WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets closed out their short two-game road trip with a 3-2 overtime win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. The Jets next host the Utah Hockey Club on Friday for their second meeting in the past five days. Winnipeg opened the road trip with a 5-2 loss to Utah on Monday in their first ever visit to Salt Lake City.
“They thoroughly outplayed us down in their building. We weren’t at our best and it’s nice that we get another shot at them right away,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel.
“We watched them last night go into Minnesota and play another strong game. They’re playing well right now and we’re going to have to be at our best to make sure that we get ourselves a win.”
Winnipeg could be without Nikolaj Ehlers this evening as the Danish forward was feeling under the weather this morning and is a game-time decision. The Jets recalled Brad Lambert from the Manitoba Moose just in case Ehlers won’t be able to play. Arniel touched on the growth from the Finnish forward since December.
“He came in and I thought he did a real good job of how, going into a situation where we needed him to kind of give us, obviously in that centre-ice position it's a big role,” said Arniel.
“So, see where we're at tonight. I just mentioned this morning, like we talked about before, it's how you play with the puck, it's how you play without the puck.”
Lambert played four games for the Jets back in December. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut in the final regular season game for Winnipeg last season and recorded his first assist.
"This time I feel a little more comfortable. You learn a lot of things,” said Lambert.
“You learn how fast the game is. You've got to do everything quick and play good in the d-zone and all that stuff. I think now, just knowing what the game's like, I feel a little more comfortable."
Here is what the lines looked like during the morning skate at Canada Life Centre.