Battle-tested Jets excited to face Dallas, but need break after bruising series against Blues

Judy Owen · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 05, 2025 2:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The Jets and Blues apt woke up Monday with aching muscles and bruised bodies aft an opening-round NHL playoff bid filled with punishing hits.

Winnipeg's players had their pains eased, though, by an epic 4-3 double-overtime triumph Sunday nighttime successful Game 7 aft skipper Adam Lowry scored astatine 16:10.

The Jets big the Dallas Stars successful the Western Conference 2nd round, with the archetypal crippled Wednesday and the 2nd connected Friday. It's the archetypal clip the clubs volition conscionable successful the post-season.

"They're a large team, we're a bully team. I can't hold for that battle," Jets guardant Nikolaj Ehlers said of the Stars aft Sunday's victory.

There's nary uncertainty the Jets were battle-tested against the Blues, and earned a time disconnected Monday to remainder and recover.

Winnipeg out-hit St. Louis 73-49 successful the league's third-longest Game 7 that ran 96 minutes, 10 seconds.

"I was beauteous gassed, I'm not going to lie," Ehlers told reporters. "I'm lasting present and my legs are a small shaky."

The bid finished with a existent playoff-high 623 combined hits. The Jets dished retired 322 of them.

It took its toll.

Fans volition beryllium waiting for updates astir injured stars Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey erstwhile the squad returns to signifier Tuesday.

Morrissey near Sunday's crippled astir 8 minutes into the archetypal play aft the defenceman absorbed immoderate dense checks. Scheifele missed his 2nd consecutive crippled with an upper-body wounded the centre suffered successful Game 5.

Jets caput manager Scott Arniel, successful his archetypal twelvemonth aft 2 seasons arsenic subordinate coach, said the players' resoluteness successful Game 7 was "absolutely amazing."

"I've seen a batch of hockey games, been successful a batch of hockey games. To beryllium a portion of that was 1 of the astir breathtaking games I've been a portion of," said Arniel, a erstwhile archetypal Jets forward.

"Man, we were highly tense to commencement the game. Got down quickly, but conscionable our resolve, conscionable our quality to enactment successful it beauteous overmuch that's each I kept preaching. Just bent successful there, conscionable bent successful there."

St. Louis mounted a 2-0 pb aft Jordan Kyrou scored connected his team's archetypal changeable of the game, followed by Mathieu Joseph's extremity connected the 4th changeable astatine 7:16.

Jets guardant Cole Perfetti redirected his archetypal of 2 goals past Jordan Binnington astatine 11:41 of the 2nd play connected the powerfulness play to marque it 2-1. Radek Faksa past scored for the visitors with 35 seconds remaining successful frame.

Winnipeg's determination led to a brace of goals aft goalie Connor Hellebuyck was pulled for the other attacker with conscionable implicit 3 minutes near successful the third.

Vladislav Namestnikov's changeable went disconnected Ryan Suter's skate with 1:36 remaining. Perfetti made it 3-3 with different redirection and 3 seconds near successful regularisation — the latest tying extremity successful a Game 7 successful league history.

The Jets outshot the Blues 11-4 successful the archetypal overtime play and continued their dominance.

It paid disconnected erstwhile defenceman Neal Pionk fired the puck from the constituent and it deflected disconnected Lowry into the nett — making him the 2nd skipper successful league past to people an overtime extremity successful a Game 7.

"I deliberation anyone watching that one, it'll beryllium successful the representation slope for a agelong time," Arniel said of the victory.

Now the Jets crook their absorption to the Stars, who ended their first-round bid against the Colorado Avalanche past Saturday with a 4-2 triumph successful Game 7.

The Jets earned home-ice vantage passim the playoffs aft finishing archetypal successful the league with a Presidents' Trophy-winning 116 regular-season points.

Dallas was 2nd successful the Central Division and 3rd successful the league with 106 points. Winnipeg won 3 of 4 regular-season meetings with the Stars.

The Jets are heading to the 2nd circular for the archetypal clip since 2020-21 — and aft being knocked retired of the opening circular the past 2 seasons.

"It's bully to benignant of person those questions enactment to rest, [about] can this squad get retired of the archetypal round," Lowry said.

"I'm conscionable blessed that the bully guys were capable to prevail and we tin determination connected and I'm truly looking guardant to the 2nd round. It's going to beryllium a heck of a bid with the Stars."