In just over 24 hours the Winnipeg Jets will play their first must-win game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice, the hard work is now done and all that’s left is the biggest game in franchise history.
Patrik Laine said he can’t think about the make-or-break stakes.
“You can’t think about that, cause then it’s gonna be scared on the ice or scared if you do a mistake,” he said.
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“Game 7 is always exciting,” Nikolaj Ehlers said. “So it’s gonna be fun.”
It’ll probably be more fun for Ehlers in Game 7 if he can find a way to contribute on the score sheet.
“I’m trying as hard as I can to help this team win,” Ehlers said.
But after 29 goals in the regular season, Ehlers has not found the net in their first 11 playoff games.
“Every player in here goes through a slump,” Ehlers said.
“I’m not calling this a slump but everyone goes through a phase where you’re not scoring, and that doesn’t mean you’re a bad player. It just means they’re not going in for you right now, but you can still help this team win.”
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“I don’t look at that and judge a players play by it,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ve had guys maybe have an off-night who put pucks in the net and felt pretty good about themselves after. So there’s lots he can do to influence the game around scoring a goal.”
But goal scoring has not been a problem for the Jets in Nashville. The Jets have 14 goals in the three playoff games in the Music City where they won twice.
“I don’t know if I call it a comfort level, but I think we know what makes us successful,” Jacob Trouba said. “I don’t know if you ever really get comfortable in a building like that.”
“It’s probably gonna be nerve-racking,” Laine said. “Well not for us, but for the fans.”
Now that’s guaranteed.