WINNIPEG, Man. — The coach can always see the trends coming long before everyone else, so Paul Maurice wants to go back a lot further than this three-game home stand to cite the starting point for when theIt seems a team that gave up five goals in a loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, beat the Boston Bruins two nights later, then rolled out this playoff-replica gem against the Calgary Flames has reacquired its identity just lately. Of course, Maurice begs to differ.
“It wasn’t just when we came home, it was before that,” Maurice said after a steady Eddie, 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames Saturday. “Right at the trade deadline, we played a pretty darn good game against Minny and we’ve kind of built from there, for me.” When it all began is something we can sort out over a beer, later on. That it has happened is what truly matters, and over the course of three games this week we’ve watched a Jets team that more closely resembles what it will need to be three-and-a-half weeks from now, when the playoffs open here in Manitoba.
“We need the three weeks, we do,” admits Maurice. “But we just played eight playoff teams and were 5-3. I’m not even going to qualify it, with out, because you play playoff games without key pieces out of your lineup and you’ve got to win. So, 5-3. In one loss, we got beat by Tampa, but the San Jose and Washington losses were pretty darn well played.”
Spec Must be nice to cover a REAL team for a change. Heard a few guys covering the oil were on a suicide watch.