WASHINGTON, D.C. — As far as their franchise history goes, they probably don’t come much bigger than this one for the Winnipeg Jets.

Going back a few years to their days in Atlanta, the current Jets usually put up a good fight but were never really this close to the post-season — aside from the ones who made the playoffs in 2007. The Jets can get really serious about making the playoffs tonight with a win over the Capitals at Verizon Center.

The Caps can wrap up the Southeast with a regulation or overtime win. The Jets can’t clinch anything, but they can certainly scare them with a victory of their own and maybe even pull out the division title. Winnipeg plays against Montreal on Thursday, while Washington finishes against Ottawa and Boston. Those aren’t slam dunks for the Capitals.

Here are a few more pre-game thoughts …

• There were 16 Jets on the ice for the optional morning skate. They probably wouldn’t admit it, but I’m thinking some of them had to burn off some nervous energy.

• Nik Antropov wasn’t talking after the skate because he didn’t know if he was going to be playing or not. I’d put money on Antropov getting the nod in place of the injured Kyle Wellwood, who broke his hand on Monday night in Buffalo.

• According to my calculations, first place in the Southeast (also known as the Washington route) is the second best way into the playoffs for the Jets. The Ottawa route is still the best.

• The Jets have recorded at least one point in seven straight games, which ties them for the second best mark in franchise history. If they can pick up a point tonight, it would be one game shy of the franchise record of nine straight without a regulation loss.

• Verizon Center promises to be a madhouse tonight. Caps fans will come dressed in red and ready to make some noise. It’s a large building, though, so the Jets might be able to suck the life out of the place with a couple of quick goals early.

• Alex Ovechkin, who is the hottest player on the planet right now, is hoping the Caps get a boost from their fans. “We’re going to use it to the maximum that we can,” he said after his team’s morning skate in Arlington, Va. “It’s always nice to play at home in that kind of position and the situation as well. I hope the fans are going to be the best tonight.”

• Ovechkin is red hot, but Troy Brouwer isn’t far behind. He has six goals in his last five games.

• Winnipeg has to watch out for Washington’s power play, for obvious reasons. Ovechkin and Co. have seven PP tallies in their last five games.

• If the Capitals win in regulation or overtime tonight, they will snag their fifth Southeast Division title in six years.

• Tonight is the last regular-season Southeast Division game for the Jets. I’m thinking the Jets are going to miss the Southeast next year because of the teams, and the people who cover the team are going to miss the Southeast next year, too, but only because of the weather.

• Adam Oates didn’t mince words when asked about the Jets playing on back-to-back nights. He hopes and thinks it’s going to hurt them. “We’ve had the benefit of a little bit of rest that they haven’t, so hopefully it’ll show itself.”

• If you’re ever looking for the Capitals practice facility, it’s on the eighth floor of a mall in Arlington, Va.

• Here are my guesses for tonight’s line combinations and defence pairings. Not sure what the Jets are going to do up front assuming Antropov goes in:
WINNIPEG
Forwards
Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane, Nik Antropov, James Wright
Eric Tangradi, Alex Burmistrov, Mike Santorelli
Antti Miettinen, Aaron Gagnon, Chris Thorburn
Defence
Derek Meech, Dustin Byfuglien
Ron Hainsey, Grant Clitsome
Mark Stuart, Paul Postma
Goalies
Ondrej Pavelec
Al Montoya

WASHINGTON
Forwards
Marcus Johansson, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin
Martin Erat, Mike Ribeiro, Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera, Mathieu Perreault, Eric Fehr
Jay Beagle, Matt Hendricks, Aaron Volpatti
Defence
Mike Green, Karl Alzner
John Carlson, John Erskine
Jack Hillen, Steve Olesky
Goalies
Braden Holtby
Michal Neuvirth

BUFFALO — The game that everyone has been looking at for the last couple of weeks has finally arrived.

Winnipeg at Washington. Verizon Center. Tuesday, April 23. 7 p.m.

