Winnipeg Jets PR Game Day Information Game Notes: Mar. 21 at Vegas Golden Knights

Game Notes: Mar. 21 at Vegas Golden Knights

March 21, 2019March 21, 2019| 1:05 am
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The Winnipeg Jets finish a three-game road trip tonight when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights in their second game in as many nights…The Jets have won four consecutive games, which includes a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night and 3-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks last night…After tonight’s game, the Jets return to Winnipeg for their last homestand of the season, which begins Saturday against the Nashville Predators

Game Notes PDF

Playoff Picture
Magic Number: 2
Current Point Total: 92
Projected Playoff Line: 86 Points

Earliest Jets Could Clinch a Playoff Spot: Tonight at Vegas Golden Knights
If the Playoffs Started Today…: The Jets (1st in the Central) would have home ice against the Dallas Stars (1st in Wild Card) in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Chance to Clinch
Tonight is the first chance the Jets have this season to clinch their spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and can become the first Central Division team to do so with a win tonight…Last season, the Jets clinched their playoff spot on Mar. 25 at home with a 5-4 shootout win against the Nashville Predators…The Jets needed 102 points to clinch last season, but can do so this year with 94 points.

Best for Last
The Jets scored twice in the third period on five shots to increase their third-period goal total this season to 96, which is second in the NHL…The third period been Winnipeg’s most productive period, as the Jets have scored 78 first-period goals and 67 second-period goals…The Jets hold a plus-21 third-period goal differential, which is fifth in the NHL.

Consistent Power
The Jets have scored a power play goal in five consecutive games (5-for-14, 35.7%) and are 14-for-47 (29.8%) on the power play in their past 14 games…Winnipeg’s power play on the season is clicking at 25.9%, which is fourth in the NHL and 2.5 percentage points better than their 23.4% power play last season…With 32 power play points (2G, 30A), Blake Wheeler has been in on 54.2% of the 59 power play goals the Jets have scored this season.

Back-2-Back
Last night and tonight marks the eighth of nine back-to-back sets the Jets have this season…Winnipeg is 5-3-0 in the first game and 5-2-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season…Last season, the Jets went 4-3-2 in the first game of nine back-to-backs and 4-4-1 in the second game.

On the Road
Winnipeg is 20-16-0 on the road this season and play five of their last nine games in the regular season on the road…Last night’s win gave the Jets back-to-back road wins for the first time in the 2019 calendar year…Winnipeg hasn’t lost three consecutive road games in regulation since Dec. 10-20/16…Winnipeg is 5-for-16 (31.3%) on the power play in their past five road games and are 11-for-12 (91.7%) on the penalty kill in their past four road games…The Jets have scored 29 goals in their past eight road games…Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in scoring on the road this season with 38 points (10G, 28A) in 36 games…Patrik Laine leads the Jets with 19 goals on the road.

Party in the Pacific
The Jets are 15-5-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season and have won 10 of their past 14 games against the Pacific Division…Winnipeg is in a stretch of five of six games against Pacific Division teams…Winnipeg was a dominant 17-4-2 against Pacific Division foes last season and are on an 24-6-4 run in their last 34 games versus the Pacific…Blake Wheeler (5G, 17A) leads the Jets in scoring against the Pacific Division this season with 22 points in 22 games…Goaltender Laurent Brossoit is 4-2 with a 1.91 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in six games against Pacific Division teams this season. 

Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the team has gone 84-54-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past three seasons, the Jets are 34-11-2 in March and April, including a perfect 8-0-0 in April…Blake Wheeler is the franchise’s leading scorer in March with 121 points (47G, 74A) in 128 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 17-7-2 in March during his career with a 2.72 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.

Goose Egg
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves last night to record his first shutout of the season…He was the only goaltender in the NHL this season to have won 30 games, but not have a shutout…Hellebuyck had six shutouts last season and is third in franchise history with 13 shutouts, which is four behind Ondrej Pavelec’s record of 17.

Stepping Up

Defenceman Jacob Trouba had two assists last night for his 10th multi-point game of the season…Trouba has four points (1G, 3A) in his past four games…He leads Jets defencemen in scoring with a career-high 42 points (6G, 36A) in 73 games, which is the most games he’s played in a season since he played 81 games during the 2015-16 season.

Magic 80
Mark Scheifele scored in the first period last night to reach 80 points (35G, 45A)…He joins Blake Wheeler (20G, 68A) in reaching the 80-point plateau…This is the third time in franchise history two players have reached 80 points in the same season and the first time since relocation.

