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Jets snap skid; clinch playoff spot in shutout of Flames

May 6, 2021, 10:12 AM ET [109 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves, Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler scored a pair of goals each as the Jets blanked the Flames 4-0, snapped their seven-game losing streak and punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"This night belongs to our team and the fact that we're going back to the playoffs. That's all I play for, especially this part of my career is just having opportunities to achieve the ultimate goal," said Wheeler.

"It's really important for our team to get that good feeling back and hopefully we can snowball that into four good games to end the regular season and go into the playoffs with a lot of confidence."

Everything that had gone wrong for the Jets during their losing streak disappeared Wednesday night. They scored shorthanded, they scored on the power play, they kept the puck out of their own net and got timely scoring in the process.

A much needed all-around 60-minute effort for the Jets.

“It feels great, that’s the goal at the start of the year, is playoffs. It’s nice to have that behind us. It was a long couple of weeks,” said Lowry. “There were some frustrating moments. But the last couple of games we’ve played a lot better and we’re looking to build off that.”

On top of what the Jets were able to accomplish Wednesday night, they all but eliminated the Flames from playoff contention in the all-Canadian division.

Sitting 10 points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the division with five games remaining, the Flames would need to go a perfect 5-0, and have the Canadiens fail to earn a single point in their four remaining games to have a chance at the big dance.

"It’s nice to put the nail in the coffin seeing as they sent us home from the bubble [last year],” said Lowry. “It’s always nice to return the favor.”

Now, with the playoffs a lock and the losing streak behind them, in their four remaining games, the Jets can focus on fine tuning the parts of their game that have slipped during the course of the losing streak, and hopefully holding off the Canadiens to remain third in the division.

Wednesday was a step towards that, a night that saw the Jets win the special teams battle. Something that they haven’t done much of of late.

"I think special teams are critical, especially as you move forward into the postseason. I think sometimes you take it for granted, an incredible rate our power play was clicking at earlier in the year,” said Lowry.

“Tonight we score that big fourth goal and it kind of puts the nail in the coffin. On the penalty kill, too, we're building off last game where we killed them all there."

Head coach Paul Maurice has wanted more of a defensive effort from his team, seeing that it’s the type of hockey they’ll see in the playoffs.

With Ville Heinola back in the lineup, Maurice got the defensive effort he’d been looking for.

"The game we've played, we have a chance to win with. We're going to play in the playoffs in the first round, teams that would have elite freak show talent on it,” said Maurice. "So for us to go in and trade with either of those teams, you have no chance. We didn't trade in the last three or four games."

With a two point lead over the Canadiens, the Jets control their destiny as they look to lock up the division’s third seed.

The schedule ahead is certainly much easier for Winnipeg than it is Montreal. The Jets host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday before a back-to-back set at home against the Vancouver Canucks next week.

They finish their season on the road in Toronto on May 14.

The Canadiens play the first of two on the road in Toronto Thursday night, before finishing the season at home with two against the Edmonton Oilers.

It’s now down to a battle of who wants to play Toronto and who wants to play Edmonton?
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