Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-doing-their-best-to-forget- 481312533.html Jets doing their best to forget Double-overtime dagger hurt but team happy to be home with split By: Jason Bell The late-night flight home and a restless sleep, video work with coaches and some kibitzing with teammates pretty much summed up the 16 hours that followed the Winnipeg Jets’ most crushing loss of the year. All signs Monday afternoon, however, suggested the torment of a double-overtime defeat had dulled considerably. "Something we talked about (Sunday) night, we’re all disappointed to lose in a game in double overtime. It’s tough, but you have to park it right away, as soon as you get on the plane and come back home here," said defenceman Josh Morrissey, who spoke with reporters at Bell MTS Place. "We’re pretty happy that we’re coming home with a split. Obviously, we’re disappointed (Sunday) night but I think we’re in a pretty good spot. I just feel we can be a little bit better each game. That game, Game 2, was a big improvement from Game 1 as far as we were concerned. If we can continue to do that, we’re happy with the position we’re in." Nashville forward Kevin Fiala put a sudden halt to a 4-4 tie Sunday night with his third goal of the playoffs, lifting the Predators to a dramatic triumph over the visiting Jets. 'It's tough, but you have to park it right away, as soon as you get on the plane and come back home here' — Josh Morrissey The NHL’s premier squads during the regular season are locked up 1-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. Game 3 is set for 7 p.m at Winnipeg’s downtown arena, as inhospitable a site as anywhere in the NHL. The Jets went 32-7-2 at Bell MTS Place this season, best in the NHL. Predictably, only a modest group of Winnipeg players chose to participate in an optional on-ice workout the morning after what was, for the majority of Jets, the longest game of their pro careers. Fiala’s backhand past goalie Connor Hellebuyck sent the Bridgestone Arena crowd into hysterics at 5:37 of the second OT session. Mark Scheifele’s second goal of the contest, his league-leading eighth of the postseason with 65 seconds left in regulation and Hellebuyck on the bench in favour of an extra skater, pulled the Jets even at 4-4. Soaring home from Music City at midnight with a 2-0 series lead on the Presidents’ Trophy winners (the NHL team with the best regular-season record) in Round 2 would have been a dazzling scenario for the Jets, just a year removed from missing the playoffs entirely. "The split’s a fact. That’s your minimum goal going into your first two, you want to make sure that you get a win to get the game back onto your ice," said head coach Paul Maurice. "But when you get into double overtime, you certainly want two at that point. So, you’re still feeling the pain for it. You just have to deal with it today so it’s not a part of your tomorrow." Settling for a win in Game 1 and nabbing home-ice advantage is a radiant silver lining. The Jets are on a 12-0 run at Bell MTS Place, including a three-game sweep of their home games against the Minnesota Wild in the opening round. Hellebuyck said the deafening din created by thousands of white-clad fans inside the building — not to mention thousands more jammed in at a downtown street party — is like a not-so-secret weapon. "We’re going to be calling out to our fans to really put the pressure on, because we have that ability here. Our fan base is awesome, our noise can carry some serious momentum," he said. "I wasn’t fazed as much as I thought I would (in Nashville). Obviously, the atmosphere is awesome, a little bit crazy. But I like ours a lot more. I think ours is way more hockey related and a lot more stinging than theirs was. I’m looking forward to (Game 3) and seeing how much this amps up." Hellebuyck will start his eighth straight of the postseason tonight. He was absolutely sensational in Friday’s 4-1 triumph, stopping 47 shots. Two nights later he made 36 saves and nearly snared the shot off Fiala’s stick. "Would you believe me if I said 99 per cent? It was practically in my glove, it just happened to roll up and over," said Hellebuyck. A finalist — along with Rinne and Tampa Bay Lighting puck-stopper Andrei Vasilevskiy — for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, Hellebuyck said he’s feeding off the pressure of playoff hockey and the added strain of overtime. "I think that’s what we enjoy — all on the line, get those nerves going and you have a chance to be a hero. That’s what everyone likes. We have a huge fan base, a lot of eyes on us and if you don’t enjoy that you’re in the wrong sport. We’re here to have some fun, too." https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/predators-arent-afraid-to-enter-whiteout- tonight-481310703.html Predators aren't afraid to enter whiteout tonight By: Jason Bell WHILE the Winnipeg Jets like their chances at home, the Nashville Predators demonstrated no signs of being intimidated on the road all season long. The Predators racked up an impressive 25-9-7 record living out of hotels and getting mocked by opposing fans during the 2017-18 campaign. Nashville is also the last squad that toppled the Jets at Bell MTS Place, earning a 6-5 win on Feb. 27. Winnipeg has won 12 straight at home since then. The Jets and Preds collide tonight at 7 p.m. in Game 3 of their second-round NHL playoff series. Nashville evened the series 1-1 with a 5-4 double-overtime victory Sunday. Predators forward Nick Bonino told reporters there’s no great secret to the club’s road success. "Getting on the road is always fun as a team. You go out to dinner, there’s not really any distractions. You’re there for hockey. You get up and treated it as business as usual," said Bonino, who centres an effective trio of Austin Watgson and Colton Sissons. The line has registered nine goals and 10 assists in eight games. Nashville upended the Colorado Avalanche in six games in Round 1. "We kind of just roll the lines. We’ve got four lines that can really go and don’t worry about matchups or anything, we just play had have some good results," he said. Bonino said he barely remembers the narrow victory over the Jets in late February but gets pumped up playing in the Manitoba capital. "It’s a really fun arena to play in. They got the whiteout going. They’re loud. It’s always fun to play in front of fans like that. It’s just like Nashville, it’s a loud arena with passionate fans," he said. "We’ve been to a lot of buildings that loud, but these are two of the loudest I think in the league. They wanted the team back in Winnipeg. They got it back and they have a great team now so the fans are pumped up and ready to go." ________________________________________________ A trio of Jets nursing injuries participated in an optional morning skate Monday morning at Bell MTS Place. Dmitry Kulikov, out since early March with a back injury, took part in his first skate with the group and wore a yellow ‘no-contact’ jersey but likely won’t be available to the club for another couple of weeks. Veteran forward Mathieu Perreault (upper body), injured in Game 1 of the first-round series with the Minnesota Wild, and winger Joel Armia (upper body), hurt in Game 5 of the Wild series, also skated. Perreault wore a regular jersey, while Armia sported yellow. But getting head coach Paul Maurice to so much as hint at their status of was an exercise in futility during his press availability Monday. "That’s a really good way to put it. I think that sums it right up. That’s probably what I would have said exactly," said Maurice, his wit coming out in full force when he was asked if Perreault would be good to go at "some point in the future?" _________________________________________________ Most of the Jets chose to recover from the protracted contest and late-night flight home by staying off their skates today. Jacob Trouba said it was, indeed, a day to recover, physically and mentally. "It’s pretty much personal. Everybody’s different, I guess. You just do what you’ve got to do to be ready for (tonight), whether it’s skating or doing whatever you got to do off the ice to feel good. It’s kind of a recovery, rejuvenation kind of thing..." he said. "You hope that there’s a pretty good reward at the end and these are the things you’ve got to go through and the days you’ve got to battle through and do what you got to do today and get ready for tomorrow." ___________________________________________________ Kyle Connor had 31 tallies, the most of any NHL rookie during the regular season.