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It’s not likely Jets fans will forget the disaster that unfolded more than two months ago in Utah.
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The high-flying Jets fell well short of the runway in Salt Lake City and got buried by the Hockey Club, a 5-2 scoreline that flattered the visitors.
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Head coach Scott Arniel was so incensed that he had a minor implosion in his post-game comments.
“That was embarrassing,” Arniel told reporters after the loss on Jan. 20. “That was, of all the games this year, that was the most embarrassing game … from top to bottom, we did a (bleep) job.”
Nikolaj Ehlers said the effort in the three-goal loss was not “Winnipeg Jets hockey.”
Nearly three months on, Arniel was mindful of what happened on that Monday evening.
“They ate us up here in this building with their transition game,” Arniel told reporters Friday afternoon. “They’re still not out of it, yet. They’re battling as hard as they can. You’re getting a team that’s desperate. They’re looking for an opportunity.”
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Utah is technically in the race for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but they have a tough row to hoe. They are nine points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wildcard spot heading into league action on Saturday. Utah has six games left in their regular-season schedule.
“We know they’re on the outside of the playoff picture, but we’ve got to worry about us,” added Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo.
The Jets (52-20-4) are 4-1-0 in their last five and 7-3-0 in their last 10. They are 1-1-0 on their final extended road trip of the regular season. The club has a two-gamer against Dallas and Chicago coming up next week.
Utah (34-30-12) is 2-2-1 in its last five and 5-4-1 in its last 10. They are 16-15-7 at home.
The Hockey Club has one power-play goal in nine opportunities against Winnipeg this season. The locals have netted two goals on three chances.
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As if the team needed additional incentive, but there is franchise history to establish.
The club is one victory away from breaking the club’s record of 52 wins. Last year, the Jets finished the regular season with a 52-24-6 record.
Mindful of what happened back in January, Cole Perfetti was asked about the adjustments Winnipeg must make to get win 53 and prevent a second loss in the four-game season series.
“I think managing the puck down low and having a guy in the slot, so we don’t give them those (odd-man rushes) that is going to be a big part of it,” Perfetti said. “We need to be aware of how good they are off the rush, while not feeding into their transition game.”
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Game time decision
Speaking of Ehlers, he is a game-time decision after blocking two shots in the 4-0 triumph over the Golden Knights on Thursday.
Ehlers was hit in the foot by enemy fire in the first period. He returned to the game but was the unfortunate recipient of friendly fire later on, as Perfetti dinged him with a shot past the midway point of the third.
Ehlers left the game at 12:56 and did not return. He saw the ice for 12:35 on 15 shifts.
Perfetti marvelLed at the win at all cost mentality on display. If a playmaker like #27 can block a shot, well, that says a lot about the winning mentality of said player.
“He was a magnet for the puck the other night,” Perfetti said. “It was a great shot block and that just goes to show everyone on our team is buying in, doing all the little things to win games. Ehlers is as talented as they come, and he is willing to step in front of one-timers. Hopefully he plays against Utah. We will see.”
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An ‘attacking mindset’
Colin Miller gave the Jets a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal at 11:53 of the second period in the four-goal win over Vegas.
Mason Appleton set the puck up on a tee for Miller with a sauce pass from the left-side boards. The ex-Golden Knights d-man stepped into his shot and blistered the puck past Adin Hill for his fourth goal of the campaign.
Miller’s marker was the club’s third man-advantage goal in its last 23 chances, dating back to the Dallas Stars contest on March 14. The squad was blanked seven times in that span of 10 games.
Perfetti says the team will find success when they get shots through to the net and win the puck retrieval conflicts in all areas of the o-zone.
“That was a huge goal for us, and it was nice to get the powerplay going in the right direction,” Perfetti said. “We have had a lot of success, and it all comes from that attacking mindset. And the games where we don’t have success, we kind of steer away from it.”
Perfetti scored an empty netter at 19:08 of the final stanza on Thursday. The goal was his 18th of the season and one away from his career high of 19, set last season. Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele also scored for the Jets.
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