Playoff Push #80: Winnipeg Jets take momentum into St. Louis

Winnipeg’s playoff push tour will make a stop in St. Louis on Tuesday night.

Coming off a massive 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild, the Jets will take on the Central Division-leading Blues at the Scottrade Center.

With three games remaining in the regular season, the Jets (41-26-12) hold the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference at 94 points — one ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and two behind the Wild, who hold the first wild-card.

“There’s so many big games right now, I don’t think you have time to sit back and think about it,” Jets captain Andrew Ladd told the Winnipeg Sun.

Lines provided by DailyFaceoff.com

Blake Wheeler continues to shoulder the offensive load for the Jets. The six-foot-five winger has four goals and five points in the last six games. Wheeler leads the Jets in goals with 26. 

“There’s something to be said for keeping your composure this time of year,” Wheeler told the Associated Press of the team’s late success.

No Dustin Byfuglien. No Tobias Enstrom. No problem.

Despite being without their top two defencemen, the Jets’ blue-line faired fine against the Wild. Well, aside from a couple bad penalties by Mark Stuart.

As expected, Tyler Myers logged 25:24 of ice time and had an assist with a plus-1 rating.

Ondrej Pavelec was perfect in the Jets’ 2-0 win over the Wild, stopping all 32 shots faced to earn his 21st victory over the season.

Pavelec will be back in net Tuesday as he looks to help secure a playoff berth for the Jets.

Having already locked up a post-season berth, the Blues (49-23-7) are looking to secure first place in the Central. St. Louis has 105 points — just one ahead of the Nashville Predators.

The Blues have been without their top scorer Vladimir Tarasenko, who has missed the last three games with an lower-body injury. Tarasenko, who has 36 goals and 35 assists, practised prior to the team’s optional skate on Monday.

Alex Pietrangelo has a goal and two assists in his last two games. He leads the Blues in scoring this season with seven goals and 38 assists.

Jake Allen will get the start in net. Allen has won his last three games, posting a 1.33 goals against average and .952 save percentage.

Game Day Prediction: The Jets have a losing record against the Blues this season, going 1-2-1 against St. Louis. But it’s crunch time and the Jets don’t care about the past. Jets 3 Blues 2.

Obvious Prediction: The Jets need at least a point to keep pace in the playoff race.

Not So Obvious Prediction: The Blues have one of the stingiest defences in the league, allowing just 197 goals against. But their goaltending has been rocky all season long. Get enough traffic in front of Allen, score some garbage goals, and the Jets should come out on top.

The Jets have a 67.9% chance of making the playoffs, according to clubsportsstats.com.