The Washington Capitals can lock up a playoff spot with a victory over the Jets, because they would be three points up and Winnipeg would have only one game left. The Jets would still have avenues to the playoffs ahead of the Senators, Rangers and Islanders even if they lose, but a win would put the Caps in chase mode.

“What we’ve done these last five or six games means nothing,” Evander Kane said. “We gotta get ready for (Tuesday).”

With that in mind, here are a few thoughts from Monday’s game against the Sabres and the huge clash with the Caps:

• Kyle Wellwood suffered a hand injury that will keep him out “long term,” according to head coach Claude Noel. Wellwood blocked a Thomas Vanek shot with his right hand in the second period, and you can only assume there’s a broken bone in there somewhere. Oddly, it’s the second straight year he’s suffered a season-ending injury in the last week of the season.

• As for the Sabres game, the Jets deserve credit for sticking to it. Jhonas Enroth was stubborn all night long, but Antti Miettinen, who had been scratched from the last six games, scored the winner with seven and a half minutes to go.

• The Jets needed to win the game, and they should have won the game, and they did the game. That being said, they need to be much better on Tuesday night. “It wasn’t the easiest game for us,” Miettinen said. “To be able to win that is great. We just gotta be a little better when we go into Washington.”

• Blake Wheeler probably could have had a few goals on Monday night, but he was foiled by Enroth. Wheeler also took a lazy hooking penalty that led to Buffalo’s only goal on the power play.

• Evander Kane admitted he’s not 100%, which is obvious considering he has stopped participating in morning skates. “I don’t think anybody this time of the year,” he said. “You gotta play through some injuries and through some pain. This is the time of the season where you gotta step up and play for your teammates.”

• The Jets had a little fun with rookie defenceman Jacob Trouba on Monday. They apparently took his helmet from him and then made him lead the team out for the pre-game skate. And of course they stopped behind him and let him step onto the ice and skate for a while before joining him. Trouba took the skate but didn’t play in the game.

• Ondrej Pavelec’s best save of the night was his glove hand robbery of Vanek with five minutes to go. Pavelec admitted he just put his glove there and Vanek hit it. He’s being modest. He was in pretty good position and showed plenty of patience.

• Here’s a look at the Eastern Conference playoff race. I still think Ottawa is the best path to the playoffs for the Jets.

*3. Washington Capitals (52 pts, 3 GR) — HOME (3): Winnipeg, Ottawa, Boston; AWAY (0)
6. New York Islanders (53 pts, 3 GR) — HOME (0); AWAY (3): Carolina, Philadelphia, Buffalo
7. New York Rangers (52 pts, 3 GR) — HOME (1): New Jersey; AWAY (2): Florida, Carolina
8. Ottawa Senators (52 points, 3 GR) — HOME (1): Philadelphia. AWAY (2): Boston, Washington
——————————————————————————————————————
*9. Winnipeg (51 pts, 2 GR) — HOME (1): Montreal; AWAY (1): Washington

• Noel made it sound like Nik Antropov will be returning to the lineup in place of Wellwood on Tuesday night. It would probably be best to have him in there, considering he’s probably been in similar, pressure-packed situations a few times. Jim Slater is not yet ready to go as he recovers from a broken hand.

• I’ll be flying to Washington on Tuesday morning, so stay tuned to my Twitter feed for updates leading up to the big game.

BUFFALO — It’s a nice, sunny day here in the Niagara region, and the Jets hope to feel the same way after tonight’s game against the Sabres.

It’s just the opposite with the Sabres. The situation around the team has been described as “toxic” on more than one occasion by the local media lately, so they should be in disarray. They got pummelled 8-4 by the Rangers on Friday night, and goaltender Ryan Miller was mocked by the fans. Everyone thinks he’s done here in Buffalo. The situation is not good — unless you’re the Jets and their fans. There are no excuses for Winnipeg tonight, who will face Sabres backup Jhonas Enroth.

A few other thoughts before tonight’s tilt …

• There were tons of players on the ice at the Jets morning skate, including Jim Slater, Nik Antropov, Anthony Peluso and Zach Redmond, who was officially recalled from his conditioning stint today. It doesn’t sound like Redmond will be getting into a game any time soon, though. Head coach Claude Noel wants the defenceman to get his strength up, and then they’ll go from there. Unless they make the playoffs, it sounds like the next time we see Redmond in a Jets uniform will be next year.

• Derek Meech and Antti Miettinen will draw into the lineup tonight in place of the injured Zach Bogosian and Olli Jokinen. Meech will be paired with Byfuglien, so he knows what he’ll have to do. “He likes to get up on the rush, so I’m going to have to focus on a little more of the defensive side of things and take it from there,” Meech said.

• James Wright will centre the second line between Evander Kane and Kyle Wellwood. He spent plenty of extra time this morning practising his draws after going 0-for-5 on Saturday. “I had a tough game last game,” Wright said. “Usually I’m better than that, but I got Welly I can count on to take face-offs, too. But it’s definitely a lot easier when you’re starting with the puck.” Wright played centre quite a bit in the AHL this year and was also in the middle when he played for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.

• Andrew Ladd was named the NHL’s first star of the week today after recording two goals and six assists in three games. He also scored a pair of shootout goals. Ladd needs just four points in the final three games to tie his point total of 50 from last season, and that was in 82 games.

• It was easy to tell that Ladd is still more than a little peeved that Kyle Okposo got away with his hit on Zach Bogosian on Saturday. Okposo appeared to deliver a rising hit on Bogosian that made first contact with his head, and now No. 44 is out of the lineup with a suspected concussion. Okposo, meanwhile, got no penalty during the game or afterwards. “It’s tough. We lose one of our best players,” Ladd said. “As a player, I guess you feel a hit to the head is a hit to the head. That’s a tough one to take, especially this time of year when we really need him in the lineup. And that’s a team we’re battling for the playoffs with, and they still have their guy playing. So I don’t know. I don’t really have much more to say about that, but it’s tough to lose Zach.”

• If you want the Jets to make the playoffs, you’re cheering for the Pittsburgh Penguins to beat the Ottawa Senators tonight.

• Here’s my best guess at tonight’s line combinations and defence pairings:

WINNIPEG
Forwards
Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane, James Wright, Kyle Wellwood
Eric Tangradi, Alex Burmistrov, Antti Miettinen
Mike Santorelli, Aaron Gagnon, Chris Thorburn
Defence
Derek Meech, Dustin Byfuglien
Ron Hainsey, Grant Clitsome
Mark Stuart, Paul Postma
Goalies
Ondrej Pavelec
Al Montoya

BUFFALO
Forwards
Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson, Thomas Vanek
Steve Ott, Kevin Porter, Brian Flynn
Nathan Gerbe, Jochen Hecht, John Scott
Drew Stafford, Mikhail Grigorenko, Marcus Foligno
Defence
Christian Ehrhoff, Andrej Sekera
Adam Pardy, Mark Pysyk
Mike Weber, Chad Ruhwedel
Goalies
Jhonas Enroth
Ryan Miller

Saturday has come to an end, and the Jets are one point closer to eighth but one point further from third.

The Jets fell 5-4 in a shootout to the upstart New York Islanders at MTS Centre, which means they have lost control of their situation. They now need some help to catch either the Washington Capitals or New York Rangers with only three games remaining.

Here are a few other thoughts from Saturday’s game …

• The Jets were lucky to get a point, really. They trailed 3-1 and 4-3 late, but they showed plenty of pluck in getting the game to extra time and picking up a point.

• Claude Noel didn’t feel like providing many answers after the game. He completely avoided the question when asked why Evander Kane didn’t take the pre-game warmup. “Sometimes things happen before where you have to miss warmup, and that’s it. There’s really no explanation other than that. Sometimes it’s medical attention, sometimes it’s other things. Sometimes it’s equipment problems. There’s all kinds of things that come up. I’ve seen guys miss complete warm-ups lots of times and then they’re on the scoresheet. So there’s all kinds of things that go on. That’s just the way it goes. I don’t put much stock into it.”

• If anyone can translate what Noel said there, please let us know.

• Kane appeared to injure his right hand against Carolina on Thursday night, so that’s probably why he didn’t take the warmup.

• Nobody asked me, but I don’t like that the Jets decided to switch up the defensive partners this week. I think it hurt them on New York’s first goal, as Dustin Byfuglien and Ron Hainsey went after the same player, allowing Frans Nielsen to go in all alone on Ondrej Pavelec and score. Noel gave another odd answer, at first saying it didn’t matter and then basically saying it did. “I don’t see it. It’s the same thing with lines. It takes a little while to develop chemistry. That’s just a natural thing. Sometimes there’s a mixup, but that’s natural. People aren’t born as partners.”

• I haven’t seen Kyle Okposo’s hit on Zach Bogosian since the one replay right after it happened, but it sure looked like one of those hits that the NHL is trying to get rid of from the game.

• Bogosian left the game for a while, likely to go to the quiet room, but he wasn’t gone very long. And then he ended up leaving again in the third period. That shows there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to diagnosing head injuries. One thing for certain is it’s not easy.

• There was no reason to question Noel’s decision to pull Pavelec with 2:08 to go. It was the start of a power play, and the face-off was in New York’s zone. It was the perfect time to pull Pavelec, and it paid off.

• I’m off to follow the Jets to Buffalo and Washington, so give me a follow on Twitter (@PentonKirk) if you’re not already to stay up to date.

Boy, are the Jets ever going to miss the Southeast Division.

The Jets exploded for seven goals on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers, marking the first time they scored that many goals since they scored seven goals against … the Florida Panthers.

Jets head coach Claude Noel was full of his famous joy after the game, as he should have been. His team tied a season high with its third straight win, and it remains in the thick of the playoff race.

A few news and notes from Thursday’s game and a look ahead …

• How about that Bryan Little? The Jets centre had a rough week, taking a slap shot in the hand on Tuesday and then getting hit in the face by Erik Gudbranson’s shoulder on Thursday. It didn’t prevent him from notching four points in those two games, however.

• Little is just part of the top line that is humming right now. But is it too Little, too late?

• It was a great night for the Jets and their fans, but it wasn’t very good for them everywhere else. The Capitals won, the Islanders won, and the Senators won. Those were three teams the Jets needed to lose.

• The Jets will have a better understanding of where they truly sit in the Eastern Conference going into their game on Tuesday against Tampa. Washinton, the Islanders, Ottawa and New Jersey will all have played the same number of games as Winnipeg by then, while the Rangers will have only one game in hand.

• The Senators could be six points up on the Jets by then, the Caps and Islanders could be four points up, and the Devils could be two ahead. The good news for the Jets is the Sens play the Devils on Friday, and Islanders and Rangers clash on Saturday. If you’re wondering for whom to cheer, go with the Senators and the Islanders.

• Don’t forget the Jets have always been targeting 52 points as the magic number to get in the playoffs. That means they have to win four of their last six games. So far, so good.

• The Jets are playing some good hockey, that’s for sure, but their opponents during their three-game winning streak haven’t exactly been formidable opponents. The Flyers, Sabres and Panthers were there for the taking, but give the Jets for taking advantage each time.

• What a difference a week makes for Dustin Byfuglien. The big defenceman tied a career high with a plus-4 rating against the Panthers. It’s only the second time in his career he’s accomplished that feat.

• The night wasn’t as good for Ron Hainsey, who turned the puck over on Florida’s first goal and then shoved Tomas Kopecky into Ondrej Pavelec on its second tally. As a result, Hainsey had the second fewest minutes of his season, getting only 18 minutes and 27 seconds of ice time.

