Winnipeg Jets PR Game Day Information Game Notes: Mar. 23 vs. Nashville Predators

Game Notes: Mar. 23 vs. Nashville Predators

Game Notes: Mar. 23 vs. Nashville Predators post thumbnail image

The Winnipeg Jets begin a four-game homestand, their last of the season, tonight when they entertain the Nashville Predators…The Jets are coming off a 2-1 Pacific Division road trip, which ended with a 5-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night…Winnipeg continues the homestand Monday against the Dallas Stars.

Game Notes PDF

Playoff Picture
Magic Number: 1
Current Point Total: 92
Projected Playoff Line: 87 Points

Jets Could Clinch a Playoff Spot: If any one of the following scenarios occurs…

  • Earn a point against Nashville
  • Arizona and Colorado losing in any fashion
  • Minnesota losing in any fashion and Arizona or Colorado losing in regulation
  • Minnesota losing in any fashion and Arizona and Colorado losing in overtime or a shootout

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
Tomorrow is the second chance the Jets have this season to clinch their spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs via the scenarios outlined above…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.

At Home
Winnipeg has the fourth-best home record in the NHL this season at 24-9-4…The Jets have points in 13 of their past 16 home games (11-3-2), which included a seven-game winning streak from Jan. 6-Feb. 2, but haven’t won consecutive home games since the winning streak ended…The Jets have the best power play at home in the NHL this season at 31.9% and have scored a power play goal in five consecutive home games (5-for-16, 31.3%)…Winnipeg’s 36 power play goals at home this season is second in the NHL…The Jets have a 56-15-6 record at Bell MTS Place during the past two seasons, which is third best home record in the NHL…The Jets have scored 139 goals at home this season, which is third in the NHL, and have outscored their opposition 113-59 in their 24 wins.

Central Foes
The Jets are 11-10-0 against Central Division teams this season…Winnipeg is 2-5 in their past seven games against Central Division teams and both wins have come against Nashville (Jan. 17 at NSH 5-1 W and Mar. 1 vs. NSH 5-3 W)…Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Jets are 45-27-4 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 97 points (28G, 69A) in 76 games, while Mark Scheifele is second with 89 points (36G, 53A) in 68 games.

Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the team has gone 84-55-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past three seasons, the Jets are 34-12-2 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 129 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 17-7-2 in March during his career with a 2.64 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

Wheels Keep Turning

Blake Wheeler has a point in 54 of his 74 games this season…With 88 points (20G, 68A), Wheeler is guaranteed to have better than a point per game this season for the second consecutive season…He has 68 assists this season, which is second in the NHL and has matched the career high he set last season…Wheeler needs one assist to match Marc Savard’s franchise record of 69 assists in a season…Wheeler has scored 20 goals or more in six consecutive seasons…During the past four seasons, Wheeler’s 236 assists are second most in the NHL.

Magic 80
Mark Scheifele scored in the first period of Wednesday’s 3-0 win against Anaheim 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
Dany Heatley 2002-03 Atl 77 41 48 89
Ilya Kovalchuk 2003-04 Atl 81 41 46 87
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
Marian Hossa 2006-07 Atl 82 43 57 100
Slava Kozlov 2006-07 Atl 81 28 52 80
Ilya Kovalchuk 2007-08 Atl 79 52 35 87
Ilya Kovalchuk 2008-09 Atl 79 43 48 91
Mark Scheifele 2016-17 Wpg 79 32 50 82
Blake Wheeler 2017-18 Wpg 81 23 68 91
Blake Wheeler 2018-19 Wpg 74 20 68 88
Mark Scheifele 2018-19 Wpg 74 35 45 80

Hit Record
Brandon Tanev had six hits on Thursday and leads the Jets in hits this season with 252, which is fourth in the NHL…He has had four hits in a game 33 times this season…Tanev has eclipsed his career high of 188 hits he had last season…He needs five 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 3.41 hits per game this season, which is on pace to be a single-season franchise record.

Jets vs. Predators All-Time Records
Overall: 18-20-5
At Bell MTS Place: 7-7-0
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 5-3 W 2-1-0 (38-22-4) Scheifele (32), Connor (25), Wheeler (13), Myers (8), Hayes (15) Brossoit (35 sv, 3 ga)
Mar. 23 Winnipeg        

Jets vs. Predators Notes

  • Winnipeg has won three of their last four games against Nashville.
  • Eight of the last 10 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 eight of the past 12 games between these two teams.
  • Winnipeg is 1-for-9 (11.1%) on the power play in three games against Nashville this season, but previously scored a power play goal in five consecutive games (6-for-19, 31.6%).
  • The Jets are 15-for-16 (93.8%) on the penalty kill in the three games against the Predators this season.
  • The Jets and Predators have combined for 58 goals (excluding shootouts) in their past eight 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 27 points (14G, 13A) in 31 games.
  • Kevin Hayes has 13 points (3G, 10A) in 11 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.

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 three 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.

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.