The playoff outlook remains slim for both the Winnipeg Jets and the Blues heading into Thursday night’s matchup in St. Louis.
The Jets (34-31-12, 89 points) enter this crucial game four points back of the final Western Conference wild-card spot, held by the Nashville Predators, while the Blues (33-32-12, 78 points) sit six points out. Both teams have five games remaining.
St. Louis saw its playoff chances take a final major hit Tuesday with a 3-1 home loss to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche. While the Blues are not officially eliminated, their playoff percentage dropped to near-zero.
“No, we haven’t felt that pressure,” said Blues coach Jim Montgomery when asked if the pressure to win every night had gotten to his club. “(This) was more of a lesson for us from an elite team in the league about how you play in this league night in, night out to be able to be at this time of the year, where you don’t have to have the pressure of winning games and you just establish yourself … where you don’t have to go on a killer run, you’re just one of the elite teams that’s going to make the playoffs … that’s a lesson I hope that we learn from.”
Blues defenseman Philip Broberg was asked after the loss what it has been like playing with no margin for error.
“It is what it is,” said Broberg. “We don’t try to focus on that. We try to focus on getting better everyday and build something and play for each other.”
Since the return from the Olympic break in February, St. Louis has gone 13-4-3, nearly matched by Winnipeg’s 12-5-4 run.
The Jets have won six of their last eight, most recently a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Monday.
Despite their strong stretch, a playoff berth remains unlikely, if not entirely out of reach. Has that reality started to creep into the locker room?
“It’s our playoffs right now,” Brad Lambert said after scoring a goal in Monday’s victory. “We’ve got to win every game. It shows in our room and it shows in our game, the intensity that we have … we have full belief in ourselves.”
For Winnipeg to keep its postseason hopes alive, it will likely need to win all five of its remaining games and get help elsewhere.
Jets forward Cole Koepke said it can be challenging not to look ahead.
“I think a little bit at this time of the year,” Koepke said. “It’s pretty easy to look at standings and every team’s schedule and kind of what can happen here and there. I mean, all we really can do is focus on winning each individual game that’s coming up … and do what we need to do as a team to get ready.”
On the injury front, Winnipeg defenseman Elias Salomonsson remains in concussion protocol and has not resumed skating. Forward Gustav Nyquist is listed as day-to-day, while defenseman Colin Miller remains out with a knee injury.
