The 2021-2022 regular season has had its fair share of ups and downs for the Winnipeg Jets. From inconsistent play to Paul Maurice resigning and an interesting trade deadline, the Jets still have a chance to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It is a slim chance to make the postseason, according to one source it is actually 10.4%, but the Jets have their hat in a five-team race for the two Western Conference Wild Card playoff spots.
Last night the Jets picked up two crucial points by beating the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 in overtime to propel them into fourth place in the Wild Card race. This now puts Winnipeg two points behind the Golden Knights, who sit in the second Wild Card playoff spot, with the Jets having only 15 games remaining in the season.
The Winnipeg Jets need some help from other teams to make the playoffs
You may be asking yourself: if the Jets are only two points out of playoff position, why do they need help to catch that spot? This is because you have to look at the Dallas Stars who are in third place in the race.
The Stars have played 64 games this season which is the co-least amount of games played by a team in the Western Conference. They sit one point ahead of the Jets and one point behind the Golden Knights.
Dallas has a whopping four games in hand on Vegas and three games in hand on the Jets, but no games in hand on the St. Louis Blues who sit in the first Wild Card spot with 79 points from 64 games.
Therefore, if Dallas wins all the games in hand on Winnipeg then they would move seven points ahead of the Jets. In essence, if the Stars won all their games in hand on the Jets, this would give the Stars 81 points in 67 games while the Jets have 74 points in the same amount of time.
Besides trying to pick up as many points as possible down the stretch, the Jets cannot help themselves out any other way to stop the Stars because these sides do not play against each other during the rest of the season. So, the Jets need help from other teams around the league to deny the Stars from winning their games in hand.
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