Second Leg Booked

With their victory tonight, the Winnipeg Jets officially booked the second leg of their playoff journey as they dispatched the Minnesota Wild 4-1 in their series. Like the image to the left, I expect the bandwagon to start filling up quickly as more and more fans start cheering for Canada's most exciting team on ice, but, like the photo above, there are lots of seats on this bandwagon. The Jets showed off their depth in eliminating the Wild and will now have a few days for the bumps, bruises, welts, and cuts to heal as they prepare for one of Nashville or Colorado. If you aren't excited for these Jets, you may want to see if you still have a pulse!

Let's go to the Game Five highlights, compliments of Rogers Sportsnet and, mostly, the Winnipeg Jets.

A few things about tonight's win:

• Jacob Trouba's goal just 31 seconds into the game broke a Winnipeg Jets franchise record for fastest playoff goal from the start of the game that was previously set at 53 seconds by Randy Carlyle back in 1995.
• Brandon Tanev now leads the Tanev family in NHL Playoff goals. Brandon has a total of one; his older brother Chris, who plays for Vancouver, has zero.
• After Minnesota anthem singer John deCausmeaker made his plea before Game Four about letting Winnipeg hear the passion of Minnesota fans, the Minnesota Wild scored a total of zero goals over the next six periods in being eliminated.
• The sellout crowd announced at 15,321 inside BellMTS Place set a new volume record at one point during the night, registering at 114.3 decibels. That's a level 16 times higher than 70dB, and is 4.3dB higher than the average human pain threshold when it comes to sound. It would be equivalent to standing within one meter of a car whose horn is blaring.
• The Jets haven't lost a game at home, including three in these playoffs, since February 27.
• It was 31 years and five days since Winnipeg saw their pro hockey team advance to the second round of the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
• Preliminary estimates had the crowd outside BellMTS Place numbering over 30,000 (edit: the final number was approximately 36,000).

In the end, the four first-period goals scored by the Jets paced them to the 5-0 win in Game Five, and the game ended with this sequence.

Handshakes in Winnipeg. pic.twitter.com/NqiXkjiXtU

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 21, 2018

Get your boarding passes ready, folks. The second leg of this incredible flight is now accepting passengers, and you're welcome to join Jets fans in this fun and exciting spring.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!