3 things we learned from Jets vs. Predators Game 3

The Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators played Game 3 of their series tonight in Winnipeg. The Jets took the game with a dominant 7-4 win. Here is what we learned.

The Winnipeg Jets came out sluggish in front of an energized home crowd in this game, dropping three goals to the Nashville Predators early. They got their legs under them in the second, scoring four of their own on route to seven total goals. The Jets keep their home streak intact and will look to continue winning at home on Thursday in Game 4.

Game 3 was an action-packed thriller. It looked as though the Jets were going to give this game up in the early stages but they showed some next-level resilience on the backs of veteran players, Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler, who each had two goals and an assist.

This series is a matchup between two Vezina Trophy finalists in Pekka Rinne and Connor Hellebuyck, though you wouldn’t know it given the scores in these games. The Predators have allowed four goals in Games 1 and 2 and seven in Game 3. Rinne will need to buckle down if the Predators want to get back into this series.

Here are three things we learned from Jets vs. Predators Game 3

1. The Predators will have to be more disciplined if they want to win

The Nashville Predators spiraled in this game. They had a three-goal lead through the first and were then outscored 7-1 through the last 40 minutes. That can’t happen in the NHL playoffs. The Predators simply must be better.

Nashville killed any chance of a comeback in this game when they took three straight penalties in the third period, one of which was an undisciplined play by Rinne, retaliating on a Jets player with a nice full-swing slash (beautiful form, Pekka):

The Predators are in a tough spot right now. They need a win in a barn that is extremely hard to win in. They will need to stay composed in Game 4 and stay out of the box if they want to head back to Nashville at 2-2.

2. If Patrik Laine starts scoring again, this series is over

The Jets are scoring a ridiculous amount of goals for a playoff team playing against a goalie who will likely win the Vezina Trophy. What makes this even more impressive is that they are doing this without their leading scorer, Patrik Laine, who has not scored yet in this series.

Laine is playing well. He is getting his shots on net, he just has yet to solve Rinne in this series. If he manages to break the scoring seal and start putting points on the board like he did in the regular season, the Jets will be near unstoppable.

Until that time, the Jets are getting offense from everyone, most notably Mark Scheifele, who had two assists tonight and has eight goals in these playoffs. Look for Laine to get back to his scoring ways in Game 4. You can’t hold a guy like that scoreless for this long. It just won’t happen.

3. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense

The Jets got a much-needed offensive boost from their defensemen tonight. Dustin Byfuglien scored two and assisted on another, while Jacob Trouba added a goal and an assist of his own. It was the Jets defensemen who outplayed the highly touted Predators d-men tonight.

The Predators would like similar production from their defensemen in Game 4, or perhaps just for them to slow down the Jets offense. You aren’t going to win a series if you have to score five goals a game to win.

Plain and simple, the Predators need to be better. They have put themselves in a very difficult position of having to be better in the most difficult arena in the NHL, but still, they need to be better.

Game 4 takes place on Thursday, May 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET in Winnipeg.

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