8:30 pm CT – TV: Sportsnet/CBC; Radio: 680 CJOB/Power 97
WINNIPEG- They haven’t had much time to enjoy their Game 7 win over the St. Louis Blues, but the Winnipeg Jets don’t mind as they prepare for the opening game of their Second Round series with the Dallas Stars.
It’s the first contest in Stanley Cup Playoffs history where both teams are immediately coming off a multi-goal comeback victory during a Game 7. Wednesday will mark the fourth series to start where each club followed a one-goal comeback win in a Game 7. The others: the 2003 Conference Semifinals between the Wild and Canucks, 2001 Conference Finals between the Devils and Penguins as well as the 1984 Conference Finals between the Oilers and Minnesota North Stars.
One player who will be excited to get back on the ice will be the Jets Connor Hellebuyck who made critical saves to keep his team alive in the third period and throughout both overtimes on Sunday night. Hellebuyck was pulled three times in the last series in St. Louis, after Game 4 and 6, the fans at Canada Life Centre gave him their support by chanting MVP during his introductions.
“It’s just so awesome to be part of that. Something I cherish so deeply. It’s a big reason why I’m going to be a Jet for life. This crowd believes in me, this team believes in me, as much as I believe in myself,” said Hellebuyck.
“That’s dangerous. That’s when things get going and things get rolling. Having them behind me, I don’t want to say (it’s) a sigh of relief but just a proud moment in my world.”
The Jets will need their star goaltender at his best, Hellebuyck went 3-1 against the Stars during the regular season with a 1.01 goals against average, .965 save percentage and one shutout. Winnipeg will attempt to channel the emotion of getting past the first round in dramatic fashion and turn the page quickly to get ready for Dallas.
“It’s a little bit of both,” said Neal Pionk.
“I think we can ride the momentum from the last series win, but at the same time, reset and get ready for a new challenge with Dallas.”
Make sure to watch the pregame show at 12:30 CT with Sara Orlesky and Jamie Thomas.
At morning skate, there was some excitement because Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey and Logan Stanley were all out of non-contact jerseys. However, only Scheifele took part of line rushes and was on the top power play unit during practice. The 32-year-old missed most of Game 5 and then all of the final two games of the series with the Blues.
“The biggest thing is that it’s good to see that we’re getting healthy. Getting Gabe back in that series, getting Nik back in that series, was big,” said Arniel.
“I’m sure Dallas is thinking the same thing, with their injuries and getting their top guys back. At the end of the day, it certainly helps your group when you have that depth and that’s the biggest thing for me. That depth is now back there.”
Morrissey and Stanley will be game-time decisions but if either of them don’t play, Haydn Fleury will pair with Dylan DeMelo and Colin Miller will come in to skate with Luke Schenn. Schenn is looking forward to turning the page on the St. Louis series and getting back to business in tonight’s game with another division rival.
“Obviously, everyone’s real proud of the way that we battled back in the last one, but in saying that, that’s in the past now and we got to just kind of build off it,” said Schenn.
“And obviously Dallas had a huge Game 7 too, so both teams are feeling obviously pretty good about themselves. It’s gonna be another great series.”
