Note: The Jets find themselves in a brutal place after last night’s 5-1 loss to the Habs in game 3. About the only good news for the club is rather than sit and stew about it they get to play game 4 tonight in Montreal. Of course they are going to need to play a much more cohesive game if they want to have success. Since they played last night a morning skate isn’t expected but they will hold a player media availability at 10 AM and coach Maurice will speak at 11 AM. Stay tuned for our game 4 pre-game report and then puck drop is at 7 pm. Reminder join us for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show once the final buzzer sounds in Montreal.
Note II: He was signed by the Jets a week ago to his first ever NHL contract after an excellent rookie campaign in the pros with the Moose. You can check out my 1 on 1 with Jeff Malott later today. Update: You can watch it here.
Note III: What an unexpectedly terrific year of development for Jets 2020 1st rounder Cole Perfetti. Plays (and takes home silver)in the World Juniors, has a heck of a first-year pro in the AHL with the Moose and ends it with a World Championship gold medal in Latvia on Saturday.
Jets news:
The Athletic Winnipeg: Charting Winnipeg’s self-inflicted path to the brink of elimination: ‘You’ve got to keep believing’. (Paywall). Given that the local NHL club swept the Oilers (although it was a close series relatively speaking) it is quite shocking that they currently find themselves facing a similar fate. Murat has more.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets look lost, beaten, as they reach the brink. About the only positive for Winnipeg is they don’t have time to dwell and lament this game 3 loss with game 4 tonight right back in Montreal.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Winnipeg Sun: Canadiens crush Jets in Game 3 to take 3-0 stranglehold on North Division final. While the Jets have shown an ability this season to fight back in games last night that spirit just wasn’t there.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets fall to Canadiens 5-1, trail series 3-0. (Paywall). Jeff recaps last night’s contest.
Winnipeg Free Press: The team that couldn’t score. (Paywall). If I told you that Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor, Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele have combined for one goal in this series do you really think that Winnipeg would have a snowballs chance in hell of winning it?
Sportsnet: Jets need offence, desperation in order to extend series vs. Canadiens. Paging any of the aforementioned players as Winnipeg will need contributions from 27, 13, 81 and 26 if they expect this series to return to Winnipeg for a game 5.
Sportsnet: Canadiens take commanding series lead by continuing to frustrate Jets. There isn’t anything pretty about the way the Habs win but as Jordie Benn prophetically said before game 3 “defence wins championships” and while I don’t think it will be successful next round for now it appears to be a difference in the series.
Montreal Gazette: ‘Playoffs are the best time of year’. Maybe if you are south of the border watching games with full buildings but what we are seeing here in Canada really is a shadow of playoff hockey.
Montreal Gazette: Canadiens put Jets on the brink with sixth straight win. First goal tonight is gonna be pretty, pretty, pretty important for the visitors.
Jets video:
Sportsnet: Breaking down what’s behind Canadiens’ success over Jets. Sportsnet’s David Amber and Elliotte Friedman discuss what the Montreal Canadians are doing that’s frustrating the Winnipeg Jets after taking a 3-0 series lead heading into Game 4.
Sportsnet: The Canadiens style is prevailing in series against Jets. Sean Reynolds and Eric Engels discuss how the Montreal Canadiens are dominating the Winnipeg Jets and enforcing their game style into the series.
TSN: Nothing is going right for Jets’ struggling offence. The Jets offence has hit a drought and their special teams have compounded their problems as they find themselves down 3-0 in their second-round series against the Canadiens. TSN Jets reporter Sara Orlesky discusses Winnipeg’s issues.
TSN: Danault’s value is not measured on the stat sheet. The line of Joel Armia, Eric Staal and Corey Perry has worn down the Jets and have been controlling the play on the offensive zone which has been a big reason for Montreal’s 3-0 series lead. Craig Button discusses the impact of that line and the importance of Phillip Danault in Game 3.
TSN: Jets have no answer for ‘Northern juggernaut’ Canadiens. The Canadiens have somehow grown into a powerhouse incapable of losing and as the Jets are finding out, the Habs are just getting better which each passing game. The TSN Hockey panel breaks down Montreal’s impressive Game 3 win and discusses what’s missing from Winnipeg in this series.
