Season in Review – Team Notes

Player & Team Milestones 

• Nine different skaters made their Jets debuts in October, including NHL debuts by Winnipeg’s 2018 second round pick David Gustafsson and 2019 first round pick Ville Heinola. 
• Forward Nikolaj Ehlers recorded his 200th NHL point with an assist in the season opener at the New York Rangers on Oct. 3. 
• Ehlers (Oct. 4) and Andrew Copp (Oct. 13) both played in their 300th NHL game. 
• Jet captain Blake Wheeler’s second-period goal on Oct. 10 was his 700th career point as he became just the 30th American-born player in NHL history to reach that milestone. 
• Patrik Laine was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week ending on Oct. 13 after recording eight points (2G, 6A) in four games for the Jets. That week included him matching a career high with three assists on Oct. 8 at Pittsburgh and he also had four points (2G, 2A) on Oct. 10 versus Minnesota. 
• Jets head coach Paul Maurice became just the seventh coach in NHL history to register 700 regular season wins with the club’s 1-0 win over Edmonton on Oct. 20.

Note of the Month 

Heritage Classic 

Winnipeg defeated Calgary 2-1 in the 2019 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic hosted by Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Sask on Oct. 26. After the Flames scored in the second period, Josh Morrissey tallied the tying marker on a third period power play to force extra time for the first time in the five editions of the Heritage Classic. Bryan Little scored at 3:04 of overtime for the victory. 

Player Profile 

Jets 2019 first round pick Ville Heinola made his NHL debut in the season opener on Oct. 3 at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. The 18-year-old Finnish defenceman assisted on Blake Wheeler’s second-period goal against the Rangers for his first NHL point. Heinola recorded another assist against New Jersey the next night before scoring his first goal at Pittsburgh on Oct. 8. He finished the month with five points (1G, 4A) in just eight games, while averaging 18:04 in ice-time. 

Player & Team Milestones 

• Forwards C.J. Suess (Nov. 1) and Joona Luoto (Nov. 8) both made their NHL debuts in November. 
• Connor Hellebuyck set the Jets record for saves in a period when he stopped 27-of-28 shots in the second period of the team’s 3-2 win over San Jose on Nov. 1. 
• Mathieu Perreault posted his 200th point as a member of the Jets franchise with a goal on Nov. 2 against Vegas. 
• Forward Gabriel Bourque assisted on Andrew Copp’s goal on Nov. 5 versus New Jersey for his 100th point in the NHL. 
• Patrik Laine matched a career high with three assists on Nov. 14 at Florida to reach 200 points for his NHL career. 
• Captain Blake Wheeler became the first player in franchise history to record 400 assists for the club on Nov. 16 at Tampa Bay. 
• A trio of Jets recorded milestones on Nov. 19 at Nashville: Kyle Connor skated in his 200th NHL game, Nikolaj Ehlers scored the game winner for his 100th NHL goal, and Mathieu Perreault played in 600th game in the league. 
• Wheeler reached another milestone on Nov. 23 against Columbus as he became the second player in franchise history to reach 600 points for the team. 
• Rookie forward David Gustafsson scored his first NHL goal on Nov. 27 at San Jose. 

Note of the Month 

November to Remember 

Winnipeg went 10-3-1 in November, which set a franchise record for the most wins in November. It’s the fifth time in franchise history the Jets have won 10 or more games in a calendar month. Winnipeg allowed 31 goals in November, which was tied for the second fewest in the NHL. Kyle Connor led the Jets in scoring in November with 15 points (6G, 9A) in 14 games, while Connor Hellebuyck led the NHL with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage and posted an 8-2-1 record. 

Player Profile 

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had an impressive November as he posted an 8-2-1 record with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage in 11 appearances. The eight wins were tied for second-most in the NHL for the month, while his GAA and SV% were both best in the league among goalies that started six games-or-more. The Commerce, Mich. native allowed two goals-or-fewer in seven of his ten starts for November, while also posting 30-plus saves in seven starts. 

Player & Team Milestones 

• Alternate captain Mark Scheifele reached the 400-point mark for his NHL career with a pair of goals against Anaheim on Dec. 8. 
• Blake Wheeler became just the third player in franchise history to score 200 goals for the club with his marker against Detroit on Dec. 10. 
• Forward Logan Shaw played in 200th career NHL game on Dec. 17 versus Carolina. 
• Wheeler became the leading point scorer in franchise history when he recorded his 616th point (passing Ilya Kovalchuk) on Dec. 21 in his home state of Minnesota against the Wild. 
• Forward Jansen Harkins made his NHL debut on Dec. 21 and recorded his first point (an assist). 
• Alternate captain Josh Morrissey also had a milestone on Dec. 21 at Minnesota as he recorded the 100th point of his NHL career. 
• Wheeler capped off his historic month by playing in his 900th NHL game on Dec. 31 at Colorado. 

Note of the Month 

All-Star Duo 

On Dec. 30, the NHL named goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and forward Mark Scheifele as the Jets’ representatives for the Central Division at the 2019-20 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, Miss. It marked the third consecutive year that Winnipeg sent two players to the All-Star festivities as Scheifele and Blake Wheeler went in 2018-19 in San Jose and Hellebuyck and Wheeler attended the 2017-18 even in Tampa Bay. At the time of their selection, Hellebuyck led the NHL in shutouts with three and stood tied for third in the league with 17 wins, while Scheifele led the Jets and was top-20 in the NHL in points and goals. 