80-Point Seasons in Franchise History
Player Season GP G A PTS
Marian Hossa 2006-07 Atl 82 43 57 100
Ilya Kovalchuk 2005-06 Atl 78 52 46 98
Marc Savard 2005-06 Atl 82 28 69 97
Marian Hossa 2005-06 Atl 80 39 53 92
Ilya Kovalchuk 2008-09 Atl 79 43 48 91
Blake Wheeler 2017-18 Wpg 81 23 68 91
Dany Heatley 2002-03 Atl 77 41 48 89
Blake Wheeler 2018-19 Wpg 73 20 68 88
Ilya Kovalchuk 2003-04 Atl 81 41 46 87
Ilya Kovalchuk 2007-08 Atl 79 52 35 87
Mark Scheifele 2016-17 Wpg 79 32 50 82
Slava Kozlov 2006-07 Atl 81 28 52 80
Mark Scheifele 2018-19 Wpg 73 35 45 80

Hit Record
Brandon Tanev had two hits last night and leads the Jets in hits this season with 246, which is fourth in the NHL…He has had four hits in a game 32 times this season…Tanev has eclipsed his career high of 188 hits he had last season…He needs 11 hits to set a franchise record for most hits in a season, which is currently held by Adam Lowry, who had 256 hits during the 2014-15 season…Tanev is averaging 3.39 hits per game this season, which is on pace to be a single-season franchise record.

Jets vs. Golden Knights All-Time Records
Overall: 3-1-1
At Bell MTS Place: 2-0-1
At T-Mobile Arena: 1-1-0

2018-19 Game Log vs. Golden Knights

Date Location Score Rec Scorers Goaltender
Jan. 15 Winnipeg 4-1 W 1-0-0 (30-14-2) Connor (17, 18), Perreault (10), Scheifele (25) Brossoit (43 sv, 1 ga)
Feb. 22 Vegas 6-3 W 2-0-0 (37-20-4) Ehlers (16), Connor (24), Laine (26, 27), Lowry (8), Copp (7) Hellebuyck (29 sv, 3 ga)
Mar. 21 Vegas        

Jets vs. Golden Knights Notes

  • Winnipeg and Vegas met in last season’s Western Conference Final.
  • Combining regular season and playoff games, the Jets are 1-3 at T-Mobile Arena, having won their first game there last month.
  • The Jets have earned a point in four of their five games against Vegas (3-1-1).
  • Winnipeg is 18-for-20 (90.0%) on the penalty kill in their five games against Vegas.
  • Kyle Connor leads the Jets in scoring against Vegas with nine points (6G, 3A) in five games, while Blake Wheeler has seven assists in five games.
  • Connor scored his six goals on 13 shots (46.2%).
  • Bryan Little has gone 56-for-86 (65.1%) in the faceoff circle in five games against the Golden Knights.

Jets-Golden Knights Connections

  • Vegas forward Paul Stastny played in 19 regular season and 17 playoff games for the Jets last season after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline. He signed with the Golden Knights as a free agent on July 1.
  • Golden Knights forwards Cody Eakin, Ryan Reaves, and Mark Stone are from Winnipeg.
  • Golden Knights Assistant General Manager Kelly McCrimmon is from Brandon, Manitoba and is the owner of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings.
  • Jets forward Blake Wheeler was teammates with Vegas forwards Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty at the 2014 Olympic Games when they played for USA.
  • Jets forward Mark Scheifele was teammates with Stone at the 2012 World Junior Championship.

Upcoming Milestones

Dustin Byfuglien

  • Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.

Ben Chiarot

  • Needs four games played to reach 300 for his career.

Nikolaj Ehlers

  • Needs two penalty minutes to reach 100 for his career.
  • Needs three points to reach 200 points for his career.

Connor Hellebuyck

  • Needs two starts to reach 200 games started for his career.

Paul Maurice

  • Needs one win to pass Dick Irvin (692) for the seventh-most wins in NHL history.
  • Needs eight wins to reach 700 as an NHL head coach. 

Mathieu Perreault

  • Needs seven points to reach 200 points as a member of the Jets.

Jacob Trouba

  • Needs one game played to reach 400 for his NHL career.

Blake Wheeler

  • Needs one assist to tie Marc Savard for the most assists in a season in franchise history
  • Needs eight goals to reach 200 as a member of the Jets franchise.
  • Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.