NHL Game Preview - Ottawa at Winnipeg

Sat Apr 1, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Even though the games don't mean anything in the standings, many players on the Winnipeg Jets roster are treating the last two weeks of the season as if they're life and death.

You know, from a hockey perspective.

Maybe their performances from now until the middle of April will get them a second (or third or fifth) look at training camp next fall -- and maybe they won't -- but many Jets players are going all out until the final whistle blows on their season in mid-April.

So, if members of the Ottawa Senators thought they were going to get two points gift-wrapped with a bow in their game against the Jets at the MTS Center on Saturday night, they were sadly mistaken.

One of their opponents hoping to make them pay is Nic Petan, a second-round pick of the 2013 draft and a winger who believes he can make a significant impact from now until, well, the end his career. Playing primarily on the fourth line this season, with a growing amount of time on the power play, he has been making a big adjustment in his hockey life considering he's been a first-line guy since he was three-feet tall.

"Your mind needs a bit of a break," Petan told the Winnipeg Free Press earlier this week.

"But once it comes down to training (in the summer), you want to get back at it right away and work on the things that you were weak at this year. For myself, it's not solidifying a fourth-line role for the rest of my career. I know I don't want to be in that role. I think this year you played it and you tried to do your best at it. But I think there's more opportunity for myself."

Unfortunately for Petan, he's as low as fifth on the Jets' depth chart at center when everyone's healthy. He hasn't been putting up big numbers on the power play either, despite sharing time with a trigger-man such as rookie Patrik Laine.

He's behind centers Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp, although the landscape could change following the June expansion draft. Manitoba Moose center Jack Roslovic will also battle for a job with the Jets this fall.

The Senators, winners of the Stanley Cup four times from 1917 to 1923, come to town having lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center. Even though they're a virtual lock to make the playoffs, they're not exactly firing on all cylinders as winger Bobby Ryan hasn't scored in 10 games, Viktor Stalberg hasn't bulged the twine in nine games and Derick Brassard and Mark Stone are both goal-less in their last six contests.

If history is any guide, the Senators have reason for confidence on this roadtrip, having not lost a game to the Jets franchise since it was called the Atlanta Thrashers back in 2011.

Senators center Mark Stone always looks forward to performing in his hometown. He planned to have dinner with his parents Friday.

"I'll get to see my mom and dad, a couple of buddies and it will be fun to have (the) day off and just kind of unwind," Stone told the Winnipeg Free Press. "We've been playing a ton of hockey and we'll be able to get a full day off and we'll get back it Saturday to get two points we're trying to get."