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The Winnipeg Jets wrapped up a 3-game road trip on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 Shootout win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Overall, the Jets went 1-1-1 on the trip.
Comrie shines
Eric Comrie got the win for the Jets Sunday. He has now won six consecutive games for his side. He is a pending UFA at season’s end. Given that he is good friends with Jets starting netminder Connor Hellebuyck, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Comrie get an extension to
remain as the team’s back-up goaltender for the foreseeable future.
However, he’s likely to get interest from other clubs. The Jets can’t just sit on this and assume Comrie will automatically stay at any price.
The big picture in focus
As of this writing, the Jets sit the points back of the Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 12 games remaining. On surface, it doesn’t seem like too large of a gap to close. However, there are 3 teams (Kings, Kraken and Sharks) between the Jets and the Predators in the standings. For this reason, the Jets odds of reaching the postseason remain slim at best.
With the Jets’ playoff hopes realistically dim, let’s take a look at a couple of individual milestones that may be reached n these last 12 games of an otherwise forgettable season.
Mark Scheifele: 100 points
Scheifele needs 17 points in the last 12 games to reach the 100-point plateau for the first time in his career. He has been the Jets top line centre for over a decade now. Reaching 100 points would be quite the achievement for him in a season where he was snubbed being left off the
Canadian Olympic Team.
Gabriel Vilardi: 30 goals and 82 games played
Last summer, Vilardi inked a 6-year contract extension to remain with the Jets organization. He has followed that up with a career year. He has played in all 70 of the team’s games thus far. That alone is a milestone in itself as he has never played more than 71 games in a single season
due to injuries.
Scoring in Sunday’s game, he also tied his career high of 27 goals in a single season. Vilardi has 12 games to eclipse that total and reach the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career. He has complemented the Jets top line and PP exceptionally well since his arrival.
The Jets return to Winnipeg Tuesday night when they play host to the playoff-bound Vegas Golden Knights.
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