Jets stave off dogged Kraken

Gentlemen, feel free to make yourselves at home.

The Winnipeg Jets took care of business Tuesday night, downing the Seattle Kraken 4-3 to ensure their first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche will start next week in the friendly confines of Canada Life Centre.

Needing just a single point over their last two regular-season games to lock up second place in the Central Division, the Jets did one better in skating to a seventh straight victory.

Kyle Connor scored twice, while Nikolaj Ehlers and Tyler Toffoli had the other tallies for a team that appears to be peaking at the perfect time.

“It’s great. Obviously that’s what we wanted to do tonight,” Ehlers said. “It wasn’t beautiful all the way through, but we got it done. That’s what’s important.”

Winnipeg improves to 51-24-6 on the year, just one victory short of the franchise record they established during the 2017-18 season. They’ll have a chance to get there on Thursday night when they close out the 82-game campaign by hosting the Vancouver Canucks in what will now amount to an exhibition game.

“It feels good. That was something that was our objective once we got later on in the season,” said coach Rick Bowness. “Give the guys a lot of credit, they buckled down and we got it. I think it’s important for us, to be able to do that.”

Before we look too far ahead, here’s a breakdown of what stood out in this one:

1) All hands on deck — Hard to believe, but this was only the second game of the year in which the Jets had the entire roster at the ready since adding Sean Monahan and then Toffoli in big trade deadline deals.

With forward Nino Niederreiter returning from a skate laceration that kept him out the past five contests, there wasn’t a single player on the injured list.

Unlike that first outing back on March 30, in which they fell 3-2 to the Ottawa Senators, this one turned out a bit better. However, winger Morgan Barron didn’t finish the game after suffering a lower-body ailment in the first period, forcing Winnipeg to play the majority of the night with 11 forwards.

“We’ll know more (Wednesday) morning. He’s got to be re-evaluated,” was the only update Bowness could offer.

There were a couple other close calls on the night, with Josh Morrissey crashing hard into the boards after a bit of a can opener from Jordan Eberle, and Gabe Vilardi left bloodied after taking a high-stick to the face from Ryker Evans.

2) Top lines shine — If the Jets are going to make some noise in the playoffs, they’ll need their stars to shine bright. Bowness appears to have settled on a mix he likes when it comes to the top two forward lines, and both played big parts of this victory.

The first line of Connor, Mark Scheifele and Vilardi struck twice in the first period, with Connor burying goals No. 33 and 34 of the season. Scheifele and Morrissey had slick helpers on both, which bookended a Tomas Tatar goal in the opening frame.

“You know what I see in his game? I see him skating really well at both ends of the ice. He really is,” Bowness said of Connor.

“That tells you that he’s engaged in the game. There have been some great back checks. I know he’s scoring goals and creating things, but watch how hard that he comes back. When you see that in your player, you know that you’re totally engaged and he’s an elite offensive player, that when he’s engaged in the game, he’s going to get those opportunities and he’s going to bury them.”

Then it was time for the second line to shine, as Ehlers scored his 25th early in the second period off a nice feed from Toffoli, while Monahan did some heavy lifting in the offensive zone as well.

After Seattle’s Yanni Gourde and Tye Kartye erased the 3-1 deficit later in the frame, it was Toffoli (from Ehlers) who made the difference when he scored his 33rd with 8:20 left in regulation. The goal came at the tail end of a Jets power play.

Add it all up and Connor (two goals), Scheifele (two assists), Ehlers (goal, assist), Toffoli (goal, assist), Morrissey (two assists) and defenceman Neal Pionk (two assists) all had multi-point outings.

“It’s important to have all four lines going in the playoffs,” said Ehlers. “You’ve seen it throughout the years. It’s not the first line scoring every single night. It’s exciting to get everyone going. It changes every game, and we’ve got to keep that going. That’s how you win in the playoffs. It’s exciting for us.”

3) Jennings watch — Connor Hellebuyck wasn’t all that busy, but he was forced to make several quality stops to keep his team from falling behind once the game was tied and Winnipeg’s defensive zone structure slipped a bit early in the third period.

He finished the night with 20 saves, improving his personal record to 37-19-4 over 60 starts this season.

The Jets have now surrendered 197 goals this season through 81 games, which is the fewest in the NHL. Right behind them are the Florida Panthers, who played their 82nd game on Tuesday (5-2 win over Toronto) and finish the year with 200 goals against.

The team that gives up the least at the end of the year takes home the William M. Jennings Trophy. That does create something to keep an eye on Thursday night in an otherwise meaningless affair: The Jets will take home the honours if they can hold the Canucks to two goals or less. Give up three and they’ll share the award with Paul Maurice’s crew. Give up four or more and it’s second place.

The Jets were coming off back-to-back shutouts of the Dallas Stars (3-0) and Avalanche (7-0) to close out their road trip, and Tatar’s goal at 18:38 of the first period ended a streak of 151:19 (just over seven and-a-half periods) without surrendering a goal. Impressive stuff.

4) Good soldiers — With the Jets at their deepest and healthiest, some tough decisions have to be made. Forwards David Gustafsson, Cole Perfetti and Rasmus Kupari, along with defencemen Nate Schmidt and Colin Miller, were all healthy scratches on Tuesday.

With the team playing well, there’s simply no room for these guys in the lineup right now. And that likely isn’t going to change when the playoffs begin next week.

But if anyone is hanging their head feeling sorry for themselves, or angry about the hand they’ve been dealt, they’re certainly not showing it publicly. It appears to be an “all for one, one for all” mentality, which can be easier said than done when dealing with big egos and big salaries in the highly-competitive world of pro sports

“Listen, I give them all credit because they’ve all handled it like true pros,” Bowness said Tuesday morning of the good problem the team has.

“The worst part of being a coach is telling a guy who wants to play, who’s a competitive guy, he’s not playing. And to get ready just in case your name is called the next game. I give all these guys full marks for buying into the team. They know we have a good team here. They see the talent on the team and know we’ve had a really good season, so they understand the challenges of getting in and playing in the lineup. We’re fortunate to have the depth, and we’re fortunate that those guys are handling it like true pros.”

5) Extra, extra — The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 15,225. It was the eighth full house of the season, all of which have come over the last 22 games after Winnipeg had none in the first 18 games. Every ticket is already spoken for on Thursday, making it nine over the final 23.

There was a celebrity sighting at the game, as former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch took in the action from section 122. The former Seattle Seahawks star nicknamed “Beast Mode” is a minority investor in the Kraken, so he clearly wanted to take an up-close look at the product. Seattle is now 33-35-13 and will miss the playoffs for the second time in their three-year existence.

Winnipeg finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while Seattle went 0-for-1.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg