Captain Blake Wheeler was not certain at the beginning of the season if his Winnipeg Jets would contend for a playoff spot.
Now he has his answer.
Mark Scheifele on Sunday scored the only goal in a shoot-out as the Winnipeg Jets clinched a playoff spot with a 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators.
The Jets are in the post-season for the first time since 2014-2015 and just the second time since their move from Atlanta before the 2011-2012 season.
The franchise has not won a playoff series since 2006-2007.
“A lot of uncertainty coming into the year, where we were going to be,” said Wheeler, who has been with Winnipeg since the relocation. “I don’t think many people thought we were going to be where we are at, a playoff team. Every single guy in here has had a huge part in that. It’s a big moment for our team and for our organization.”
Jets rookie Kyle Connor scored a power-play goal and had two assists, giving him seven goals in six games.
That included a pair of overtime goals in Winnipeg’s previous two games and gives him 29 for the season.
That tied with Vancouver’s Brock Boeser for the rookie goal-scoring lead.
Boeser’s season ended on March 5 with a fracture in his lower back.
“He’s one of the single biggest reasons why we are where we are,” Wheeler said. “[Connor has] put up nearly 30 goals, and is a real impact player playing with Mark Scheifele and I. It’s quite a surprise.”
Dustin Byfuglien also scored on the power play, while Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler each added a goal and an assist for Winnipeg.
Kyle Turris, Ryan Ellis and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, while Roman Josi also scored for the Predators.
Nashville backup Juuse Saros stopped 43 shots as the defending Western Conference champions rested their Vezina Trophy candidate Pekka Rinne.
The clubs have combined for 41 goals in five meetings this season.
“There’s a lot of people shooting the puck out there. They got a lot of talent on their team,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “Our guys do a pretty good job scoring goals. I can’t explain it. Both teams have good goaltending. Both teams played pretty good defense, but offense seems to rule the day.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB