Game Notes: Oct. 12 at Chicago Blackhawks

The Winnipeg Jets are back on the road for a meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at United Center…The Jets have won back-to-back games and are coming off a 5-2 victory against the Minnesota Wild in Winnipeg’s home opener Thursday night…The Jets are back at Bell MTS Place tomorrow to host the Pittsburgh Penguins, which begins a five-game homestand for Winnipeg.

Game Notes PDF | Expanded Game Notes

Last Game

Oct. 10 vs. MIN – 5-2 W
Jets Scorers: Wheeler (3), Laine (2, 3), Connor (2), Roslovic (2)
Wild Scorers: Hartman (1), Hunt (1)

Jets Goaltender: Hellebuyck (38 sv, 2 ga)
Wild Goaltender: Dubnyk (27 sv, 4 ga)

Jets PP: 0-for-2
Jets PK: 2-for-2

Recap: The Winnipeg Jets erased a 1-0 first period deficit to defeat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 at Bell MTS Place on Thursday night…Patrik Laine paced Winnipeg with four points (2G, 2A), while linemates Blake Wheeler (1G, 1A) and Mark Scheifele (2A) each had two-point nights…Connor Hellebuyck stopped 38 of 40 shots, including making 30 saves in the first two periods.

Three Stars: 1. Laine 2. Wheeler 3. Hellebuyck

Next Five Games

Road Start

Tonight the Jets end a string of five of their first six games being on the road…With a win tonight, the Jets can win back-to-back road games in the regular season for the first time since Mar. 18-20 of last season – a span of nine games…Last season, the Jets went 22-18-1 on the road, which was the seventh most wins in the NHL.

Central Foes

Thursday against Minnesota and tonight against Chicago are Winnipeg’s first games against Central Division opponents this season…It’s also the only meetings the Jets have with Central Division opponents in their first 17 games to start the season…Only five of Winnipeg’s first 31 games are against Central Division teams…The Jets went 13-12-1 against Central Division teams last season…Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Jets are 48-29-5 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 100 points (29G, 71A) in 82 games.

Come Back Again and Again

The Jets have trailed first in all five games to start the season and have come back to win three of those games, which leads the NHL in wins when trailing first…The Jets and San Jose Sharks (1-4-0) are the only two teams in the NHL so far to trail first in their first five games to start the season…Last season, the Jets won 18 games when trailing first, which was second in the league…Blake Wheeler has a share of the NHL lead this season with three game-tying goals.

Even Strength

Of the 18 goals the Jets have scored this season, 16 have come at even strength, which leads the NHL…Winnipeg has scored 14 goals five-on-five and two goals four-on-four…Winnipeg scored two four-on-four goals in 28 seconds on Thursday, compared to scoring four four-on-four goals all of last season.

Leading Laine

Patrik Laine’s four-point (2G, 2A) night on Thursday increased his season total to 10 points (3G, 7A) in five games and propelled him into a share of the NHL scoring lead with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid…Laine’s seven assists also leads the NHL…It’s his hottest start to a season since netting five points (4G, 1A) in five games to begin his rookie season…Since entering the NHL in 2016-17, Laine’s 113 goals is tied for fifth in the league.

700 for Wheels

Blake Wheeler’s second-period goal on Thursday was his 700^th career point…He’s the 25^th active player to reach 700 points and the 30^th American-born player in NHL history to reach the milestone…Wheeler has shot up the scoring charts with 187 points (46G, 141A) in 168 games during the past three seasons, which is 10^th in the NHL since the start of the 2017-18 season…Forty-five players have assisted goals by Wheeler during his career, while Wheeler has set up 54 teammates for goals.

Top 5 Assists on Wheeler Goals

1. Mark Scheifele – 46
2. Bryan Little – 40
3. Dustin Byfuglien – 38
4. Andrew Ladd – 32
5. Toby Enstrom – 18

Top 5 Goals on Wheeler Assists

1. Mark Scheifele – 69
2. Bryan Little – 58
3. Andrew Ladd – 41
4. Patrik Laine – 36
5. Kyle Connor – 32

Top 40

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 38 of 40 shots on Thursday to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season…Hellebuyck has stopped 75 of 78 shots (.962) in his past two starts…His .927 save percentage to start the season is sixth among NHL goaltenders that have played in at least three games.

Player Quick Hits

• Defenceman Josh Morrissey was plus-five on Thursday…It’s the sixth time in franchise history a player has been plus-five or better in a game.
• Patrik Laine’s eight hits on Thursday established a career high for him for hits in a game.
• Laine leads the NHL with nine even strength points (3G, 6A), while Mark Scheifele is second with eight points (1G, 7A).
• Laine is tied for second in the NHL with seven takeaways.
• Jack Roslovic won nine of 12 face-offs (75%) on Thursday and leads the Jets with a 69.7% face-off winning percentage this season.
• Adam Lowry is tied for fourth in the NHL with 19 hits.

