The race for the playoffs continues tonight as the Winnipeg Jets enter their ninth-last game of the regular season in the Windy City against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.

Winnipeg kicked off its four-game road trip on Saturday in Denver in its second consecutive meeting with the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado took the first game 3-2 in regulation last Thursday in Winnipeg, but the Jets got some payback Saturday by earning a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the NHL-best Avalanche.

Gabriel Vilardi opened the scoring with his 28th of the year, a new career-high in goals, surpassing his previous high of 27 set last year. He also matched his career-high in points with the opening goal (61). Cole Koepke restored Winnipeg’s lead with a breakaway goal early in the second period, his seventh of the year and second in his past five games. Cole Perfetti would score the eventual game-winning goal with just over five minutes to play in the third period, his 11th. Vilardi set his new career-high in points with the secondary assist (62). Kyle Connor iced the game with an empty-net goal, his 33rd, helping Winnipeg get within three points of WC2.

The Jets improved to 31-30-12, earning their third win in the past four games, while Connor Hellebuyck made 21 stops. Winnipeg remains three points out of the playoffs going into tonight’s game.

Chicago isn’t mathematically eliminated yet, but they’re 10 points out with eight games remaining on their schedule, meaning they’re likely to be out of the race soon.

They were last in action Sunday in New Jersey, where they concluded a four-game road swing with a 5-3 loss to finish the trip with a 1-3-0 record. Despite the loss, youngster Frank Nazar stood out with two goals, his 13th and 14th, earning Second Star of the Game honours. The Hawks fell to 27-34-13 while Spencer Knight turned aside 35 shots.

These clubs were in action exactly four weeks ago in Winnipeg when the Jets kicked off their season-long eight-game homestand with a 3-2 overtime win, with Scheifele being the hero. The last time Winnipeg was at United Center, however, they couldn’t solve Knight as he made 32 saves to shut out the Jets 2-0 in Jonathan Toews’ return to the Windy City, a script Winnipeg doesn’t want to follow again. If anything, they should be using it as motivation.

“We’ve been trying to stay in the fight,” said Dylan DeMelo. “Guys are digging in and playing hard. We’re picking up wins and getting points and just trying to stay in the fight here. It’s going to go down to the wire. We’re just hoping to keep accumulating them and get in there.”

Two points tonight would boost Winnipeg to 76 points, just one point back of WC2 currently held by Nashville, who doesn’t play again until Thursday. Winnipeg has a game in hand on the Predators, and getting within a point of them would be massive.

“We know how to win, we know how to take care of business,” said Scheifele. “Everyone’s demeanor going into games, just working their hardest and giving it their all. I think the biggest thing is just confidence in our team, confidence in our group, and going from there.”

We’ll know by the 11:30 a.m. CT morning skate if there will be any line changes.