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Paul Stastny’s 1000th career game gives Jets something to celebrate |
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If you’re looking to chat about hockey with someone, Paul Stastny is your man.
“He’s just a hockey man. If you want to talk hockey to a guy, you go talk to Paul Stastny. He’s got great experience, a great view of the game, great love of the game. His entire life in some ways has been in the NHL,” said head coach Paul Maurice.
“His Dads a player there, he’s around the NHL room, spent his entire life as a really important player on every team that he’s played. He’s a great encyclopedia of the game. What’s happening now, what it was like 10, 20 years ago.”
Stastny will skate in his 1000th game Tuesday night and it’s coming at the right time, giving the Jets something to celebrate during a stretch of hockey that hasn’t provided much celebration.
“It’s a reminder of experience, a guy whose been in the league this long has been through all of it and been such a good player for us,” said Maurice. “It’ll be nice for the players to get to celebrate something here.”
The Jets have just one win in ten tries as the playoffs are quickly approaching. The mood around the Jets is bleak, understandably so.
With just two games left before their playoff series with either the Maple Leafs or Oilers begins, the Jets are running out of time to figure their woes out and get themselves confident before the playoffs.
“When you're younger, you're always looking to the future. 'I want to do this, this, and this.' You realize how life doesn't work that way," said Stastny. "There is a lot of unpredictability, there are a lot of curves in the road, you never know where you're going to end up being. Enjoy where you are. Enjoy being in the moment."
On Monday, the Jets took a step in the right direction as they try to get back to the winning style of hockey they were at for most of the shortened 2020-21 season.
In their loss to the Canucks, they registered 40 shots on goal and generated a lot of scoring chances, running into a Thatcher Demko that brought his A-game.
“The offensive part of our game at least looked right until the goalie stopped the puck. We've played some games where I didn't think we generated nearly as much as I hoped to, but I thought tonight we seem to have gotten that part, with better traffic at the net,” said Maurice
“And we had some pretty good looks, he (Demko) made three or four really good saves on something through the seam. So there's a starting point there."
The Jets need to start somewhere if they plan on having any chance in the opening round of the playoffs, a starting point is, a, start, right?
Kyle Connor scored the Jets lone goal Monday. As Maurice mentioned, the goal came a game after Connor failed to score on a very similar attempt.
Again, a starting point.
Hopefully between Monday’s offensive effort and Stastny’s historic night, this is the starting point to a Jets turnaround.
Their season hinges on it.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • 
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