The Winnipeg Jets face the Nashville Predators tonight in the first of two games between the Central Division rivals at Bell MTS Place this month…The Jets lost 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday in the first game of their two-game homestand…After tonight’s game, the Jets head out on a four-game road trip, which begins Sunday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
At Home
Winnipeg has the third-best home record in the NHL this season at 21-8-4…The
Jets have points in 10 of their past 12 home games (8-2-2), which included a
seven-game winning streak from Jan. 6-Feb. 2…The Jets have the best power play
at home in the NHL this season at 31.7%…Winnipeg’s 32 power play goals at
home this season is tied for second in the NHL…The Jets have a 53-14-6 record
at Bell MTS Place during the past two seasons, making it the second toughest
building in the NHL for opposing teams to play…The Jets have scored 124 goals
at home this season, which is third in the NHL, and have outscored their
opposition 102-52 in their 21 wins.
Central Foes
The Jets are 10-10-0 against Central Division teams this season…Since the
start of the 2016-17 season, the Jets are 44-27-4 against Central Division teams,
which is second in the NHL…In that same time frame, Blake Wheeler leads all NHLers
in scoring against the Central Division with 94 points (27G, 67A) in 75 games,
while Mark Scheifele is second with 86 points (35G, 51A) in 67 games.
Finding the Power
After going seven games without a power play goal (0-for-19), the Jets have
scored a power play goal in four consecutive games (5-for-16, 31.3%)…Winnipeg
is fourth in the NHL this season with a 25.3% power play percentage…The Jets
have scored a power play goal in 38 of their 63 games this season…Winnipeg’s 27
wins this season when scoring a power play goal is second in the NHL.
Unfamiliar Territory
The Jets have lost five of six games (1-4-1) for the first time since Jan. 7-16/17
(1-4-1)…Winnipeg has lost back-to-back games in regulation for the fifth time
this season, but haven’t lost three consecutive games in regulation since Mar.
6-11/17…Since then, the Jets have lost consecutive games in regulation 11 times.
Forgetting February
The Jets went 4-6-2 during the month of February…In 12 games, they earned 10
points, which was tied for the fifth fewest in the league…Winnipeg had previously
lost four games in regulation in each of the previous four months this season…It
was the first time the Jets had a losing month since going 4-5-2 in February of
2017…Blake Wheeler led the Jets in scoring in February with 10 points (3G, 7A)
in 12 games, while Mark Scheifele had a team-best five goals and Jacob Trouba
had a team-best eight assists.
Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the
team has gone 77-51-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past three
seasons, the Jets are 27-8-2 in March and April, including a perfect 8-0-0 in
April.
Time Travellers
The Jets are in a stretch of six games in three different time zones and play
consecutive games in the same time zone just once…The Jets played the three
games of their recent road trip in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones before
returning home to the Central Time Zone this week for two games and then going
to the Eastern Time Zone for four games.
Closing in on a Career
Year
Mark Scheifele tallied his team-leading 31st goal on Tuesday, which
ended a five-game pointless streak…He’s one goal shy of matching the
career-high 32 goals he scored during the 2016-17 season in 79 games…Scheifele also
had a career-high 50 assists and 82 points in 2016-17.
Patty Streaking
After going 15 games without a goal, Patrik Laine has scored four times in his
past three games…The four goals is more than his goal production from his
previous 30 games…Laine leads the Jets with 14 power play goals, which is tied
for fifth in the NHL…He needs one goal to reach 30 goals for the third
consecutive season to start his NHL career…In addition to his goal scoring
streak, Laine has a point in four consecutive games (4G, 2A).
Wingman
After going back-to-back games without a point for just the second time this
season, Blake Wheeler has five assists in a four-game assist streak…He leads
the Jets with 61 assists and 73 points…Wheeler has reached 70 points for the fourth
consecutive season, which is one season shy of Ilya Kovalchuk’s franchise
record of five consecutive 70-point seasons…He is the first player in franchise
history to record back-to-back 60-assist seasons…He is second in the NHL in
assists and tied for 14th in points.
Jets vs. Predators All-Time Records
Overall: 17-20-5
At Bell MTS Place: 6-7-0
At Bridgestone Arena: 7-12-2
2018-19 Game Log vs. Predators
| Date | Location | Score | Rec | Scorers | Goaltender |
| Oct. 11 | Nashville | 3-0 L | 0-1-0 (2-2-0) | None | Hellebuyck (27 sv, 3 ga) |
| Jan. 17 | Nashville | 5-1 W | 1-1-0 (31-14-2) | Lemieux (4, 5), Appleton (2), Little (11), Tanev (11) | Hellebuyck (37 sv, 1 ga) |
| Mar. 1 | Winnipeg | ||||
| Mar. 23 | Winnipeg |
Jets vs. Predators Notes
- Winnipeg has points in six of their last 10 games against Nashville (5-4-1).
- Seven of the last nine meetings between the Jets and Predators have been decided by two goals or less, with four of those games decided by only one goal.
- The winning team has scored at least five goals in seven of the past 11 games between these two teams.
- Winnipeg is 0-for-5 on the power play in two games against Nashville this season, but previously scored a power play goal in five consecutive games (6-for-19, 31.6%).
- The Jets are a perfect 13-for-13 on the penalty kill in the two games against the Predators this season.
- The Jets and Predators have combined for 50 goals (excluding shootouts) in their past seven meetings.
- Since relocating to Winnipeg, the Jets and Predators have played only one game with a combined goal total of two or less (2-0 L on Oct. 17, 2014).
- Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in career scoring against the Predators with 24 points (13G, 11A) in 30 games.
- Kevin Hayes has 10 points (2G, 8A) in 10 career games against Nashville.
Jets-Predators Connections
- Ryan Ellis of the Predators and Tyler Myers of the Jets won gold together at the 2009 World Junior Championships playing for Canada.
- Predators assistant coach Kevin McCarthy is from Winnipeg.
- Jets forward Patrik Laine and Predators goaltender Juuse Saros were teammates for Finland at the 2016 World Championship, winning a silver medal.
- Patrik Laine suited up for Finland at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with Predators forward Mikael Granlund.
- Jets forward Matt Hendricks played 44 games for the Predators during the 2013-14 season.
- Jets defenceman Nathan Beaulieu was teammates with Predators defenceman P.K. Subban in the Montreal Canadiens organization from 2012-2016.
- Jets Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey played in the 2017 World Championship alongside Predators forward Wayne Simmonds, winning a silver medal.