NASHVILLE -- It's been a season of firsts for the Winnipeg Jets. They set a franchise record with 114 points and won a Stanley Cup Playoff series for the first time in franchise history
Now they are getting ready for their first trip to the Western Conference Second Round, where they will play the Nashville Predators, who have much more postseason experience.
Game 1 of the best-of-7 series is here Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN360, TVAS).
The franchise, which moved to Winnipeg in 2011 after 11 seasons as the Atlanta Thrashers, had never won a playoff game before this season. The Thrashers were swept in the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by the New York Rangers, and the Jets were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 Western Conference First Round.
But the Jets defeated the Minnesota Wild this season in five games, a series where they were light on playoff experience: Winnipeg players had played a combined 264 NHL playoff games, compared to 748 for Minnesota.
There is an even greater disparity of experience against Nashville.
The Predators have been to the postseason 11 times, reaching the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, and their players have played a combined 1,114 playoff games through the first round of this year's playoffs. The Jets have 364.
"They got some experience from last year," Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. "We got some experience from the last five games and we've played some really good hockey, so I think this is a new season.
"We've taken a step up, and if we can keep this going the way we're playing right now and make it even better, then it's going to be an exciting series."
Not only have the Jets have never played a second-round game, the original Jets (now the Arizona Coyotes), who were in Winnipeg from 1979-96, played in two second-round series (1985 and 1987, both against the Calgary Flames) and did not win a game.
The Predators (53-18-11) won the Presidents' Trophy with 117 points. The Jets (52-20-10) were second in the Central Division and League with 114.
Ehlers was one of 10 Jets players (goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, defensemen Tucker Poolman and Josh Morrissey, and forwards Andrew Copp, Brandon Tanev, Patrik Laine, Joel Armia, Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor are the others) in the first round who had never played a playoff game until this season.
Winnipeg has five players who have played in the second round with other teams: forwards Paul Stastny (Colorado Avalanche, 2008; St. Louis Blues, 2016, 2017), Blake Wheeler (Boston Bruins, 2009, 2010), Mathieu Perreault (Washington Capitals, 2012; Anaheim Ducks, 2014), and Matt Hendricks (Capitals, 2011, 2012), and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (Chicago Blackhawks, 2009 and 2010, when he won the Stanley Cup).
Nashville has two players -- forwards Ryan Hartman and Eeli Tolvanen -- who have never played in the second round. Tolvanen, 19, who played three regular-season games after signing a three-year entry level contract March 29, is the only Predators player who has never played a playoff game.
"Some firsts have been passed," Maurice said of his players getting postseason experience. "They've got their game out of the way, they won a game on the road, they've lost a game, haven't seen an overtime game, yet, that's the one that's left.
"At the end, experience (or) maybe a better word is belief. After you've been to the [Final] like they (the Predators) have, they believe they're good enough to win, they know how strong they are. We're building that belief as we go."
Maurice is in the second round for the third time in his NHL coaching career. He reached the 2002 Stanley Cup Final (against the Detroit Red Wings) and the 2009 Eastern Conference Final (against the Penguins) with the Carolina Hurricanes, each time as an underdog.
Being underdogs against the Predators wasn't an idea he was promoting, at least not too strongly.
"I think you're going to see that word more in the first round when you get one and eight (seeds) going against each other," Maurice said. "Then you get to this and there doesn't look to be a Cinderella story coming out of this, other than [the] Vegas [Golden Knights] but that started in August. [The Predators'] play says they're an elite team.
"The team that starts at home has proven to be better than the team that starts on the road over the course of 82 (games); it's a close gap. They have an experience advantage from last year, and this is a new year."
Jets forward Bryan Little, though, was embracing the underdog concept.
"I wouldn't think people would call us huge underdogs," Little said. "We finished really close in the standings. But they've been in this situation before. They were in the Stanley Cup Final last year. We take it as a great challenge. We'd like nothing more than to upset these guys.
"But I think it's close. It's going to be a really tough series and a tight series so I think that's why everyone's so excited about it."
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