of division keeping it close
It’s hard to imagine there has ever been a time when parity — or at least the contrived cluster in the standings the NHL wants — has ever been greater.
As the all-star break approaches, there are only eight teams in the entire league with a points percentage below .500.
That’s right, just eight out of 31 teams lose outright more often then they win.
Say what you will about loser points and the league’s desire to have as many teams in playoff contention as possible, you can’t deny it makes the regular season highly meaningful.
It also helps to explain why teams that are having excellent seasons — take the Winnipeg Jets for example — can’t seem to definitively separate themselves from the teams that are currently on the playoff bubble.
The Jets woke up Monday morning back in first place in the ridiculously tight Central Division with 63 points, based on a sparkling 28-13-7 record. They are second in the Western Conference, behind only the stunning Vegas Golden Knights, and third overall in the league, behind only the Golden Knights (66 points) — wrap your head around the fact that an expansion team is in first overall — and Tampa Bay Lightning (65 points).
And yet, they are still just eight points above the playoff line. The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild, both with games in hand on the Jets, are tied for the final wild card spot in the West with 55 points. Colorado has won nine straight games and Minnesota is 6-2-2 in its last 10.
Jets coach Paul Maurice has spent 19 seasons behind benches in the NHL and he’s never seen anything like it.
“I don’t remember (a season) like this where you looked at a division (like the Central) and thought every one of those teams is a playoff team or looks like they could be or has won Stanley Cups recently or is capable of going on a nine-game run.
“Every one of those teams could get hot. Everybody felt that pretty early that the Central Division was going to be jammed up and it certainly is.”
All this helps explain why the Jets are suddenly looking like a different hockey team.
This powerful offensive squad that has a stellar plus28 goal differential seems to have shifted to a much more defensive style. They have embraced the notion that this is how it’s going to look for a team in contention in the stretch drive and into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Every game, every point earned, is critical and the Jets see tight defensive hockey, combined with great goaltending and a few timely goals. as their path to success. “That’s sort of the way hockey goes,” Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey said. “The pace has really picked up since the bye week and the attention to detail is so important.
“For us it’s about finding a way to be comfortable in those games. You might not be getting the same chances as you do earlier in the year but you have to be comfortable with what’s there for you. As a team we’ve been able to keep grinding,”
Despite a little slip-up before the bye week — they lost back-to-back games against Chicago and Minnesota — the Jets are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
They’ve scored only one goal in regulation in each of their last four games, which probably should be a concern, but hasn’t really become one because of stellar play by the blue-liners and all-star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
With the kind of firepower the Jets have in captain Blake Wheeler, sophomore sensation Patrik Laine, roadrunner Nikolaj Ehlers and veterans Bryan Little and Mathieu Perreault — not to mention injured centre Mark Scheifele — they should be in an excellent position to keep up the success. Those snipers can make all the difference in tight defensive games, as Laine did when he scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
It seems likely the grinding games are going to continue, at least for the rest of this week, with the Jets going up against the defensively stingy San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks Tuesday and Thursday in California.
If they can pull three or four points out of these two games, the Jets might finally be able to start seeing a bit more breathing room in the standings. That is, if any of the chasing teams actually lose, which hasn’t happened often lately.
With a 10-game home stand coming up — the Jets are an impressive 17-3-1 at Bell MTS Place — the opportunity to put the playoff line in the mirror will be golden.