The Winnipeg Jets are back on home ice tonight for Game 5 of their best-of-seven First Round Series against the St. Louis Blues…The Jets beat the Blues 2-1 in overtime in Game 4 in St. Louis to even the series at two wins apiece…Game 6 of the series goes Saturday night in St. Louis, while Game 7, if necessary, is slated to be back in Winnipeg on Monday.
Back in the Whiteout
The Jets are trying to be the first team to win on home ice tonight when they return to the Whiteout at Bell MTS Place…The Jets had one of the best home records in the NHL during the regular season at 25-12-4, but have lost five consecutive games on home ice dating back to the regular season…Winnipeg is 1-6 in their past seven home playoff games, with four of the losses coming by one goal…Last season in the playoffs, the Jets went 5-3 on home ice, including winning their first four home games.
Getting Their Shots In
The Jets outshot St. Louis 39-32 in Game 4…It was the first time in the series
that Winnipeg outshot St. Louis and the first time Winnipeg had more than 30
shots in a game in the series…The Jets have had 52.7% of the shot attempts in
the series…According to Naturalstattick.com, the Jets have the edge in expected
goals in the series at 7.37-6.54 and have 37 high-dangerous scoring chances,
compared to 22 for St. Louis.
Back in the Dance
The Jets are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season…It’s
the first time in franchise history that the Jets have reached the playoffs in
back-to-back seasons and fourth time overall.
| Records in Seasons When Making the Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Year | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | PIM | PP% | PK% |
| 2006-07 | 82 | 43 | 28 | 11 | 97 | 239 | 241 | 1097 | 16.5 | 79.8 |
| 2014-15 | 82 | 43 | 26 | 13 | 99 | 223 | 204 | 1068 | 17.8 | 81.8 |
| 2017-18 | 82 | 52 | 20 | 10 | 114 | 273 | 216 | 697 | 23.4 | 81.8 |
| 2018-19 | 82 | 47 | 30 | 5 | 99 | 270 | 243 | 759 | 24.8 | 79.1 |
New Playoff Foe
This is the sixth playoff series in franchise history and the sixth time the
Jets face a different opponent…The then-Atlanta Thrashers played the New York
Rangers in 2006…The Jets made the playoffs for the first time after relocation
in 2015 and met the Anaheim Ducks in the first round…Last season, Winnipeg
played the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights.
Central Rivals
The Jets went 13-12-1 against Central Division teams during the regular season,
which is their poorest divisional record since going 11-16-2 during the 2015-16
season…Winnipeg has been above .500 against their divisional foes in four of
six seasons since moving to the Central Division…Winnipeg finished the season
4-7-1 in their last 12 games against Central Division teams and three of the
four wins came against Nashville…Since the start of the 2016- 17 season, the
Jets are 47-29-5 against Central Division teams, which is second in the NHL…In
that same time frame, Blake Wheeler leads all NHLers in scoring against the
Central Division with 98 points (28G, 70A) in 81 games, while Mark Scheifele
has 90 points (37G, 53A) in 73 games.
Fearless Leader
Jets head coach
Paul Maurice is coaching in the postseason for the seventh time in his
career…Maurice is 36-42 behind the bench in playoff games, with the highlight
of his postseason success coming in 2002 when he coached the Carolina
Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup final…The nine playoff wins the Jets posted last
season is the second most Maurice has had in a playoff run, next to the 2002
season.
Top Line
Winnipeg’s top line of Mark Scheifele (1G, 1A), Kyle Connor (1G, 1A) and Blake
Wheeler (2A) combined for both of Winnipeg’s goals in Game 4…The trio, along
with Dustin Byfuglien, lead the Jets in playoff scoring with five points in
four games…Wheeler (20G, 71A), Scheifele (38G, 46A), and Connor (34G, 32A) were
the top three point-getters for the Jets in the regular season.
KC in OT
Kyle Connor became the first player in franchise history to score a playoff
overtime goal when he scored at 6:02 into overtime in Game 4…He’s scored three
overtime winners in regular season games during his career.
Playoff Buff
Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien leads the Jets in average ice time during the playoffs
at 25:42…It’s more than a minute more than his average of 24:22 during the
regular season…He averaged 26:30 TOI per game during the 2018 playoffs…While he
was held pointless in Game 4, Byfuglien is still tied for the team lead in
scoring with five points (1G, 4A) in four games…For his career, Byfuglien
averages .73 points per game in the playoffs and .60 points per game during the
regular season.
Playoff History
All-Time Playoff Appearance: 4th
Consecutive Playoff Appearance: 2
Most Recent Playoff Appearance: 2018 (FR: 4-1 W vs. MIN; SR: 4-3
W vs. NSH; CF: 4-1 L vs. VGK)
All-Time Playoff Record: 11-18 in 29 GP (2-3 in 5 series)
Playoff Records
Game 7s: 1-0 (0-0 at home, 1-0 on road)
Overtime: 1-2 (0-1 at home, 1-1 on road)
Facing Elimination: 1-3 (0-2 at home, 1-1 on road)
With Chance to Clinch Series: 2-1 (1-1 at home, 1-0 on road)