WINNIPEG - Rock bottom, a necessary awakening or a combination of both of those things?
Depending on your point of view, a lopsided 6-1 loss for the Winnipeg Jets to the Edmonton Oilers on April 26 meant different things to different people.
For many observers, it was considered to be the low point of the season, an unravelling or a sign this team might not be as serious a contender in the North Division as the standings may have suggested at the time. When battling for first place gave way to a season-long seven-game losing skid, there is little doubt the Jets' belief was tested.
Veteran centre Paul Stastny didn’t mince words during his post-game Zoom session with reporters on that April night, pointing out the team game had slipped during the previous 10-to-15 games, long before the losing streak passed the midway point and threatened to spiral out of control.
The Jets had been relying too much on goalie Connor Hellebuyck and they weren’t doing the little things that become essential once the playoffs arrive.
The defensive-zone commitment was lacking and the Jets had allowed a bit of “cheat” to slip into their game.
A look in the mirror was required. They needed to provide an honest assessment of how they were playing.
Those words carried plenty of weight and the Jets clearly took them to heart before doing something about it, cleaning up some important areas in the process.
“I was just kind of blunt about what everyone else was thinking. Sometimes it just had to be said. Whether it was internal meetings or coaches meetings about it,” said Stastny. “More than anything, we are holding each other more accountable on the bench. We are talking more to each other, not in a negative way, but we are trying to help each other out and communicate more.
“Especially when you are playing without fans, the emotions aren’t there as much. We’re trying to support each other, trying to talk to each other, whether it’s picking up a back-checker, or a guy getting in a lane for a blocked shot. Little things like that go a long way.”
There was an emotional toll that came with all the losing - which included nine defeats over the final 12 games - but the Jets began to find answers to the questions that had been plaguing them.
Where would the goals come from and would the team defence hold up once the Stanley Cup playoffs began?
Well, they took an important step on both of those fronts in the series opener with the Oilers on Wednesday night, earning a 4-1 victory in a game that was closer than the score suggests - thanks to a pair of late empty-net goals.
For those who felt the Jets' confidence might be shaken after a rocky finish, this was a necessary first step toward quieting those critics. The words being spoken during the tumultuous times were not hollow, though players understood that ultimately it would be their on-ice actions that mattered most.
“It's the ebbs and flows of the season. Every team goes through adversity at different points, and we had some adversity there, obviously,” said defenceman Josh Morrissey. “But there was a buy-in from our entire group. Nobody started to lose belief in our room, from the coaching staff to the players. And I think we've maintained a mindset of ‘how can we improve our game?’
“It took a little while for us to start to see some of the improvements that we've been working on, especially defensively. But in the long run, it was a really good learning opportunity for our group and an opportunity for us to really build off of that. But the overarching theme would be nobody panicked and everybody bought in together and pulled on the rope in the same direction. We've had some success with that and we're going to have to keep doing that together.”
Game 1 wasn’t a perfect template for sustainable success, though it included a number of the necessary elements Winnipeg will require in its collective game.
Backed by elite-level goaltending, the Jets frustrated the Oilers and inhibited them from using their speed to generate an abundance of scoring chances in the transition game.
This was not high-event hockey, but it was the brand of game Winnipeg can replicate over the course of a series.
“We did a pretty good job in that game. It’s sort of something we’ve been trying to work on here for really the whole season, but certainly in the last five, 10 games,” said Morrissey. “We really felt like that was something that if you want to have success in the playoffs you need to work on, limiting rush chances against. I thought we did a good job.”
As important as it was to get some scoring from unexpected sources - which included goals from fourth-line forward Dominic Toninato and defenceman Tucker Poolman and a pair of assists from veteran pivot Nate Thompson - the team will need to continue to lean on their depth up front.
After the Jets were able to hold both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl without a point in Game 1, all signs point to the Oilers starting Friday’s game with the dynamic duo on the same line, along with Dominik Kahun.
That nuclear option will present its own set of challenges.
“We expect them to come out harder, be more aggressive, and take the puck to the net more. And there are certain things that we’ve got to adjust in our game too,” said Stastny. “It's more about the emotions. It’s just one game. You want to get that first win, but we are in a good position here to make it tough on them again. We are ready for anything, but at the same time we want to play our style.
“Sometimes you are up in a series and the next game you kind of sit back and see what they’re going to bring at you and you sit back on your heels, where I think our focus is we want to be the first team basically to dictate play and make them adjust to us.”
In terms of lineup questions, Pierre-Luc Dubois will return for Game 2, likely with Stastny and Andrew Copp. And while Nikolaj Ehlers will remain out for Game 2, Maurice said on Friday there's a possibility he returns for Sunday's Games 3.
After earning at least a split and stealing home-ice advantage by winning the opener, Maurice's squad will try to get greedy and take a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Winnipeg.
“The message wouldn’t change in terms of the game that we want to play. But we would have an expectation that this game will look different from them,” the coach said. “That is true in all playoff series. The team that wins Game 1 is coming to the rink feeling really good. The team that loses Game 1 has an even greater sense of focus and they have, in some ways, an advantage in that. We wouldn’t change the message but we have to be aware that this game will be quite a bit faster than it was (in Game 1).”
