Lowry reveals the pressure of the tight playoff race, emphasizing focus on wins over standings to control their own destiny.
With the playoff race tightening in the West, the Winnipeg Jets are fighting to stay in the wild card picture, and captain Adam Lowry is making it clear the team’s focus needs to stay on the ice, not the standings.
Lowry spoke with Sara Orlesky during Winnipeg’s pre-game show The Check In, which she co-hosts with Jamie Thomas. When asked about the playoff race, Lowry admitted that right now is “a stressful time, for sure,” but pointed to a recent win that helped keep the Jets’ postseason hopes alive.
The veteran center stressed the importance of staying grounded, with Winnipeg preparing for a key Tuesday matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I think sometimes you're trying to 3D chess and seeing who needs to beat who and I think sometimes that just brings more stress into the equation, as much as we need to get help from other teams, if we win the games in front of us, we kind of can control our own destiny to a certain point,” Lowry explained.
The playoff picture remains wide open, with only the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars having officially clinched spots so far. That leaves the door open for teams like Winnipeg to make a late push if they can string together wins.
Lowry also acknowledged that the pressure of the moment has, at times, worked against the team.
“I think going into that Anaheim game we knew it was a big game, and kind of fell right on her face,” Lowry explained “Sometimes when you put so much pressure on wanting to perform well, you take away from your ability to just go out there and play and do what we know we need to do so I think for the most part, guys have done a good job of coming to the rink with a good attitude.”
Individually, it has been a challenging season for Lowry, who got off to a slow start after recovering from off-season surgery and is on track to fall short of the 30-point mark for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
On the ice, Winnipeg has also had difficulty against Vegas, including a narrow 4-3 loss in their previous meeting. Tuesday’s game marks the second of three matchups this season, giving the Jets another opportunity to flip the script and pick up a much-needed two points. Currently sitting five points back of a playoff spot and needing to pass four teams in the standings, the path forward is steep.
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