Achi news desk-
For the sixth time in the last seven seasons, the Winnipeg Jets have clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Gabriel Vilardi scored his first career hat trick and the Jets (46-24-6) beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 at the Canadian Life Center on Thursday night to end their five-game homestand on a two-game winning streak.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Tyler Toffoli also scored goals for the Jets, who knocked the Flames out of playoff contention with the win.
Winnipeg is the fourth team in the Western Conference to secure a playoff berth.
“It’s nice,” said head coach Rick Bowness. “We didn’t wait until the second last game of the year like we did last year, but there was no doubt in my mind that we would take it.
“It’s nice to put that behind us and now we’re pushing forward.”
For Vilardi, this will be the first time he has experienced whitewashing.
“I’ve seen it on TV,” Vilardi said. “It looks pretty fun. I’m excited to be a part of it, obviously with them cheering for me. So it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it.”
With the win the Jets match last season’s win total, but with six games to go, there are plenty of kinks to work out after just ending a six game losing streak . They outshot the Flames 17-8 in the first, only to let the Flames back into the game in the second period.
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“We’re spread out too much,” Bowness said. “We make it too easy for the opposition to come to us because we are spread out. We don’t stop and start puck battles. Basically, it depends on that. We make it too easy for the opposition parties to come to us, and we take our foot off the pedal for a while.”
Josh Morrissey was leveled by an elbow from Martin Pospisil late in the second period. He received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct and will likely get a call from the league for supplemental discipline.
“Like, in the moment I didn’t feel like it was dirty,” Morrissey said. “I felt like I had smoked. That’s my fault, but not mine, but it’s part of the game. I don’t want to turn into it. When I watched him after he extends the elbow. “
The Jets didn’t score on the man advantage five minutes later but finished the night 2-for-4 on the power play.
Jets captain Adam Lowry left the game in the third period after a heavy hit. He was pulled from the game by the concussion spotters but Bowness said he was fine and Lowry was surprised to be placed in the concussion protocol.
It was the first time the Jets beat the Flames this season after losing the first two meetings.
After going down 1-0 early thanks to MacKenzie Weegar’s goal, the Jets bounced back with two goals later in the period, one by Vilardi on the power play and another by Ehlers, his 23rd of the season.
The Flames tied it in the second on a goal by Daniil Miromanov, but the Jets struck again with the man advantage before the break as Toffoli scored his 31st of the campaign.
Vilardi added two more in the third period, including an empty netter for his hat trick, giving him 19 goals on the season.
Ehlers had an assist along with his goal, while Morrissey picked up a pair of assists for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the win in net.
Colin Miller returned to the lineup after six straight games as a healthy scratch. He replaced Nate Schmidt.
The Jets remain in third place in the Central Division, four points back of the Colorado Avalanche, who also won on Thursday, and are six points clear of Nashville.
Winnipeg is now on the road for four straight games, starting Saturday afternoon in Minnesota against the Wild. The pregame show starts at 1 pm on 680 CJOB with a puck drop just after 3 pm
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