• The Jets are practising on Friday morning and then they’ll get Saturday off as part of their longest break between games this season. I wonder if Noel would rather his team go right back to playing games, considering how high its confidence must be right now?

The morning skates are complete, the afternoon naps are well underway, and we are only a few hours until puck drop.

Yes, it’s a big game. The Sabres are two points back of the Jets and can move past them in the Eastern Conference standing with a clean win. The Jets can’t move into playoff position with a win, but they can at least be tied with team(s) who are.

A few tidbits leading into tonight’s tilt …

• Several Jets took the morning skate off, including Mark Stuart, Ron Hainsey, Evander Kane, Olli Jokinen, Andrew Ladd, Toby Enstrom and Zach Bogosian. All are expected to play tonight.

• Rugged winger Anthony Peluso took part in today’s morning skate, marking the first time since he broke his hand that he was with the team during an official workout. He said he’s day-to-day, and it sounds like he could be back next week. I asked him if he could punch someone in the head if it were required. He said: “I’m sure I would if I had to. It’s not advised by the doctors, but at this point I just gotta be careful with it.”

• Sabres forward Steve Ott was a popular fellow this morning in the Buffalo dressing room. He told Buffalo radio station WGR 550 earlier today it was “completely ridiculous” that the team got booed at home during Sunday’s win over the New Jersey Devils. Here’s what Ott had to say to the media after the morning skate: “It’s a tough situation any time you hear the boo birds, and in tight games we want to be a competitive team to play against and obviously they pay a lot of hard-earned money to watch us play, and in certain situations we wish we could find some positive atmosphere from our crowd or some excitement to kind of push us through the hard spots. We got a lot of young guys in this dressing room, and they need the extra energy sometimes as we continue to try and push and grab a playoff spot. That’s a big deal for us.”

• The mini-controversy got everyone’s blood boiling, including Erica Halbrook, who according to the Internet is Ott’s fiancee. She Tweeted the following to Buffalo News reporter Mike Harrington after he criticized her man’s comments: “You do realize you make yourself sound like a complete douchebag, how do you have a career? Be a fan or F off. Simple.” She sounds lovely.

• Sabres winger Thomas Vanek took part in the morning skate, but he will be a game-time decision tonight. He has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. Vanek leads the Sabres with 16 goals in 29 games.

• The Jets haven’t scored a power-play goal in their last six games.

• Fact that has nothing to do with tonight’s game: Sabres GM Darcy Regier’s son, Justin, is participating in PGA Tour Canada qualifying school this week in California. If Justin gets his card and the Sabres miss the playoffs, maybe Darcy will be able to become his full-time caddie.

• Ondrej Pavelec is 4-0-1 against Buffalo since the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg last year.

• Here are my best guesses at tonight’s lines for both teams:

WINNIPEG
Forwards
Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane, Olli Jokinen, Kyle Wellwood
Eric Tangradi, Alex Burmistrov, Mike Santorelli
James Wright, Aaron Gagnon, Chris Thorburn
Defence
Toby Enstrom, Dustin Byfuglien
Ron Hainsey, Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart, Grant Clitsome
Goalies
Ondrej Pavelec
Al Montoya

BUFFALO
Forwards
Nathan Gerbe, Steve Ott, Cody Hodgson
Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno
Brian Flynn, Kevin Porter, Luke Adam
Patrick Kaleta, Jochen Hecht, John Scott
Defence
Christian Ehrhoff, Tyler Myers
Mike Weber, Andrej Sekera
Adam Pardy, Mark Pysyk
Goalies
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth

Yes, believe it or not, the Jets were able to have a practice this morning. That is news because in this condensed season there hasn’t been much time to work on things.

Maybe that’s why head coach Claude Noel was in such a good mood when he met with the media today. The last time the Jets had two days off between home games was back in mid-February. Other than that it’s been travel days or optional practices or game-day skates.

