Winnipeg Jets ready for round 2 matchup with Nashville

The biggest question related to Winnipeg jets engines in the playoffs was the lack of experience and reaction.

This issue will not disappear for the Round 2 series against Nashville, as the Predators have gone all the way to the Stanley Cup finals a year ago.

However, the playoff neophytes of Winnipeg received a round under their belts against Minnesota.

How much did it cost?

"We will transfer this, and we will help them, as far as we can go to Round 2".

One of those young players, rookie Kyle Connor, says the biggest advantage of having veterinarians with a play-off experience comes after losing the game.

For example, after Game 3 against Minnesota, players such as Dustin Bayfullin and Blake Wheeler helped to calm the children.

"All regrouped, took a deep breath, and we had great leaders who brought us back to the right path," Connor said, recalling their message. "This is one game, and it can not identify you. We learned from our mistakes, and this was shown when we came out very strongly in this next game. "

Adam Lowry says that the most important thing he learned in the first round was about emotional fluctuations.


"It's just the treatment of emotions and waves," Lowry said. "You look at the game 1, we scored 1-0 in the third, and they scored two fast goals, and we were able to cope with this and not let it blow us away. We get the answer and win this game.

"Then you look at the game 3, we kind of let the emotions get the best of us."

Myers died for the playoffs when he came to the Jets in the trade from Buffalo, where he survived four consecutive years, mostly losing to hockey.

While the Airplanes made the playoffs their first year here, this team embraced by Anaheim is not compared to this. And Myers says that it's not just about talent.

"Much better," he said, chuckling. "Not so much on paper, but in terms of the mental certainty that we have this year, and how we approach games. When you look at the last couple of years, there was almost a feeling: "I hope we'll go today and win", instead of focusing on a certain path, we need to play to make it happen.

"This year, we really created a consistent habit of knowing how we should play. This in itself gave us the desired results. "

They can not be a mirror image of each other, but the Jets and the Preda have more similarities than the differences, beginning with the fact that they are ruthless.

"They are, of course, in terms of attitude and how they approach a free puck," said Jets coach Paul Maurice. "How they evaluate in terms of what they are trying to achieve, where they need a puck, the style of the crime that they generate - they are very similar."

Lowrie does not expect a repeat of the series, when the teams averaged eight goals per game.

"Both teams will try to pinch the defense," he said. "I think that we will try to avoid games 6-5, as in the regular season. It will be a series with a tough test. "

Airplanes can be geographically closer to the Wild, but their best rivalry can be with the Preds.

"You play teams in the Central Division, you play them enough, there will be some heated games," Lowry said. "Over the past few years there have been some games where, of course, there were some penalty minutes and a strange battle, but I think that stuff throws out the window, and it's a completely new ball game.

"It will be important that we remain disciplined."

While the Aircraft have the best record on the ice in the NHL, Nashville was a top league team.

Both teams enjoy a raucous home support, which can affect the mood of the players.

"White was incredible ... Winnipeg was definitely an unfriendly place to play for opposing teams," Lowry said. "You look at the run of Nashville last year and the support they brought there - they always seem to find there additional equipment."

Maurice expects that he and Preds coach Peter Laviolette will be more worried about getting certain protective fumes on ice than the corresponding actual lines.