After 116 points and 56 wins, it was really hard to imagine that the Winnipeg Jets’ season was down to one last stand. At home, yes. But one last stand.
The resilience, the depth, the goaltending that made this team the Presidents’ Trophy winner hadn’t been able to navigate through coach Peter DeBoer’s Dallas Stars for the first four games of their second-round series. In many ways, it was bewildering and frustrating. And to be clear, in the other games, a Dallas Star, Mikko Rantanen, had been the best player — and goaltender Jake Oettinger had outduelled Connor Hellebuyck.
Thursday night’s 4-0 win over the Stars, which narrowed Dallas’s series lead to 3-2, was Game 94 for Scott Arniel’s Jets — 82 in the regular season, 12 in the post-season. It wasn’t the prettiest game. Far from it. But, the most tense? Maybe. It was a game that at times had little or no flow, as both Dallas and Winnipeg were waiting for the other team to make a mistake. It was hardly a work of art.
But last I checked, ugly wins count the same as pretty wins.
All the way back to October, this team has shown something special. And the fans knew that. Through the adversity of the St. Louis Blues first-round series, this team again showed something special. For sure, the fans knew that.
Winning has been in their DNA all season long. You could tell from the opening faceoff, this team was not prepared to be done. And as Thursday night evolved, once again, they proved this team was different. They were committed. And they were playing for each other. You could see it in Mark Scheifele, and Luke Schenn and Neal Pionk.
On this Thursday night, it would require the will to win, the will to survive. And as much as 15,225 were there to witness a Jets win, something was different. This edition of the Jets has given every ounce of energy to entertain this city and this province. And the fans have shared in the success and exuberance of the team’s victories. The team has given its all.
Frankly, after those 116 points, 56 wins and a fantastic season, the team didn’t owe anything more to the fans — they owed it to themselves. And yes, they rewarded themselves. The resilience was there, the depth was there, and yes, the goaltending was there.
Now let’s see if they can will their way to another Game 7.