DENVER - With the best-of-seven series tied 1-1, the Winnipeg Jets and the Colorado Avalanche will drop the puck on an important Game 3 tonight in Denver.
The Jets won the series opener by a 7-6 score before Colorado responded with a 5-2 win in Game 2. During the regular season, the Avalanche held the National Hockey League's best home record at 31-9-1, but two of those nine regulation losses came at the hands of the Jets - who own the NHL's third best road record at 25-13-3.
Sure, those wins in Denver might have been in the regular season, and the playoffs always present a different challenge. But they are still experiences the Jets can use heading into Game 3.
“We know we have the confidence in how we've played in this building and how we've felt,” said Mark Scheifele, who has scored in both games so far. “Obviously we're still going up against a good team. Obviously it's going to be a different animal being in the playoffs. But we're excited to take that challenge in stride and obviously we know it's going to be a great atmosphere out there. So we're looking forward to it."
In a sense, the two days between Game 2 and 3 have also been beneficial for the Jets - especially when it comes to adjusting to the altitude in the Mile High City.
“Usually if you have a tough shift it probably hits you a little earlier than it would back home,” said Scheifele. “But we've played a lot of times in this building. I think it was nice we came in a couple days early. We had a good practice yesterday. The quicker you can get your body acclimatized the better. It's always a little different here but we've dealt with that before."
Jets head coach Rick Bowness confirmed after the morning skate that Nate Schmidt will make his series debut tonight alongside Dylan Samberg.
The duo played the third most five-on-five minutes of any Jets defensive pair this season, and Samberg believes that experience together will be helpful tonight.
“Especially early on, we had really good numbers defensively as a pairing,” said Samberg. “Schmidty is always on me about communication and joining the play. I think that’s when we’re at our best.”
The 24-year-old Samberg, who played his first five Stanley Cup playoff games last spring, has spent the first two games of this series against Colorado on the right side. He’s comfortable playing there, even as a left-hand shot, but being back on the left side - where he spent the majority of the regular season - gets him into a spot he’s a bit more familiar with.
With that change on the blue line, it’s expected that the Jets line-up will look like this, with Connor Hellebuyck getting the start:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Monahan-Toffoli
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Namestnikov-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Regardless of what side Samberg is on, he knows he’ll be facing a lot of pressure from the Avalanche forecheck.
“They’re definitely coming harder than they did in the regular season. That’s for sure,” said Samberg. “They have a really good team. They skate fast and you have to make plays quick. Especially in the o-zone, they’re coming out hard on our defencemen. It’s just moving the puck quick and making the simple play.”
When the Jets are able to break the puck out, they’re able to limit the amount of time Colorado spends on offence and increase the amount of time they have to defend.
But even in the offensive zone, Bowness would like to see his team get off the boards a bit more.
“We have to use the ice a little bit better. We have to move the puck to our D a lot quicker,” said Bowness after Thursday’s practice. “The way they defend, when we get slow we get bogged down in the corners. We're trying to get pucks out of the corner. That's what we're trying to do. Use that open ice a little bit better.”
In a series with 20 goals in two games, it’s hard to predict what might occur in Game 3.
“The players are dictating what’s going on out there, they’re all engaged, they’re all playing hard,” said Bowness. “we would like to have scored more than two last game. We had some really good looks that we didn’t capitalize on. Listen, it’s the most explosive team in the league and they’re going to create their chances. We have to make sure we do our best to minimize them and obviously take care of the puck when we get it and create a little bit more.”
Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