Jets vs. Blackhawks Information

All-Time Record: 18-17-5
Home: 8-9-4
Road: 10-8-1
At Bell MTS Place: 6-6-2
Media Guide Page: https://jetsmedia.ca/chicago-blackhawks

Series Notes

• Winnipeg has won five games in a row against Chicago and six of the past seven games.
• The Jets swept the season series (4-0-0) last season for the first time in franchise history (when playing multiple games in a season).
• The Jets have scored 32 goals in the past seven meetings with the Blackhawks, including 20 in the four games last season.  
• The Jets are 35-for-37 (94.6%) on the penalty kill in their last 14 games against Chicago.
• Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in scoring against the Blackhawks with 27 points (9G, 18A) in 32 career games.
• Mark Scheifele’s eight points (3G, 5A) in four games against the Blackhawks last season is the most points by a Jets a player against Chicago in a single season.
• Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 8-4-0 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in 12 career starts against the Blackhawks.

Career Scoring vs. Blackhawks

Career Goaltending Against the Blackhawks

Former Blackhawks Playing for the Jets

D – Carl Dahlstrom

Former Jets Playing for the Blackhawks

None

Upcoming Milestones

Anthony Bitetto

• Needs 10 penalty minutes for 100 for his NHL career.

Gabriel Bourque

• Needs three points for 100 for his NHL career.

Andrew Copp

• Needs two games played to reach 300 for his NHL career.

Nikolaj Ehlers

• Needs nine goals to reach 100 for his NHL career.

Dmitry Kulikov

• Needs three penalty minutes to reach 400 for his NHL career.

Patrik Laine

• Needs eight penalty minutes to reach 100 for his NHL career.

Mark Letestu

• Needs seven goals to reach 100 for his NHL career.
• Needs 10 penalty minutes to reach 100 for his NHL career.

Bryan Little

• Needs nine penalty minutes to reach 300 for his NHL career.

Adam Lowry

• Needs two goals to pass Toby Enstrom (54) for 20^th in goals in franchise history.
• Needs eight penalty minutes reach 200 for his NHL career.

Mathieu Perreault

• Needs two points to reach 200 as a member of the Jets.
• Needs eight penalty minutes to reach 300 for his NHL career.

Blake Wheeler

• Needs four assists to reach 400 as a member of the Jets franchise.
• Needs five goals to reach 200 as a member of the Jets franchise.

Recently Accomplished Milestones

Nikolaj Ehlers

• 3 at NYR – Reached 200 points for his NHL career.
• 4 at NJD – Played in the 300^th game of his NHL career.

Blake Wheeler

• 10 vs. MIN – Reached 700 points for his NHL career.

Recent Transactions

Sept. 27 – Signed F – Patrik Laine to a two-year, $6.75 million AAV contract
Sept. 28 – Signed F – Kyle Connor to a seven-year, $7.14 million AAV contract
Sept. 30 – Assigned D – Nelson Nogier, F – JC Lipon, F – Joona Luoto and F – C.J. Suess to the Manitoba Moose (AHL)
Oct. 1 – Claimed D – Carl Dahlstrom off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks, placed D – Nathan Beaulieu on injured reserve, and assigned D – Sami Niku to the Manitoba Moose (AHL)
Oct. 8 – Recalled D – Sami Niku and D – Nelson Nogier from the Manitoba Moose (AHL), placed F – Bryan Little on injured reserve, and moved D – Dmitry Kulikov to non-roster status for personal reasons
Oct. 9 – Reassigned D – Nelson Nogier to the Manitoba Moose (AHL)
Oct. 10 – Moved D – Dmitry Kulikov to the active roster
Oct. 11 – Reassigned D – Sami Niku to the Manitoba Moose (AHL)

Current Injuries

*- Currently on injured reserve

Man-Games Lost: 12

How the Jets Were Built

Drafted (14) – Appleton, Connor, Copp, Ehlers, Gustafsson, Heinola, Hellebuyck, Laine, Little, Lowry, Morrissey, Poolman, Scheifele, Roslovic
Trade (3) – Beaulieu, Pionk, Wheeler
Free Agency (6) – Bitetto, Bourque, Brossoit, Kulikov, Letestu, Perreault
Waivers (1) – Dahlstrom

Moose Tracks

After going 1-1-0 during a two-game Texas road trip last weekend to start the season, the Manitoba Moose lost 3-2 to the Toronto Marlies in their home opener last night…Logan Shaw and Andrei Chibisov scored last night for the Moose…Manitoba also hosts Toronto tonight.  

Broadcast Information

TV:         Sportsnet – John Shorthouse & Garry Galley
Radio:   TSN 1290 – Dennis Beyak, Paul Edmonds & Brian Munz

Jets Communications

Road Trip Contact: Greger Buer (gbuer@winnipegjets.com/204-299-4846)
Jets Media Site: jetsmedia.ca
Jets Media Guide: jetsmedia.ca/media-guide