The Winnipeg Jets with Their Back Against the Wall
The Winnipeg Jets went down in Game Three and now face a 2-1 deficit against the Vegas Golden Knights. For the first time this postseason, the Winnipeg Jets are down in a series.
The Winnipeg Jets have been must-miss TV the past two games. They lost in game two and couldn’t claw their way back from a 2-0 score in Game Three. Mark Scheifele tried his best to bring the Jets back, but he fell short.
Two goals from the playoff star weren’t enough to get all the way back. Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals for the second consecutive game. The man with the unsustainable shooting percentage is sustaining it for now. Woof.
We recently looked into the fact that it had been a while since the Jets won back to back contests. Well, the plus side of that little fun fact was that they weren’t losing back to back games. Actually, the Winnipeg Jets had not lost back to back games the entire postseason.
Pretty much the only way to not go down in a series where you can’t win two consecutive games is not to lose two consecutive. Pretty simple, right? They’ve always had a poor game and then had the ability to bounce back.
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Props to coach Paul Maurice and the old Fighting Spirit™ for always fighting back. It was the team’s biggest strength and a big reason why the Stanley Cup was within reach. Now, that’s all been threatened.
The Winnipeg Jets don’t face a must win Friday in Vegas. But hey, it’s about as close as you can get.
Going down 3-1 isn’t a death sentence, but it’s at least 15 to life. The team that goes down 3-1 loses the series upwards of 90% of the time. But the comebacks have happened, most recently the Rangers made a habit of it. They did it in back to back tournaments in 2014 and 2015.
The LA Kings also overcame a 3-0 deficit in that 2014 playoffs and ended up winning the Stanley Cup. It’s not impossible. But it’s not ideal. Going into Game Five with the series knotted up at 2-2 is what we would call ‘preferable’.
What led us here? It’s hard to say. Connor Hellebuyck hasn’t been very good. That’s usually a killer if you’re in a playoff series. But is defense letting him down? We’ll get into that another time.
Scoring might help, if you’re anyone on the team not named Mark Scheifele. Scheifele has three goals this series. Non-Scheifeles have four goals this series. That has to change as well.
Next: Winnipeg Jets Can't Win Back-to-Back Games
Regardless of how they arrived here, the Winnipeg Jets need to flip things very quickly or else there won’t be much hockey left. Maybe they’ll be stronger with their backs against the wall. This is our first chance to find out.