Note: The Jets had a day of practice on Wednesday following their game 1 win on Tuesday night. There is still a question mark surrounding the status of Nikolaj Ehlers who remains day-to-day. There will be a 1 PM CDT “morning” skate. All the relevant news will be posted in the pre-game report so check back for that. Puck drop is at 9 PM CDT.
Note II: This evening, after the final buzzer sounds between Winnipeg and Vegas, we want you to be part of the conversation on the Illegal Curve Playoff Post-Game Show as we discuss and analyze the results of game 2.
Note III: Winnipeg also announced a signing as they inked veteran forward Dominic Toninato (currently with the Moose) to a two-year deal.
Note IV: The Moose hit the ice for their first practice of the playoffs yesterday. It was informative as I got updates on Declan Chisholm and Kristian Reichel. They are off today.
Note V: Little OT magic was required for the Ice in Moose Jaw as Winnipeg evened the series 2-2 courtesy of this PP GWG by Zack Ostapchuk. Game 5 is Saturday in Winnipeg at 7:30 PM. You can go right from the Jets game to the Ice game. That should make for a fun hockey day in the ‘Peg.
Note VI: Jets 2022 1st rounder Brad Lambert had two assists as his Seattle Thunderbirds completed their second straight series sweep last night defeating the Cougars in Prince George 8-2. Gives him 2G 14A in six games (missed 2 due to illness). He’s now 4th in WHL playoff scoring.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Sun: Jets find lighter side after gruesome injury to Morgan Barron. Makes me think of Kramer when he’s smoked too much tobacco and he says “Look away I’m hideous”. Barron has a good sense of humour so I am sure he probably took these friendly quips well.
Winnipeg Sun: No comfort for Jets after Game 1 win over Golden Knights. No resting on their laurels for Winnipeg as they know Vegas is going to be coming at them hard in game two.
Winnipeg Sun: Will he or won’t he? Playing the clue game with Jets’ Ehlers. Given that Jets bench boss Rick Bowness is remaining steadfast in his “we’ll see” approach to the situation about the only way to know for certain is if the coach confirms it after morning skate today or if Ehlers takes line rushes in warm-up. All part of the gamesmanship of the playoffs.
Winnipeg Sun: The Winnipeg Jets are Canada’s team, at least for a day. For some folks maybe. However there are lots of folks happy to not see any Canadian team other than their own win. Of course Paul’s point was about the fact that they were the only Canadian team to win game one. Subsequent to his writing this column the Oilers have now evened the series.
Winnipeg Free Press: Time for the Jets to write their own bit of hockey history. (Paywall). I know there are folks who are saying “remember what happened in 2017-18” but that was five years ago and both teams have made significant changes both on the benches and to their respective lineups. That’s not to say history cannot repeat itself but seems like an unnecessary “cautionary tale”.
Sportsnet: Jets’ Dubois carrying beast mode momentum right into series vs. Golden Knights. There’s lots of talk about what he did when he was with Columbus against Toronto a few years back in the playoffs and folks are hoping what they are seeing is him channeling his inner playoff animal.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Sportsnet: Jets’ Barron’s return from frightening injury part of NHL DNA. I can see the Coach’s Corner segment in my mind with Don Cherry showing that clip and then lauding Barron, in his first full NHL season, for returning to the game after being stitched up.
Daily Faceoff: Are the Winnipeg Jets already in the Vegas Golden Knights’ heads? Former pro netminder turned analyst Mike McKenna gives you his assessment of last night’s game.
Jets video:
Sportsnet: Why when playing at their best, the Jets can cause real problems for the Golden Knights. Dan Murphy and Ken Weibe discuss Game 1 match-up between the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights and talk about how good the Jets can be when playing at their best.
TSN: ‘Until you get to four wins, it doesn’t really matter’: Jets know series has long way to go. Although happy with their convincing Game 1 win, the Jets know the series has a long way to go and are expecting the Golden Knights to bring their best in Game 2 tonight.
TSN: What was most impressive in Winnipeg’s win? The Jets shocked the Golden Knights in Game 1 in Vegas, routing the Western Conference top seed 5-1. What was the most impressive part of Winnipeg’s win? TSN Hockey analyst Martin Biron shares his thoughts.
Global News: John Shannon with a recap of Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights game 1. The long-time TV exec spoke about the game itself, the play of Pierre-Luc Dubois and what it will take for Winnipeg to replicate that result in game 2.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets Setting. Sun sportswriters Ted Wyman, Paul Friesen and Scott Billeck break down the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 Game 1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday. The crew goes over Winnipeg’s dominance on the ice, Vegas no-show and that gruesome Morgan Barron injury.
Jets audio:
Sportsnet: 32 Thoughts Podcast. Marek and Friedman spoke about the game for the first part of the segment and then Friedman spoke about shenanigans from 2018 and how history is repeating itself in 2023.
Ice news:
Global News: Ostapchuk scores OT winner, Winnipeg Ice get Game 4 win to even series with Moose Jaw. Facing their first bit of adversity in awhile the local WHL club picked up an important game four win to send it back to Manitoba all evened at 2-2.
