While a clash of the NHL’s top two teams looms this weekend, the Winnipeg Jets have business to take care of first as they continue a three-game road trip in the East against the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
The Western Conference-leading Jets have won four straight after starting the current trip with a 4-1 Tuesday win over the Montreal Canadiens and now turn their attention to clinching a season series sweep of the Bruins, who they trounced 8-1 back on Dec. 10.
“We’ve just played simple, we haven’t tried to overcomplicate the game,” Jets alternate captain Mark Scheifele said. “We get pucks deep, we’re a tough team when we play in the O-zone. We hold onto pucks, we make the other team defend, and (Tuesday) was a prime example of that.”
Kyle Connor’s two goals led a five-point performance from the Jets’ top line, as Scheifele also scored and Gabriel Vilardi — who has points in each of the team’s last four — dished two assists.
Connor and Scheifele each have a team-leading 29 goals this season, moving within one of reaching the 30-goal plateau for the seventh and fourth time in their careers, respectively.
“I’ve seen a lot of good shooters, guys with quick releases, but he’s in the top five for me with some of the best at shooting that puck,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said of Connor.
Scheifele is also two goals shy of tying Ilya Kovalchuk (328) for the most in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise history, but he hopes to involve the talent surrounding him more.
“I’d like to have a lot more assists right now. I’d like for (Connor) to have more (goals) than me. I pride myself on my passing,” Scheifele said. “I think I have more goals than I do assists (28) right now, so I’ve got to set him up for more in the future.”
A season of inconsistency continued Tuesday for the Bruins, who had won back-to-back games and five of their past seven (5-1-1) before a 7-2 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
The game showcased a disturbing trend to interim coach Joe Sacco that must be corrected if they want to maintain a playoff position. Buffalo responded to both goals — by Mason Lohrei and captain Brad Marchand — in less than a minute.
“I didn’t like the way we managed (the game),” Sacco said. “You’re going to make mistakes … in the course of a game, but it’s how we respond right after those mistakes. … A couple of goals that we scored, they respond right away.”
While the Bruins sat inside the playoff structure as the No. 1 wild-card team as of Wednesday, the five teams below them in the standings all had at least two games in hand. Their position is anything but certain.
“We’re obviously desperate right now and we can’t afford to have games like this where we’re not prepared,” Marchand said. “We need every point. (Buffalo is) a better team than what their record shows. … You need to come prepared to play and ready to compete harder than that.”
Boston played Tuesday without its top three defensemen as Brandon Carlo (illness) joined Charlie McAvoy (undisclosed injury) and Hampus Lindholm (lower-body) out of the lineup. McAvoy and Lindholm have returned to full team practice and, along with Carlo, took part in an optional Wednesday skate.
Sacco did not completely rule out anyone besides forward Mark Kastelic (undisclosed) from playing on Thursday.
“When a team is short-handed a little bit, it doesn’t help anything,” McAvoy said. “I’m excited to get back, and I know âLindy’ is the same way. Whatever we can do to get back and help the team — we’re in a spot where every single game matters.”
