WINNIPEG 鈥� It was just over a year ago when Nino Niederreiter made a frank assessment of the Winnipeg Jets.
The veteran forward said there were too many 鈥減assengers鈥� on the team as it was fighting to grab the second wild-card spot for the 2023 Western Conference playoffs.
Flip the calendar to this season and there are a lot of pilots to take the controls.
鈥淲e need to have a full team going to be successful,鈥� Niederreiter said after Winnipeg鈥檚 morning skate Tuesday.
鈥淭he team-first mentality and buying into our system and go from there, I think that鈥檚 something we did a lot better job of this year. We鈥檙e more consistent than last year 鈥� and that鈥檚 why we are where we are right now.鈥�
A group effort was required ahead of Tuesday's Game 2 as the Jets aimed to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven opening-round series against the Colorado Avalanche
Winnipeg hung on for a 7-6 victory in Sunday鈥檚 Game 1 at Canada Life Centre.
Last season, the Jets won the first game of their opening-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights but dropped the next four and were knocked out.
Winnipeg defenceman Brenden Dillon says there's been a different vibe around the team this season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a way better, more positive feeling than last year,鈥� he said.
The Jets snapped a six-game losing streak late in the regular season and surged with eight consecutive wins to finish the campaign.
鈥淏etween the coaches鈥� messaging, between us as teammates鈥� messaging, everyone was just, we know how good of a team we are, we know that we鈥檝e been here before and we鈥檝e got to be mature about this and stop it before it snowballs,鈥� Dillon said.
The players were dialed in ahead of Game 2.
鈥淭he mood is definitely very great in the room, but we all know we鈥檝e got to be so much better than we were in Game 1,鈥� Niederreiter said.
鈥淭hey kind of outplayed us for most of the game and we found the way to keep getting the lead and found a way to expose their goalie a little bit. We did a good job of it, but we all know it鈥檚 going to be a whole different game.鈥�
BOOST FROM CAPTAIN
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate with his teammates, but he was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants and not participating in drills
Landeskog is still recovering from cartilage replacement surgery in his right knee last May and there鈥檚 no timeline for his return to action.
His presence around the team is still invaluable.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just fun to have him in the room with everybody,鈥� Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 such a great person, great leader.
鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely giving us good insight. He鈥檚 kind of like a coach right now.鈥�
Injuries have kept Landeskog from playing since June 2022, when Colorado won the Stanley Cup.
Speaking of that Cup victory, MacKinnon was candid about where the Avalanche are now compared to that skilful team.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure we鈥檒l ever be on as good of a team as we were in 鈥�22, but we鈥檙e still good enough to win in this room and excited for the challenge (Tuesday) night,鈥� he said.
GOALIE SWITCH
Alexandar Georgiev was scheduled to start again for Colorado on Tuesday, backed up by Ivan Prosvetov, recalled from the American Hockey League鈥檚 Colorado Eagles late Monday afternoon. Goalie Arvid Holm was reassigned to the Eagles.
Colorado regular backup netminder Justus Annumen remains out with an illness.
Prosvetov got into 11 games for the Avalanche during the regular season, registering a 4-3-1 record with a 3.16 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.
Avalanche defenceman Samuel Girard was listed as a game-time decision.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
