Die Anpflanzler [DA] » Captain Blake Wheeler wasn’t certain

WINNIPEG Youth Tyler Pitlick Jersey , Manitoba (AP) at the beginning of the season if his Winnipeg Jets would contend for a playoff spot. Now he has his answer.Mark Scheifele scored the only goal in a shootout and the Winnipeg Jets clinched a playoff spot with a 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.The Jets are in the postseason for the first time since 2014-15 and just the second time since their move from Atlanta before the 2011-12 season. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff series since 2007.”A lot of uncertainty coming into the year, where we were going to be,” said Wheeler, who has been with Winnipeg since the relocation. ”I don’t think many people thought we were going to be where we are at, a playoff team. Every single guy in here has had a huge part in that. It’s a big moment for our team and for our organization.”Jets rookie Kyle Connor scored a power-play goal and had two assists, giving him seven goals in six games. That includes a pair of overtime goals in Winnipeg’s previous two games and gives him 29 on the season. That’s tied with Vancouver’s Brock Boeser for the rookie goal scoring lead. Boeser’s season ended March 5 with a fracture in his lower back.”He’s one of the single biggest reasons why we are where we are,” Wheeler said. ”(Connor has) put up nearly 30 goals and is a real impact player playing with Mark Scheifele and I. It’s quite a surprise.”Dustin Byfuglien also scored on the power play, and Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler each added a goal and an assist for Winnipeg.Kyle Turris, Ryan Ellis Tyler Seguin Jersey , and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, and Roman Josi also scored for the Predators.Nashville backup Juuse Saros stopped 43 shots while the defending Western Conference champions rested their Vezina Trophy candidate Pekka Rinne after playing the night before in Minnesota.Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves for the Jets, improving to 39-11-0.The clubs have combined for 41 goals in five meetings this season.”There’s a lot of people shooting the puck out there. They got a lot of talent on their team,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. ”Our guys do a pretty good job scoring goals. I can’t explain it. Both teams have good goaltending. Both teams played pretty good defense, but offense seems to rule the day.”The Predators went 1 for 5 on the power play. Turris’s 14th put the Predators up 2-0 with less than one second remaining in the first period. The Jets’ two goals with the man advantage put their power play at 2 for 5.”I think playoffs are a lot different, to be honest with you,” said Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm when asked about potentially meeting the Jets in the postseason.”It’s most likely going to be the same players, so I wouldn’t expect anything much different. But playoffs are playoffs. I know on our part, we’re going to tighten up defensively http://www.avalancheshoponline.com/authentic-alexander-kerfoot-jersey , for sure.”NOTES: The Jets trail the Predators by five points for first in the Central Division with seven games remaining in the regular season.UP NEXTPredators: Start a three-game homestand against Minnesota on Tuesday night.Jets: Complete a six-game homestand against Boston on Tuesday night.— WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A day after the Winnipeg Jets blew a three-goal lead in the third period and lost in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers, Jets coach Paul Maurice could easily have pulled the bag skate out of his hat.After all, those games are a guaranteed two points 99 percent of the time.Make that 97 percent, to match Oilers superstar Connor McDavid’s number. The two-time defending scoring champion was part of four goals and a threat every time he hopped over the boards at Bell MTS Place.Article continues below ...The Jets were practically automatic last year in shutting down games once they got the lead in the third period, but an inability to stymie the player Sidney Crosby calls the best player in the world did them in.Instead of Maurice punishing his players, he held a spirited but light-hearted practice on Wednesday.But that didn’t mean the players forgot about their missed opportunities. Jets captain Blake Wheeler didn’t shirk his line’s responsibility in giving up the goal that started the Oilers’ comeback, 18 seconds into the third period by winger Ty Rattie. It was assisted by McDavid, who finished with two goals and assists.“(At) 4-1 should be game over. Our line went out Womens Carl Soderberg Jersey , gave up one early on and (that) gave them momentum,” Wheeler told the Winnipeg Sun. “You’re fighting an uphill battle from there. You don’t feel like (McDavid) is having much impact on the game and he already has a goal. And then like that, there’s a four-point night. It just shows you how special he is.“You can’t take your eye off him for a second. The speed, obviously, is incredible. He just makes so many little plays happen. Trying to keep him off the board is a tough challenge. You try to do the best you can. Four (points) is obviously not a good number for our group.”The Jets are 1-0-1 thus far during a six-game homestand and 3-2-1 overall.The Canucks come to town on the heels of an impressive 3-2 road victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, improving to 4-2-0 to begin the season, not exactly the start many observers were predicting for the first season in forever without Henrik and Daniel Sedin leading the way.While the Oilers were able to lean heavily on their scoring leader against the Jets, the Canucks won’t be able to do as forward Elias Pettersson is recovering from a head injury after being body-slammed into the ice by Mike Matheson of the Florida Panthers last week.They will, however Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids , depend on last year’s leading scorer, right winger Brock Boeser, doing more of what he did Tuesday, when he ended the game 34 seconds into overtime with a seeing-eye wrist shot.Canucks coach Travis Green praised a solid team effort against a perennial Stanley Cup favorite.“What a road game that was against a hockey team that’s obviously pretty deep,” he said in a postgame scrum. “I think we’re starting to figure out how we need to play as a group. I remember, about two weeks ago, talking about identity. We’re learning how to win some hockey games.”