A few tidbits from today’s practice and the chats with the players in the dressing room afterwards …

• The Jets spent much of the practice working on line rushes. There was also some special teams work. Not much different than a usual practice. The coaches were no doubt happy to have the time.

• I watched Jacob Trouba for a while, and he looks like he has the ability to fit in right away. He moves really well and isn’t fooled too often by a forward’s moves. It looked like he’s quite agile on his skates, if you know what I mean.

• Trouba met with the media, and he already has that part down pat. There was a big pile of cameras and microphones in his face, and he had no problem joking around. He was very comfortable.

• Trouba is staying with billets while in Winnipeg, and his parents just left town yesterday. He was jokingly asked if he will have a curfew at the house, and he noted it shouldn’t be too much of a problem because he doesn’t have a car.

• Remember at the beginning of this season when the Jets said they were going to focus on team defence a little more? I talked to Mark Stuart and Claude Noel about that, and neither says it’s good enough yet. I’ll have that story online later today and in Tuesday’s paper.

• I also chatted with Kyle Wellwood, whose younger brother Eric had his right leg slashed by his own skate in an AHL game last night. Kyle hasn’t talked to Eric, but he was told by Eric’s team’s trainer that he’s doing well and has already had surgery to repair an artery that was cut. Is it just me, or have there been way more skate cuts this year?

• We can’t forget about the big picture, of course. The Jets are now two points behind the Washington Capitals atop the Southeast Division, and they are two points behind the Islanders and Rangers for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. All three of those teams have at least one game in hand on the Jets, too. The Buffalo Sabres are in town tomorrow night, and the Jets probably have to win six of their final eight to get into the playoffs. So tomorrow isn’t a must-win, but it’s close.

The Jets held an optional practice on Sunday morning at MTS Centre, and about half the team took part.

One notable participant was defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who met with the media after the skate. He didn’t seem overly happy with his situation, either. He was thrown up to forward last week, and he got only 17:48 of ice time in Saturday’s win over Philadelphia. He never sees that little ice time when playing defence. His partner, Toby Enstrom, was down on the minutes, too, getting just 18:51.

Another interesting part about Byfuglien’s meeting with the media today was that he said he hadn’t really had a conversation with head coach Claude Noel about what he needs to do to improve. Alex Burmistrov said the same thing when he got benched about a month ago. It makes you wonder about the lines of communication going on behind closed doors.

A few other news and notes from Sunday:

• The Jets finally announced the signing of Finnish netminder Juho Olkinuora, who spent the past two years at the University of Denver. He will report to the St. John’s IceCaps.

• If Olkinuora ever amounts to anything, he’ll be able to tell the funny story about how the Jets spelled his name wrong in the press release: Olikinuora.

• Here’s a link to Olkinuora making a great save a couple months back against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

• Had a good chat with Bryan Little today about the importance of his line down the stretch. He admitted that it’s on them to perform, and he sounded ready for the challenge, too. I then dug into the stats to see just how much the team relies on Little, Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler, and it’s just as everyone suspected: A LOT. Although it’s more about Little and Wheeler than it is Ladd. That story will be in Monday’s Sun.

• Little also said he needs to shoot more, which he did on Winnipeg’s fourth goal on Saturday. Look for him to fire the rubber more down the stretch.

• The Ottawa Senators lost 2-1 to the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Is there a chance that they fall out of the playoff picture? Is there a chance that their injuries could finally catch up with them? They better hope not, because they’ve played so well without so many big guns that they deserve to be in the post-season.

• It was the first of two days off for the Jets, who haven’t had two days in a row between home games in nearly two months. They will practise on Monday morning at MTS Centre to get ready for the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

A few thoughts as Winnipeg keeps its playoff hopes alive with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon:

• Simply put, Winnipeg’s best players were their best players. The top trio of Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler awoke from their slumber and notched five points. The other forward who gets mentioned in the same breath as those three, Evander Kane, also had a goal and an assist. Now those four just have to do that over Winnipeg’s final eight games if they’re going to have a hope.

