Winnipeg Jets and visits Anaheim Ducks will close their usual seasons on Wednesday evening and then go in opposite directions.
Jets goes to the Stanley Cup finals for the third straight season, after winning the presidents’ trophy with the best record during the regular season.
Meanwhile, the ducks come back to Anaheim to gather their belongings after missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
Winnipeg (55-22-4, 114 points) will open the playoffs against St. Louis Blues, but it seems that Jets will be without forward Nikolaj Ehlers at the beginning of the series.
Ehlers, who has 24 goals and 63 points in 69 matches this season, collided with a lineman during Winnipeg’s Saturday match against the Chicago Blackhawks and exacerbated a lower bodily injury that he handled earlier this season.
Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said that Ehlers is week this week.
On the positive side, defender Dylan Samberg returned to train on Tuesday after leaving the Sunday match against Edmonton Oilers when a shot of Connor McDavid went from the inside of his left knee halfway through the second period.
“Trust me, I tried to come back, but I had no feeling in that leg. I couldn’t move it,” Samberg said. “It’s part of the game and part of blocking shots.”
Winnipegs Gabriel Vilardi also seems close to returning.
The foreman has missed the last ten matches with an upper body injury, but he went before training the exercise on Tuesday and has been upgraded to the daily.
The ducks (35-37-9, 79 points) hope to end their season on a high tone after losing the last three matches (0-2-1), a ski that will prevent them from ending from earning an average of more than one point per match.
Anaheim led by a goal at the last minute against Minnesota Wild on Tuesday in Saint Paul, Minn., But gave up the binding call with 22 seconds left and the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime to take a loss of 3-2.
The wild needed at least one point to pass a playoffs.
“Minnesota fought pretty much for its lives (Tuesday) night, so it was the same as a playoffs,” Ducks said forward Sam Colangelo. “(Jets) won the presidents’ trophy, so it will be a tough test for us, but we look to close the season with a victory.”
Collangelo scored his 10th goal on the season on Tuesday in his 31st match, his ninth in 19 matches since he was recalled for a second time from Ahl San Diego on February 27.
“I play with incredible players, so it’s a good performance, but in the end a win would have been more important,” he said. “I couldn’t get 10 goals without playing with the guys I play with.”
Anaheim’s Alex Killorn scored his 19th goal on the season on Tuesday. Another against Jets on Wednesday and the ducks would have six 20 goal scores for the first time in team history.
Tim Washe made his NHL debut against the wild three days after he helped western Michigan win the NCAA title. The 23-year-old played 6:24 and had a shot on goal.
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