Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/perreault-champing-at-the-bit-frustrated-maurice- had-him-sit-481773833.html Perreault champing at the bit, frustrated Maurice had him sit Jets head coach, however, has a different take on the situation By: Mike McIntyre The difference in tone and message could have not been more striking. On one hand, veteran forward Mathieu Perreault was clearly frustrated at being held out of Game 4, saying it was not his choice to remain parked in the press box after being injured in the first game of the playoffs against Minnesota. He declared himself fit to play earlier in the week, said the medical staff have given him a clean bill of health and believes he could have been a difference-maker in a 2-1 loss Thursday night. "I felt like I could have played, yes. But it’s not my call, obviously, so it comes down to coach’s decision so I let them know I felt good, I wanted to play and there’s nothing else I can do," the always-candid Perreault said Friday following a skate at Bell MTS Place before his team jumped on a plane to Nashville for Saturday’s Game 5. "You know, I feel like a little bit of energy could have maybe helped the team, so hopefully I can come in and do that and try to get in on their D and just do what Mathieu Perreault does," he said. 'It's hard to be watching from the stands, so I definitely want to be out there. I'm just kind of waiting for a chance to get out there' — Mathieu Perreault On the other hand, head coach Paul Maurice insisted Perreault was not the healthy scratch so many believed he was including, it appears, Perreault himself. But he offered little in the way of insight and plenty in the way of humour mixed with a little sarcasm. "Really bad attitude in the morning skate (Thursday). And that’s it for me, man. We’ll see if he brings a better attitude (Saturday)," Maurice joked when asked why Perreault didn’t dress. When told Perreault felt he could, and should, have played, Maurice clapped his hands together at the podium. "Awesome. Love the positive attitude," the coach cracked. And then when pressed about what Perreault could bring to the lineup, specifically how he could alter the look of Winnipeg’s ability to roll four strong lines that Nashville would be hard-pressed to match up against, Maurice responded in bizarre fashion. "Wonderful hair," said Maurice. So what exactly is going on here? Maurice eventually got around to addressing the issue. Sort of. "It wasn’t close, fellas. I’m not saying how close it is. He feels he’s ready to play, that’s really, really important. The docs like where he’s at, that’s really important. I’m not putting two guys in my lineup that I’m concerned about coming in off injury on any single given night," Maurice said. That would be a reference to Joel Armia, who returned Thursday after missing the first three games of the series. Perreault could certainly alter the look of the Jets. He would likely send Matt Hendricks to the sidelines and reunite with Armia and Bryan Little on what could be a highly-effective bottom-six line. That could also allow Maurice to reunite his top checking trio of Adam Lowry, Brandon Tanev and Andrew Copp. With Perreault still out Thursday night, Little skated with Lowry and Tanev while Copp was paired with Hendricks and Armia. Not exactly the same look, and one that essentially made the Jets a three-line team once they fell behind and were pressing for some offence. "It’s hard to be watching from the stands, so I definitely want to be out there. I’m just kind of waiting for a chance to get out there," Perreault said. "It’s hard to watch. When you win, it’s awesome but a game like (Thursday) night when you end up losing, it’s really hard to watch." Whether he gets a chance to make an impact in Game 5 or continues to be a frustrated spectator remains to be seen. "I feel the same way, so it’s coach’s decision. I’m here waiting and I’ll be ready when I get the chance," Perreault said. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/no-ifs-ands-or-especially-butts----that-one-leaves-a- mark-on-the-whiteout-481767793.html No ifs, ands or, especially, butts — that one leaves a mark on the Whiteout By: Paul Wiecek It was a loss, but more than anything it was a monumental lost opportunity. And if the Winnipeg Jets season comes to an end in the next week, a lot sooner than a city draped in white is hoping, it will be the events of Thursday night at Bell MTS Place — and Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne’s Immaculate Butt-end, in particular — that will haunt fans for years to come. It is impossible to overstate just how costly the Jets 2-1 loss to Nashville in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series is to this city’s chances of seeing a Stanley Cup hoisted at Portage and Main next month. Consider the numbers: The Jets came into Thursday’s game with a 2-1 series lead that — all other things being equal, which they pretty much are in this series — gave Winnipeg a 61-per-cent chance of winning the series, according to one probability study that looked at every NHL playoff series between 1942 and 2015. Had the Jets gone on to win Thursday night, they would have taken a 3-1 series stranglehold and their odds of winning the series would have jumped to 88 per cent, according to the same study. With the Jets' loss, the series is tied 2-2 and it is now Nashville — who host two of the final three games of this series, including Game 5 Saturday night — who have a 60 per cent chance to go on to the Western Conference final. But instead, with the Jets' loss, the series is tied 2-2 and it is now Nashville — who host two of the final three games of this series, including Game 5 Saturday night — who have a 60 per cent chance to go on to the Western Conference final. And so with that, the difference for the Jets between winning and losing Thursday night wasn’t just about one game in a seven-game series; it was the difference between being an overwhelming favourite to put the best team in the NHL in their rear-view mirror versus being a statistically significant underdog with that same yellow-clad President's Cup-winning obstacle still very much in front of them. There is no more painful question in all of sports than "what If?" and Winnipeg sports fans, as tortured a bunch as you will find anywhere in North America, have spent a generation of haunted nights pondering that one: What if Jamie Macoun hadn’t broken Dale Hawerchuk's ribs with that vicious cross-check? What if Kevin Glenn hadn’t broken his arm while leading the Blue Bombers to the Grey Cup? What if Mike O’Shea had simply gone for it on third-and-four? And now, you can add to that list: What if Rinne’s butt-end hadn’t come to rest — upside-down, no less — in precisely the same path as a puck off the stick of Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey was sliding to an open Nashville net for what would have been the first goal of the game? I will tell you "what if": it would have been an entirely different game, and one which the Jets — in all likelihood — would have won, given their dominating record — 42-5-6 — when they scored first this season. Instead, it was the Predators who took the lead Thursday night and then spent the rest of the night clogging the neutral zone with a style of hockey that was both incredibly boring and frighteningly efficient at neutralizing everything the Jets threw at them the rest of the night. If the Jets are going to reclaim the advantage in this series Saturday in Music City, it is going to have to begin with them figuring out a way to draw first blood again. I say "frighteningly" because what was on display for much of Thursday night looked a whole lot like the moment someone in the NHL finally figured out how to neutralize all the speed and skill that have made the Jets the offensive juggernaut they have been this season. And so, little wonder the message out of the Jets dressing room after the game was an almost delusional, "What, me worry?" I’m not sure whether they were trying to convince us or themselves, but from captain Blake Wheeler, to veteran Bryan Little, to head coach Paul Maurice, the Jets were united behind a message after the game and that message was: "No, there was nothing special about what Nashville did against us, why do you ask?" And also, "No, Nashville didn’t just discover our kryptonite and, also, I have to go now." All I know is Preds' head coach Peter Laviolette clearly made adjustments after watching his club squander a three-goal lead in Game 3 and those adjustments worked very, very well on a night his club outshot Winnipeg 16-2 from the midway point of the second period to the midway point of the third period when the Preds were nursing a 2-0 lead and the game was still up for grabs.