Weekend Preview: Jr. Blues @ Jets (G48 & G49)

JANESVILLE, WI — Six more weekends and 13 games to play are all that’s left of the 2019-20 Jets’ regular season, but it’s already playoff time to head coach Corey Leivermann.

His group is tied with the fifth-place Minnesota Magicians at 43 points, though the Jets do have a game in hand. Janesville also holds a 21-17 lead in total wins, the preliminary tie-breaker:

At the conclusion of the NAHL regular season, Clubs that have an equal amount of points shall have their final position in the NAHL standings determined by applying the following tie
breaking procedures until the tie is broken:
A. Most wins during the regular season.
B. Results of head to head competition during the regular season.
C. Total goal differential in head to head competition during the regular season.
D. Total goal differential during the regular season.
E. Coin flip.

The Jets’ and Magicians’ regular season schedules conclude with an April 3 & 4 series against one other in Janesville. Leivermann has no plans for that series to matter, at least from a clinching perspective.

“We’ve been in the playoffs for a couple of weeks now, is the reality of it,” he said. “There hasn’t been a time to flip a switch. These are playoff games right now, and we need points more than ever. Practices have been a grind lately. We’ve had to make it where practices are harder than their games.”

As the day-to-day atmosphere around the team becomes more playoff-like, rookie defenseman Blake Dangos has been one player who has stepped up, Leivermann said.

“He’s been awesome,” said Leivermann. “Dangos has been just ‘Steady Eddie’ for us on the back end. He’s trustworthy in all situations and he’s starting to get looks at the college level. He’s done everything that we’ve asked of him so it’s great to see him start to get rewarded in that way.”

That combination of playing smart and playing hard is what Leivermann said the Jets will need to get hot in the season’s closing stretch.

“Goaltending is obviously the major reason every team goes on a run,” he said. “We know we can get that. When it matters most you’ve gotta have four lines contributing, though. When we have just one, we’re cooked. When our forwards work hard, the talent shows, but when they play soft, we’re easy to play against.”

Six of the Jets’ final 13 games are against the Jr. Blues, ending with another series in Janesville on March 27 and 28. With points at a premium, playoff hockey continues tonight in Janesville.

Fri Feb 28  |  7:05pm CT

Sat Feb 29 |  7:05pm CT