Trending upward, Jets aim to hand Leafs 3rd straight loss
The Winnipeg Jets will hope to continue their steady ascent when they host the frazzled Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
The Jets are coming off a commanding 6-2 win over the Minnesota Wild, posting their fourth consecutive victory. Mark Scheifele tallied a goal and three assists, while Jonathan Toews hit the 900-point mark on his career and extended his goal streak to four games with a two-point outing.
"He's really playing his game. Nine hundred points, that's obviously amazing," head coach Scott Arniel said of Toews after the game. "He's feeling it, which is awesome. Let's just hope he feels it right through to the end of the season. It took him a while to find his legs, to find his place and his game. Now you see it and he's getting the reward from it."
The win streak follows an 11-game skid that left Winnipeg at the bottom of an ultra-competitive Central Division. The win over Minnesota put the Jets within striking distance of the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks immediately above them, both of whom Winnipeg have games in hand on.
"I wouldn't say that, no," a stern Arniel responded when asked if he saw it as a statement win. "If we were battling for first or second place or something like that, it might be something, but we're trying to catch (those) teams right now ... for us, we keep piling them together ... trying to catch these teams that are sitting above us."
The Maple Leafs helped contribute to the Jets' lengthy losing streak with a 6-5 home win on New Year's Day. Toronto is coming off a long-awaited tilt against Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights, a stunning 6-5 overtime loss on Thursday.
Marner, the former Leafs star recorded two assists while Jack Eichel scored the game-winner with a casual flip over the pad of a sprawling Joseph Woll. Eichel's tally came after host Vegas tied the game with seven seconds left in regulation.
"It was different," Toronto alternate captain John Tavares said of playing against Marner, his former longtime teammate. "We all played with guys who played with different teams and moved on. He's a great player and a great friend, but when the puck drops you get at it and start competing. There's enough to worry about when you're playing that those things go away pretty quickly."
A two-game skid has seen the Leafs drop out of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot. To make matters worse for Toronto, leading scorer William Nylander was forced to leave the game late in the first period, apparently aggravating the lower-body injury that saw him miss six straight games leading into the new year. He is doubtful for Saturday.
"He's back playing great and now he's out again," was all head coach Craig Berube offered. "We'll see how long."
The game will wrap up Toronto's four-game trip before it heads back for a five-game homestand. The Jets have dropped seven of their last eight (1-6-1) against the Maple Leafs dating to 2022.