Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin tonight for the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars. Both teams are coming off of thrilling game 7 comeback victories. The Jets took the season series 3-1. Based on the morning skate line rushes, it seems like both teams are in line to get reinforcements. Stars leading scorer Jason Robertson looks ready to return. On the flip side, the Jets top line centre Mark Scheifele looks poised to make his return to the Jets line-up after missing games 6 and 7 in the first round series.
Here are 3 keys to the Jets winning this series:
1) Returning To Full Health
It seems like the Jets will get a major boost with the return of Scheifele for game 1 of this series. But it looks like they will still be without their top defenceman, Josh Morrissey, who was injured early in game 7 on Sunday night. The Jets have yet to ice their full line-up for any game during these playoffs thus far. If they can get fully healthy, it will go a long way in winning this series against a very deep Stars team.
2) Regular Season Connor Hellebuyck
Although the Jets did defeat the Blues in an epic game 7, they did it with Hellebuyck once again posting a sub-.900 save percentage. Hellebuyck did not post a save percentage above 900 once in any of the 7 games in the first-round series. On top of that, he got pulled from every game in St. Louis, which was something that did not happen once in the regular season. Hopefully, with the weight of the world now off his shoulders, he can relax and get back to his regular-season Vezina/Hart trophy form. Anything less than that will not be good enough to beat the Stars in a 7-game series.
3) Keeping The Game 5 on 5
The Jets boasted the best PP in the regular season by a wide margin. However, due to the injury bug and the necessary constant line-up shuffling, their PP in the playoffs has been a shell of itself compared to what it was in the regular season thus far. On the flip side, the Stars PP was pivotal in defeating the Colorado Avalanche in round 1. Especially now, with Robertson returning to the line-up, there is a lot of firepower on the Stars man advantage. For the Jets sake, it’s to their advantage to stay out of the penalty box and keep the game 5 on 5 as much as possible.
Puck drop will be at 8:50 pm local time in Winnipeg tonight. Make sure to get your coffee beforehand.
Thanks for reading.
