The Winnipeg Jets continue to face a long uphill battle on their bid to make the playoffs, but a recent 4–3 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues, coming at the end of a successful road trip, helps their case somewhat.
It was the Jets’ top dogs that got it done. Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring midway through the first period. Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele later scored 1:03 apart in the third period to give the Jets a 3–2 lead, and Pierre-Luc Dubois sealed the deal in overtime by burying a nifty no-look pass from Nikolaj Ehlers.
“A lot of these games to the end of the year, we have to win them,” Dubois said. “Whether it’s them or anybody else. We can’t lose too many games. This one, Tuesday against Vegas, every other game after that’s going to be a big two points for us.”
The Jets finished their three-game road trip with four points in the bag, but still find themselves four points below the second wild card spot.
“I think it’s just a good way to end a good road trip,” said team captain Wheeler after the game. “Two wins out of three. Hopefully, [we] go home and continue to roll a little bit at home.”
The team has three teams to leapfrog and will need to go on a significant run to give themselves a chance. The Jets must finish the season with about 92 points, which means winning 64 percent of their remaining 22 games.
This outcome may be plausible, but it’s not likely.
As the trade deadline approaches, the Jets brass cannot let short-term success cloud their judgement. Andrew Copp and Paul Stastny are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the season and should be traded for draft picks.
Copp is a durable top nine forward but has a history of concussions and appears unhappy riding alongside Adam Lowry on the third line. He would make an excellent depth addition for a team gearing up for a deep run in the playoffs and should net the Jets a second or third-round draft pick.
Stastny is more of a question mark. He’s playing some of the best hockey of his career, notching 17 goals so far this season. He’s on pace to eclipse the 20-goal mark for the first time since the 2013–2014 season. It’s possible he could net the Jets a first or second-round draft pick.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and his team need to focus on tinkering with the line-up—and that starts with trading Copp and Stastny prior to the March 21 trade deadline.
