After splitting a pair of contests in Montreal, the Jets headed into their three-game series in Toronto against the first place Maple Leafs and showed what they believe inside their dressing room: that they’re right there in the conversation for the best team in the Scotia North division.
In a series where the Maple Leafs could have put some serious distance between themselves and the Jets, Winnipeg strung together one heck of a week, earning themselves five of a possible six points with a pair of wins and an overtime loss.
The Jets entered Sunday four points behind the Maple Leafs for first in the division with two games in hand.
While the term measuring stick was thrown around a lot during the week, the Jets treated the series like any other.
“Oh for sure, obviously we’re very, very happy with the way this series went. But every game is a measuring stick,” said Mark Scheifele, who scored his 12th goal of the season in Saturday’s 5-2 victory. “You can’t just rest on your laurels and think about just this game and this series. You’ve got to focus on continuing to get better.”
The Jets have continued to get better and their efforts are showing. They’re seven points ahead of the Calgary Flames who sit three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.
“Those are the teams that have success in the playoffs, the teams that keep on ramping it up as the year goes on and we’ve got to use this great series and take it for the rest of the season and know when we’re at our best, what makes us the best team we can be and keep on working toward that,” said Scheifele.
Saturday’s game was the Jets most complete effort of the trio. While Connor Hellebuyck worked as hard as he could to help the Jets earn three points in the first two games of the series, Laurent Brossoit’s night Saturday was much easier.
That’s mainly because the team in front of him was that much better.
"He's done a terrific job when he's been called upon this year to come in and, not only keep us in the game, but win us some games,” said Adam Lowry. "He made it easy for our D or was able to track them down and get a cover on them. You can't say enough about how well he played."
It was the type of night five-on-five that coaches dream about, especially with the offensive firepower the Maple Leafs have to offer.
Five-on-five the Jets held the advantage in:
Shots attempts: 44-33
Shots on goal: 24-16
High-danger scoring chances: 14-3
Goals 3-1
“This was one of the most consistent games that I thought we had played all year,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. "We had a good day off [Friday], that helped. There was a real nice energy in the morning skate, kind of a confidence there. Maybe it was just excitement about going home. But there was a real positive feel going into the game tonight."
The two teams will meet six more times this season and with the way things are shaping out to be, they’re going to be six very important games in terms of seeding in the standings.
But like these previous three contests, the Jets are going to treat those six like any other game they have remaining on their schedule.
“Honestly it doesn’t mean that much. We’re still going to play them a bunch more times this year and playoffs are a ways away,” said Scheifele.
“Both teams are going to be a lot different come playoff time, but they’re obviously fun to play against. They’re a fantastic team, a lot of really, really fun players to watch on their team and it’s always a fun battle against the Leafs.”
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