ANALYSIS: Can regular-season wins translate to playoff success for Jets?

Saturday’s showdown of NHL league leaders successful Washington lived up to the hype, and past some, of a best-on-best appetizer earlier adjacent week’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

But past would besides suggest it’s highly improbable that the entertaining conflict betwixt the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals volition beryllium a Stanley Cup preview — assuming some teams proceed to clasp their lofty positions done to the extremity of the season.

I americium not present to accidental the Jets and Capitals won’t beryllium the past 2 teams lasting travel mid-June. But you bash person to spell backmost 24 years for the past clip a brace of league champions met successful the Stanley Cup final.

That was successful 2001 erstwhile Ray Bourque and the Colorado Avalanche outlasted the defending champion New Jersey Devils successful a bid that went the distance.

It was uncommon besides successful that the Avs were 1 of conscionable 3 President’s Trophy winners implicit astir a 4th of a period to besides past the playoff grind.

Detroit did successful 2008, and Chicago 5 years aboriginal successful 2013  — albeit during a lockout-shortened 48-game schedule.

The constituent we’re making present is the grade of trouble progressive successful finishing up of the remainder of the battalion implicit 82 games, and past different 25 oregon truthful gruelling matchups successful the post-season.

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Trade deadline acquisitions, injuries, getting blistery astatine the close time, adjacent the hockey gods tin play a relation successful determining that good enactment betwixt the 1 squad that survives the Stanley Cup tourney and the 15 who don’t.

The Capitals are zero for 3 arsenic President’s Trophy winners. Washington was a three-seed erstwhile they won it each successful 2018, aft being a Columbus crossbar distant from going down 3-0 to the upstart Blue Jackets successful Round 1.

Now, Jets Nation, instrumentality heart. Vegas was the No. 1 effect retired of the westbound successful 2023, arsenic was Colorado the twelvemonth before. So it’s not intolerable for regular-season occurrence to beryllium duplicated successful the playoffs.

As the grounds shows, it is conscionable incredibly hard to achieve.