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WINNIPEG Adidas Paul Stastny Jersey , Manitoba (AP) Captain Blake Wheeler wasn’t certain at the beginning of the season if his Winnipeg Jets would contend for a playoff spot. Now he has his answer.Mark Scheifele scored the only goal in a shootout and the Winnipeg Jets clinched a playoff spot with a 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.The Jets are in the postseason for the first time since 2014-15 and just the second time since their move from Atlanta before the 2011-12 season. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff series since 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 includes a pair of overtime goals in Winnipeg’s previous two games and gives him 29 on the season. That’s tied with Vancouver’s Brock Boeser for the rookie goal scoring lead. Boeser’s season ended 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, and Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler each added a goal and an assist for Winnipeg.Kyle Turris, Ryan Ellis Adidas Max Pacioretty Jersey , and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, and Roman Josi also scored for the Predators.Nashville backup Juuse Saros stopped 43 shots while the defending Western Conference champions rested their Vezina Trophy candidate Pekka Rinne after playing the night before in Minnesota.Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves for the Jets, improving to 39-11-0.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.”The Predators went 1 for 5 on the power play. Turris’s 14th put the Predators up 2-0 with less than one second remaining in the first period. The Jets’ two goals with the man advantage put their power play at 2 for 5.”I think playoffs are a lot different, to be honest with you,” said Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm when asked about potentially meeting the Jets in the postseason.”It’s most likely going to be the same players, so I wouldn’t expect anything much different. But playoffs are playoffs. I know on our part, we’re going to tighten up defensively Adidas Seth Griffith Jersey , for sure.”NOTES: The Jets trail the Predators by five points for first in the Central Division with seven games remaining in the regular season.UP NEXTPredators: Start a three-game homestand against Minnesota on Tuesday night.Jets: Complete a six-game homestand against Boston on Tuesday night.— ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Shortly before he walked outside Friday at Navy’s Memorial Stadium, Mike Babcock said: ”Hang on to your hat.”Babcock’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals might want to hang on to everything with high wind in the forecast for Saturday night’s outdoors Stadium Series game at the U.S. Naval Academy. The storm knocking out power and disrupting travel up and down the East Coast forced both teams to practice indoors Friday, where they were left to contemplate what sustained winds of 15-20 mph and gusts as high as 32 mph might have on their game.”I have no idea,” Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak said. ”Hopefully we’re skating with the wind more than we are against it.”The wind is enough of a factor that the game could be postponed to Sunday. The glass had to be removed from the on-field rink because of safety concerns.The NHL has played 24 previous regular-season outdoor games and this one could easily see the worst conditions when it comes to wind. Temperatures just above freezing would not rank it among the coldest, but there are concerns how the wind could make a real difference.”I haven’t played in anywhere it’s been super windy,” said Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, who will be taking part in his fifth outdoor game. ”It’ll definitely make a unique dynamic, I know. It seems like in today’s game there’s lots of high flips and stuff like that Adidas Jack Roslovic Jersey , so it’ll be interesting to see how the puck reacts getting flipped in the air and a gust of wind comes up.”Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby thinks strong wind would only possibly affect dump-ins or high flips of the puck and that it could make it difficult for players to keep their eyes open when it’s head on. Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen is more concerned for the skaters – and that’s a shared concern.”If you have a turnover and you’ve got to backcheck, that’s probably when it’s going to be a little tough,” Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said.NHL players are more accustomed to climate-controlled arenas – a long way from their younger days when playing on frozen ponds or lakes meant dealing with the conditions.”It won’t feel good on your body, that’s for sure,” Toronto forward Mitch Marner said. ”It probably won’t help with the puck or anything like that.”Capitals coach Barry Trotz was more worried when the wind rumbled around trees outside his house Thursday night and joked about a coin toss to pick directions like a football game.Previous outdoor games have included teams changing ends at the 10-minute mark of the third period to negate an unfair wind advantage. At the least, that’s likely, and players are prepared for the wind even though they don’t know exactly what it’ll do.”The wind wouldn’t be ideal, but part of playing these games is you have to deal with the weather,” Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. ”She was a little windy out there (Friday) Adidas Laurent Brossoit Jersey , but hopefully she clears up a little bit for us.”Rielly, who played outdoors on New Year’s Day in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2014 and again in Toronto in 2017, figures wind would be more difficult to deal with than snow. But the 23-year-old has a sunny disposition about wacky weather.”It definitely has an impact on the game,” Rielly said. ”But that’s all part of the experience. Players, two teams have to deal with it. It’s not going to change the game plan or anything. It’s just going to make it a little bit more difficult and it might be kind of fun.”—