WINNIPEG — Whether it was an usher, a security guard or a drunk fan, everybody near the exits at Canada Life Centre was saying the same thing.
“See you Monday.”
Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars — which narrowed the Winnipeg Jets’ series deficit to 3-2 — hardly guaranteed a Game 7 being played here on Monday. But it made it seem within reach.
“It might take seven,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said after the game. “They’re a good enough team, it could.”
Especially when the Jets play like they did in Game 5.
“That was our whole roster stepping up and knowing what the challenge was in front of us. And putting their best game on the ice,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “And it was everybody. Forwards, (defenceman), goaltender. It was everybody stepping up, not wanting to be eliminated tonight. You could see it right from the puck drop, the opening shift. We didn’t take our foot off the gas.”
Winnipeg’s effort, which the hit and shot totals illustrate, was one thing, but it was their precision, above all, that led to them extending their season.
It was the extra five to 10 per cent that they could’ve used in Game 4, where they were the better team for large spurts.
“It’s everybody just taking it up a notch, winning battles,” Kyle Connor said. “If you just look at it over the course of the game, how many 50-50 battles there are, it adds up.”
Little things like that are a testament to the in-game momentum that is so crucial come playoff time. It’s the foundation to the ‘Jets hockey’ template this team strives for, game in and game out.
They make life difficult for their opponents’ best players, and Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley can attest to that after Game 5, with each defenceman being on the receiving end of seven hits. They tamed the ‘Moose,’ holding Mikko Rantanen to just one shot during five-on-five play.
And when these Jets are outworking their opponent, their skill usually finds a way of shining.
The power play finally came back to life, converting on two of the five attempts.
“That power play in the second when they had a lot of chances and didn’t connect but they built on the momentum and energy in the building,” Adam Lowry said. “Even them just coming back to the bench with the confidence that they were moving pucks, they were creating. Then looking to third, them getting one to kind of ice the game, that was huge.”
When the Jets are well-connected as a five-man unit, it trickles back to the netminder who, in this round, is worthy of those “M-V-P chants.” Connor Hellebuyck looked like a stone-cold killer, stopping all 22 shots faced en route to recording his second shutout of the series.
We’re not seeing the ‘Playoff Hellebuyck’ we’ve come to know. This is the Hellebuyck we’ve come to know throughout recent regular seasons, capable of stealing games. And when he’s dialled in? Oof. Good luck.
“It’s unfortunate that we got into this position. But you know what? I believe in this group, I believe in myself, and I believe in all of our fans,” Hellebuyck said.
Yes, the fans are part of it, too. When those aforementioned dominoes fall into place, they’re even crazier than usual.
“This playoffs, believe me, we can feel it,” Arniel said of the crowd support. “We can really feel it. There’s another wave that comes into this building and it kind of pulls you along. Our guys were riding on it tonight. But that’s what you love. We’d love for a chance to come back and do it in Game 7, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us in Game 6. To reward our fans and to give them a chance to see another game, that’s what we were looking to do.”
Perhaps we will see you back here on Monday.
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