It’s only one game, but the Winnipeg Jets provided some compelling evidence Saturday night that they are a different team than the one that had lost 12 of their previous 14 playoff games.
Throughout the regular season, whether it was head coach Scott Arniel — or pretty much any player who was part of that series sweep versus Montreal in 2021 or the five-game setbacks to Vegas and Colorado more recently — the singular message was that the 82-game schedule provided the opportunity to prepare for the adversity of the playoffs.
And to that end, perhaps the strongest argument they made in the come-from-behind victory over St. Louis on Saturday was looking every bit the same as the team that won the President’s Trophy.
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Even if the fans were anxious with Winnipeg spending just over half of Game 1 in the trail position, the players were not. Or at least they did not display even the slightest hint of that, methodically taking over the game from about the 30-minute mark on.
But the Jets can — and almost certainly will need to — be better Monday night.
Whether that’s a calmer and composed start, slowing down an all-of-a-sudden red-hot St. Louis power play, or reducing the Blues’ dominance at the faceoff dot, Winnipeg has to move the needle forward.
And that will be the next step in the process.
The franchise is 3-7 all-time in Game 2s, not having won in the second game of a series since Paul Stastny’s overtime goal versus Edmonton in an empty Rogers Place four years ago.
Arniel says it’s not a topic worth having a conversation about with his players, and he’s absolutely right. Because in the playoffs, the next game becomes the most important one.
And it wouldn’t it be something for the Jets to hold serve on home court and get over that Game 2 hump Monday night?
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