Win over Rangers was real statement from Winnipeg
NEW YORK >> As a great philosopher once said, to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man. OK, so maybe it was Ric Flair. Still, the point remains valid. While the New York Rangers have been a league juggernaut all year long, leading the Metropolitan Division for the majority of the season and garnering national headlines as a Stanley Cup contender, the Winnipeg Jets have put together a similarly strong year in relative anonymity in a very competitive Western Conference.
Maybe they’ll all start paying attention now. The Jets came into Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night and largely controlled the Blueshirts in a 4-2 win, elevating themselves to a share of the Central Division lead along the way.
Two-time All-Star forward Mark Scheifele finished up his eighth career hat trick with a late empty-netter, and likely Vezina Trophy candidate Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves in a win the team knew meant more than just the usual two points.
“Obviously, any time you go up against one of the best, you want to see where you fit in,” Scheifele said. “We liked some parts of our game, we didn’t like some parts of our game, but that’s a great team over there with a lot of good players. They started to push towards the end and made us work for it, but it’s obviously it’s always a big win going against a good team like the Rangers.
For a team that, unlike Flair, is devoid of any sort of championship history in either installment of their franchise at the National Hockey League level, seeing where they’re at in a true late-season measuring sticktype of game can provide a lot of value as they head towards the Stanley Cup Playoffs in several weeks seemingly still under the radar despite a strong year and late-season adds like Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli.
But there’s little stylin’ and profilin’ on a Jets team that used the same kind of hard-nosed, northsouth game on Tuesday that they’ll need to win when the games start to matter most in a few weeks.
“Being out east here late in the year, you don’t see that too often, and we know we’re going to run into some real good teams,” said acting head coach Scott Arniel after the win.
“These guys are battling for first in the East, and first overall, so we knew we were getting a real good hockey team. If you don’t play to your strengths, and if you don’t do the right things, it can be a long night for you. I think (tonight) shows when we get committed to our game, we’re tough to beat as well.”
Winnipeg keeps their east coastswing going on Thursday with a visit to the Prudential Center in Newark to face the New Jersey Devils before wrapping the trip up with a weekend back-to-back duo of matinees against the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals.