Those scoring woes are officially in the rearview mirror for the
Winnipeg Jets.
After going through a surprising stretch in which it was held to
one or fewer goals in five out of seven games, Winnipeg has
regained its offensive swagger.
Entering Thursday’s road game against the Minnesota Wild, the Jets
(27-13-2) have scored 12 goals in their last two games. Seven
different players lit the lamp in their 7-4 victory over the
Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
“We like what we can do offensively,” said Jets captain Blake
Wheeler, who collected one goal and four points against the
Avalanche. “There’s going to be nights when we’re pouring it on and
their goalie plays well, and there’s going to be nights when we get
a few and make the most of our chances.”
Winnipeg made the most of its chances in the first half of the
clash with the Avs, scoring four times on its first 11 shots on
goal, but the real display came after the second intermission.
Colorado managed to pull within one thanks to a couple of late
second-period goals, but that’s when the Jets put the pedal to the
metal and went on to claim their third win in four outings.
“It’s not the mistakes that change the momentum, it’s what you do
after the momentum’s changed,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “It
deserved to be 4-3 after two (periods). They capitalized on a
couple of mistakes, but we came out right and put ourselves back in
a strong position.”
Despite coming off a 4-0 thumping at the hands of the Boston Bruins
on Tuesday, Minnesota (21-18-3) feels it is in a pretty strong
position, too.
Fatigue was a factor, as the Wild were finishing a four-game road
trip and fell behind early. Minnesota won the first three outings
on that trip and remains hopeful that a turning point has been
found amidst what’s becoming a middling season.
Sure, the Wild sit in a wild-card spot, but everybody in the
Minnesota dressing room believes they are part of a club that
should be in a better spot and playing with more consistency.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the result tonight,” Wild
forward Eric Staal said after the loss at Boston. “But we did have
some good wins and played some good hockey and we’ve gotta take
that with us when we go home.”
Minnesota will play five of the next six games at home, and has an
opportunity to string together a winning streak with clashes
against the likes of the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers,
Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets on the
docket following the Winnipeg tilt.
“We finally got ourselves back in the race here,” said coach Bruce
Boudreau. “We gotta push forward here. That’s what you gotta do.”