The playoff outlook remains slim for both the Winnipeg Jets and the Blues heading into tonight\u2019s matchup at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.<\/p>\n
The Jets (34-31-12, 80 points) enter this crucial game four points back of the final Western Conference wild-card spot, held by the Nashville Predators, while the Blues (33-32-12, 78 points) sit six points out. Both teams have five games remaining.<\/p>\n
St. Louis saw its playoff chances take a final major hit Tuesday with a 3-1 home loss to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche. While the Blues are not officially eliminated, their playoff percentage dropped to near-zero.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, we haven\u2019t felt that pressure,\u201d said Blues coach Jim Montgomery when asked if the pressure to win every night had gotten to his club. \u201c(This) was more of a lesson for us from an elite team in the league about how you play in this league night in, night out to be able to be at this time of the year, where you don\u2019t have to have the pressure of winning games and you just establish yourself \u2026 where you don\u2019t have to go on a killer run, you\u2019re just one of the elite teams that\u2019s going to make the playoffs \u2026 that\u2019s a lesson I hope that we learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blues defenseman Philip Broberg was asked after the loss what it has been like playing with no margin for error.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is what it is,\u201d said Broberg. \u201cWe don\u2019t try to focus on that. We try to focus on getting better everyday and build something and play for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the return from the Olympic break in February, St. Louis has gone 13-4-3, nearly matched by Winnipeg\u2019s 12-5-4 run.<\/p>\n
The Jets have won six of their past eight games, most recently a 6-2 victory Monday against the Seattle Kraken.<\/p>\n
Despite their strong stretch, a playoff berth remains unlikely, if not entirely out of reach. Has that reality started to creep into the locker room?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our playoffs right now,\u201d Brad Lambert said after scoring a goal in Monday\u2019s victory. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to win every game. It shows in our room and it shows in our game, the intensity that we have \u2026 we have full belief in ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Winnipeg to keep its postseason hopes alive, it will likely need to win all five of its remaining games and get help elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Jets forward Cole Koepke said it can be challenging not to look ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a little bit at this time of the year,\u201d Koepke said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty easy to look at standings and every team\u2019s schedule and kind of what can happen here and there. I mean, all we really can do is focus on winning each individual game that\u2019s coming up \u2026 and do what we need to do as a team to get ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the injury front, Winnipeg defenseman Elias Salomonsson remains in concussion protocol and has not resumed skating. Forward Gustav Nyquist is listed as day-to-day, while defenseman Colin Miller remains out with a knee injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The playoff outlook remains slim for both the Winnipeg Jets and the Blues heading into tonight\u2019s matchup at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5121],"tags":[5,78,4,77,18,5288],"class_list":{"0":"post-548591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg-jets","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-winnipeg","12":"tag-winnipeg-jets","13":"tag-winnipegjets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116373734619685676","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}