Neither the players nor their teams intend to make any game a nothing game, but such was the plight of both the Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets Wednesday night at the MTS Centre.
The Jets were long ago banished from playoff talk and added to their wholly disappointing record (now 31-39-7) by losing 2-1 to the Senators.
For those focused only on the bottom of the NHL standings, the defeat stalled the Jets at 69 points, only two off the league’s bottom rung and the best odds for the draft lottery.
Game-deciding mistake
The Sens, on the other hand, have slowly drifted away from the pack in the Eastern Conference and despite winning to get to 79 points, were officially vanquished from the race about 30 minutes after the game’s finish when the Philadelphia Flyers prevailed in a shootout over Washington.