Ehlers responds when stakes are high, which is a good sign for Jets' playoff hopes

WINNIPEG — All year long, coach Scott Arniel has evaluated his team’s performance through the lens of one overarching question: 

What does it mean for the Winnipeg Jets’ playoff aspirations?

By now, you’re probably sick of this narrative, and that’s fair. No judgment if you’re one of those in the “Wake me up when the regular season ends” camp. 

But Tuesday’s 3-2 OT win over the Washington Capitals was one of those "A-ha!" moments — proof that these Jets are far more dangerous than years past.

And few players embody the evolution of this group more than Nikolaj Ehlers, a player with an unflattering playoff track record. 

Ehlers ended the game in overtime, sniping his 24th goal on a partial breakaway that ignited the loudest crowd pop we’ve heard at Canada Life Centre this year, on a night the Jets became the second team to clinch a playoff berth. This wasn’t just another highlight-reel goal from The Great Dane. It was the cherry-on-top of a night where he was deployed on the team’s shutdown line alongside Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. 

“I knew I wanted to go with Lowry and (Appleton) against (Tom Wilson) and (Pierre-Luc Dubois), some big bodies,” Arniel said.” I didn’t think we were going to have anybody that was going to line up against Tom Wilson. I just thought that maybe (Ehlers) would be the guy. I thought that maybe that’s a situation (where) it’s (putting) speed against Tom, who’s a great player. Having the opportunity to make them defend and play in their end, I thought we did that with that line.”

In addition to the game-winner, Ehlers finished the tight-checking matchup with seven scoring chances and two hits. One of the biggest knocks on the dynamic winger has been his ineffectiveness in the playoffs, where he’s recorded just 14 points in 37 career post-season games (0.38 playoff points per game) — a stark contrast from his regular-season output (0.78). 

Historically, Ehlers has struggled to have an impact when the stakes rise and the checking tightens.

But that wasn’t the case Tuesday, where Ehlers was arguably Winnipeg’s most dangerous forward in what was the Jets' most physical tilt of the year.

"He recognizes who he's playing with,” Arniel said. “Guys with that kind of skill, if you're playing with maybe a couple other top-end skill guys, you're going to do some other things. You're playing with guys like Appleton and (Lowry), they're probably going to dump it in and go get it and he is the support off of that. He knows how to get to (open ice).”

Ehlers rarely plays with shutdown players — aside from a brief stint with Lowry and Alex Iafallo in late January — but he seems open, if not enthused, with the idea of sticking with it. 

“I'm trying to go out there and use my speed every single time I go out there,” Ehlers said. “We're trying to read off each other as much as possible. I think today was OK. I think we had some really good shifts, and then personally I was maybe throwing the puck away a little too much. And playing with those two guys that are able to play down deep and hold on to pucks and create space for me and the other guy, that's something that we want to take advantage of. I like playing with those two guys, and we've got to keep working. We've got to keep building. You don't know how long you're going to be together, but I think we've done a really good job, so that's obviously exciting for us."

Stoller Says 

• Loved this quote from Appleton on the challenges of guarding Alex Ovechkin, who scored to send the game to overtime with four minutes remaining in the third. 

“When you're on him, you're not even really on him. You've gotta be in his pocket or you've basically gotta be touching him because his release is so lethal,” Appleton said. “You can't just be fronting him because he can get pucks through, around, you know, every which way through the guy. He's a heck of a goal scorer. You give him just a little time and space and he can kill you."

• Cole Perfetti looked great, yet again. Perfetti’s playmaking ability along the wall is amazing, even with his skating and size limitations. Speaking of the latter — it was really impressive when he not only withstood a complete beating from Matt Roy in the third period, but the 23-year-old didn’t hesitate to return the favour to a much more physically imposing player.

“He had the puck a lot. I liked the way he held onto it,” Arniel said. “A couple times he drove — he came out of the corners — took it to the front of the net. Those are great things. Those are all the things we've talked about, him kind of evolving as a player, and that's the stuff in playoffs that you have to do."