• The thinking is the Jets have to go 6-2 the rest of the way if they’re going to make the playoffs. Fifty-two points are what the Jets felt they’ve always needed to get to the post-season. They have 40 in 40 games.

• According to my amateur math skills, if the teams behind the Jets win all of their games in hand, the Jets would fall to 12th in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia, New Jersey and Carolina can all overtake Winnipeg with their games in hand.

• So much for the Jets improving their defence this year. Last year they allowed exactly three goals per game, and the focus going into this season was on defence. Well, this year the Jets are averaging exactly three goals against per game.

• What makes the goals against stat worse is the fact the Jets are scoring only 2.45 goals per game this year after notching 2.74 per contest last season.

• Interesting to see Dustin Byfuglien get only 17:48 of ice time against the Flyers, and it’s not like the Jets were killing off penalties all day, either. That’s one of his lowest totals in a long time. The whole Byfuglien situation is not good news for the Jets going down the stretch.

• The Jets set a perfect tone for their six-game home stand. They are back to 9-9-0 at home this season and feeling good again about playing at MTS Centre. “We need to get that good feeling going at home, and get comfortable in this arena,” Evander Kane said. “The fans were probably the loudest they’ve been all year.”

• The Washington Capitals, whom the Jets need to overcome, have two games in hand on Winnipeg and seven of their last 10 games are at home. One of Washington’s games in hand goes Sunday night at home against Tampa.

PITTSBURGH — Winnipeg’s two-game road trip ended with a thud, a 4-0 loss to the Penguins, that most everyone saw coming.

Sure, there was a chance the Penguins could have looked past the Jets, but this team is so well-rounded right now, there was just no way that was going to happen. It is such a well-oiled machine. I haven’t seen Chicago in person this year, but the Penguins have to be the Cup favourite right now.

Yes, Marc-Andre Fleury couldn’t stop a beach ball last year, but the Pens have now given up nine goals in their last 10 games. That means they’re giving up an average of 0.9 goals per game. That is just silly.

Here are a few more thoughts on the game and on the Jets …

• Winnipeg recorded a franchise first on Thursday night when it was not assessed a penalty. That goes all the way back to Atlanta’s first season of 1999-2000. You’d think you’d normally win the game when you don’t give the other team a power play, but the Penguins are a different animal.

• The Jets came out OK in the first period, but their top-level intensity couldn’t last even 20 minutes. The Penguins had seized control of the contest by the 15-minute mark of the opening frame, and that was that.

• The Penguins beat the Jets to sooooo many pucks. Are the Jets just that slow? Are the Penguins that fast? It seemed like men against boys in the skating department.

• Head coach Claude Noel said Al Montoya was his best player. He’s right about that.

• Ron Hainsey made a funny in the post-game interview when he said he was happy they didn’t have to worry about facing the Penguins again — unless they meet in the Eastern Conference final. You never know with Hainsey if he’s joking or not. Technically, I guess he has to say that. A couple media folks chuckled, though.

• Speaking of Hainsey, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff should be a seller at the deadline. If the price is right, he should unload any high-priced, UFA talent if someone wants them. The Jets aren’t anywhere close to being an upper-echelon team. They can still make the playoffs even if they unload a couple of veterans, but it’s time for the brass to put its own stamp on the roster. Why not get a couple of draft picks in the process?

• The Jets just can’t win in Pittsburgh. That’s 12 losses in a row for them, and they’ve been outscored 57-25 in those games. That includes being outscored 20-9 in three games since they became the Winnipeg Jets.

• Sidney Crosby said the Jets looked worn out at the end of a road trip. It was a two-game road trip. With a day off in between. And they didn’t even practice. No excuses.

• The bottom line is the Jets are still sitting pretty. They have a six-point lead on the reeling Hurricanes, who will skate onto the MTS Centre ice on Saturday in the midst of a seven-game losing streak. A win, and the Jets are all but in.