Jets go cold on sizzling hot day, blow chance to eliminate Predators
Fans holding onto hope for history-making Game 7 win
The Winnipeg Jets took the whole whiteout thing a little too far on Monday, turning out an effort that was completely colourless.
The sickly pale performance even left a blank space on their side of the scoreboard as the Jets fell 4-0 to the Nashville Predators in Game 6 of the NHL's Western Conference semi-final.
That same optimism is what's keeping Justin Morson going. The lucha-libre masked fan admitted he's rattled "a little bit" by Monday's loss but fully expects a rebound by the Jets in Game 7.
"They need to play with desperation and go there and throw those catfish back over, throw 'em in their faces on the bench," he said.
"It's a little depressing to have to talk after this game. We were kind of obviously hoping for a better outcome," said fan Leif Sigurdson. "But we're looking forward to Game 7. They're gonna pull it off."
There were some moments that made Winnipeg fans hold their breath, like when Kyle Connor made a nifty move to get in front of Predator Pekka Rinne in the first period. But the big goalie stretched out a pad and blocked Connor's attempt to slide it past him.
Paul Stastny was also stuffed at the goal crease in the first then had a couple close calls in the second with Rinne down, but the puck bobbled past the open cage.
That's how the night went. Although they outshot Nashville, the bounces did not go Winnipeg's way.
"It almost looked like slow motion out there a little bit," Morson said about the Jets' efforts, stunted by Nashville's defensive trap.
The Jets, who were down 1-0 after the first period, were fortunate it wasn't more.
They had the man advantage on three occasions but their anemic power play was easily overpowered by Nashville's aggressive penalty kill. Instead, the Preds took a couple of shorthanded chances.
Despite it being a sweltering day in Winnipeg, with temperatures that reached 31.4 C, the Jets went cold and blew their chance to eliminate the Preds in front of a devoted crowd that numbered around 40,000 — 15,321 inside and another 25,000 outside in the street party.
"It's unreal. It's crazy, this heat," said Steve Kush, decked out in white coveralls, white face paint and an oversized home-made hockey helmet created from, appropriately for the weather, a cooler.
"I had to thin it down a lot," he noted about his costume. "I've got a little muscle shirt on underneath instead of a big sweater. I love it."
Looking for more history
Fans were counting on the Jets to make another mark in their historic playoff run.
No Winnipeg NHL franchise has ever advanced past the Round 2 of the post-season and the Jets had the Preds on the ropes with a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Winnipeg's win in Game 1 of the series against Nashville was the first time a Winnipeg franchise had won a game in the second round. The original Jets went there twice and were swept in four straight both times.
The deciding Game 7 of the Jets-Preds series will take place Thursday back in Nashville.
And if the current pattern holds, it should be Winnipeg's turn to celebrate then. Neither team has won consecutive games in this series.
"We're obviously hopeful that the pattern does hold. The fans went out for it tonight and it didn't work out for us at all," Sigurdson said. "We didn't even get a goal.
"But I guess we're just saving it up for Game 7. We've shown we can win in Nashville and we're relying on that happening."
The winner will advance to the Western Conference Final and face the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who knocked off the San Jose Sharks on Sunday to win their series 4-2.
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