Mar 28, 2022
Red-hot Jets move within two points of a playoff spot
With wins in four of their past five games, the Winnipeg Jets now sit just two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Mark Scheifele lifted the Jets to their latest win on Sunday, scoring his second goal of the game with 9.7 seconds left in overtime as Winnipeg defeated the Arizona Coyotes 2-1.
TSN.ca Staff
With wins in four of their past five games, the Winnipeg Jets now sit just two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Mark Scheifele lifted the Jets to their latest win on Sunday, scoring his second goal of the game with 9.7 seconds left in overtime as Winnipeg defeated the Arizona Coyotes 2-1.
"Obviously, we want to make the playoffs, but we know we're not going to make the playoffs in one game," Scheifele said after the victory. "And all you can do is take each game in stride, play your best, leave it all on the ice and control what you can control. That's all we can do."
The Jets have one game in hand on the Golden Knights in the crowded wild-card race, but also face competition from the Dallas Stars, who are one point back of the Golden Knights with four games in hand.
Winnipeg has reached the postseason in each of the past four seasons, last missing the playoffs in 2017.
After the team's 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, the Jets odds to make the playoffs fell from +425 to +750.
However, after picking up back-to-back wins, the Jets have rejoined the playoff conversation and have seen their odds shorten to +550, giving them the implied odds of 15.38 per cent of making the postseason.
"That team needed to win badly, they needed those two points," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said of the Jets. "You want to be a proud team, a proud organization who fights every game and makes it really tough on your opponent. We don't have the same opportunity as them in the sense that we know we won't be in the playoffs, but at the same time, we want to fight with the same urgency, the same determination, the same pride, and we did it tonight."
The Jets will look to continue their playoff push when they visit the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.