Winnipeg Jets Take Game 1 in Round Two of the Playoffs

When Game 1 of the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets was over, one thing was certain, the Jets stuck to their game plan, and by the look on Paul Maurice’s face, the game stats said Game 1 should not have had the outcome it did.

The Predators were the top team in the NHL during the regular season and outskated and shot the Winnipeg Jets through all three periods. Nashville had 87 attempts compared to the Jets 39, but the Jets stuck to their plan, and the result was a 4-1 win, just as they did in round one against the Minnesota Wild.

Speaking about Game 1, Paul Maurice said,

“I don’t feel as overwhelmed as the stats tell me I should. I’m usually pretty honest about that, I’m not trying to protect the group. It’s their building, they had the jump early. They put an awful lot of pucks to the net from all over the ice. I’m not worried about those stats. There certainly weren’t a lot of odd-man rushes or things like that of a real high-risk nature.”

The good thing for the Jets is they kept their composure, and much of how the game played out was part of the plan. Connor Hellebuyck was at his best last night and held off the hard-driving Predators in the Western Conference semi-finals.

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Winnipeg are only the fourth in the history of the NHL not to be given home-ice advantage after a 114 point season. Paul Stastny, forward for the Jets, while speaking about the first period said they knew it was going to be that way but that a good job was done by all to keep calm.

Explaining, Statsny said,

“Sometimes they are just regular shots on net, but the crowd is so into it, so loud that if you’re not prepared for it, you almost feel like you’re getting more pressure than you actually are. I think we settled down. We let Hellebuyck make the first save and then we got their second and third chances out of the way.”

Friday’s game was the first second-round playoff game Winnipeg has ever played, a franchise record if you will, being that the only other times they made the playoffs were in 85 and 87 and both times say the Jets eliminated in the first round.

Talking about Game 1 and the attempts Nashville had, Blake Wheeler, Team Captain for Winnipeg said,

“We can play better than that, we know that. Not every win is going to be exactly how you want it.”

P.K. Subban, feels that Nashville played one of the best games as a team in their history only to have nothing to show for their efforts. Commenting, he said,

“If I’m being honest, that’s the best game we’ve probably played in the playoffs,” Subban said. “The bounces didn’t go our way and that’s one we’re okay with. There’s no question how well we played tonight.

Predators coach Peter Laviolette, head coach for the Predators felt that Nashville had at least twenty-five solid scoring attempts last night.

“Right now you give me two choices on where to be, our game or their win, I’d take the win,” Laviolette said. “It’s about winning hockey games right now. I think you can hang your hat sometimes in the regular season when you’re talking about a process and the big picture. But we [have] got to win hockey games.”

Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele scored two goals for the Jets, Blake Wheeler earned two assists, Paul Stastny and Brandon Tanev also scored and earned one assist each. Kevin Fiala scored for Nashville, and Kyle Turris earned one assist.

The Predators and Jets will face off in Game 2 tomorrow night at 7 pm in Winnipeg. With a strong crowd of support behind then, home ice advantage could be the fuel needed to give the Jets a 2 game lead in the series.