Player Profile 

For the second consecutive season, alternate captain Mark Scheifele recorded 20 points, nine goals, and 11 assists in the month of December. The Kitchener, Ont. native’s 20 points led the Jets and ranked third in the NHL for the month and his nine power play points were second-most in the league. Scheifele recorded a point in 11-of-13 December games, including six multi-point performances capped off by a four-point (1G, 3A) outing in the New Year’s Eve win over the Colorado Avalanche. 

Player & Team Milestones 

• Patrik Laine set a career high with 13 shots on goal on Jan. 2 versus Toronto. It was just the third time in franchise history a player had 13-or-more shots in a game. 
• Alternate captain Mark Scheifele was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week ending Jan. 5. He had eight points (3G, 5A) in three games, all of which were multi-point efforts. 
• Adam Lowry played in his 400th career NHL game on Jan. 6 at Montreal. 
• Captain Blake Wheeler recorded a pair of assists on Jan. 6 at Montreal. It was his 156th multi-point game for the franchise, passing Ilya Kovalchuk for most multi-point games for the club. 
• A pair of Jets forwards reached century milestones on Jan. 9 at Boston: Andrew Copp recorded the 100th point of his NHL career and Patrik Laine reached the 100-assist mark. 
• Carl Dahlstrom recorded his first point as a Jet with an assist on Jan. 14 versus Vancouver. 
• Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck earned his 18th career shutout on Jan. 14 against Vancouver to pass Ondrej Pavelec for the most shutouts in franchise history. 
• Mark Scheifele became the ninth player in franchise history to play in 500 games on Jan. 31 versus Boston.

Note of the Month 

Shorty Again 

Mason Appleton’s shorthanded goal in the first period on Jan. 8 at Toronto was Winnipeg’s second shorthanded goal in as many games. Andrew Copp scored shorthanded on Jan. 6 against Montreal and that pair of shorthanded tallies matches the two shorthanded goals the Jets had in the first 42 games of the season. Oddly enough, the Jets also had shorthanded goals in consecutive games in 2018-19 on the exact same dates as 2019-20 – Jan. 6 vs. DAL and Jan. 8 vs. COL. 

Player Profile

Neal Pionk led the Jets with 24:03 in ice-time per game in January and his pair of power play goals were tied for the most on the team. The 24-year-old Pionk, playing in his first season for Winnipeg, has seen his ice-time increase every month up to January. He has spent most of the 2019-20 season on the first power play unit and at the end of January he is tied for sixth among NHL defencemen with 18 power play points and 15 power play assists. 

Player & Team Milestones 

• Jansen Harkins scored his first career NHL goal against St. Louis on Feb. 6. He added an assist for his first career multi-point game. 
• Forward Gabriel Bourque played in his 400th career NHL game on Feb. 6 at St. Louis. 
• Kyle Connor was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week ending Feb. 9. He had eight points (3G, 5A), including seven points (3G, 4A) over the back-to-back games on Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 versus Ottawa and Chicago, respectively. 
• Forward Andrei Chibisov made his NHL debut on Feb. 16 versus Chicago. 
• Blake Wheeler became the fourth player in franchise history to skate in 700 games for the club on Feb. 18 versus Los Angeles. 
• Forward Patrik Laine skated in his 300th career NHL game on Feb. 25 at Washington. 
• Kyle Connor tallied the 100th goal of his NHL career on Feb. 29 at Edmonton. 

Note of the Month 

Best February Yet 

The Jets went 8-5-2 in February, which established a franchise record for the most wins in a February in a season. The previous record of seven wins was accomplished three times. Winnipeg scored 48 goals in the month, which was fifth-most in the NHL. The Jets also allowed the fourth-lowest goals per game (2.33 GA/GP). Their penalty kill ranked third in the NHL for February as it killed 88.6% of the penalties. 

Player Profile

Kyle Connor led the Jets in scoring in February with 17 points (8G, 9A) in 15 games. His eighth goal of the month was the 100th of his NHL career as he became the 12th player in franchise history to reach 100 goals. Connor finished February just a goal shy of his career high 34, while already setting a new career high with 67 points. He was on pace to score 40 goals for the first time in his career. His pace would have also seen him become just the eighth different player in franchise history to reach the 80-point mark and only the third (along with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler) since the club returned to Winnipeg. 

Player & Team Milestones 

• Jets defenceman Tucker Poolman scored his first career NHL shorthanded goal and also had his first multi-point game (1G, 1A) on Mar. 9 versus Arizona. 
• Connor Hellebuyck posted his 30th win of the season on Mar. 9 against Arizona for his third straight 30-win season. 
• Paul Maurice became the fifth head coach in NHL history to coach 1,600 regular season games on Mar. 11 at Edmonton. 
• The Jets (4-0-0) and the Los Angeles Kings (5-0-0) were the only NHL teams not to lose in March. 
• Winnipeg was the only NHL team not to allow a power play goal in March as they killed all six opposition opportunities. 

Note of the Month 

Spreading the Wealth 

The Jets had five 20-goal scorers during the regular season, which was tied with the Florida Panthers for the most in the NHL. Kyle Connor led the team with 38 goals, while Mark Scheifele (29), Patrik Laine (28), Nikolaj Ehlers (22) and Blake Wheeler (21) passed the 20-goal mark. It’s the fourth consecutive season the Jets have had five players reach 20 goals in the same season.   

Player Profile 

Jets captain Blake Wheeler was on a six-game point streak (1G, 7A) when the NHL season was paused on Mar. 12. The 33-year-old had 65 points (22G, 43A) while playing in all 71 games for Winnipeg. This was the sixth consecutive season that Wheeler surpassed the 20-goal and 60-point marks and he has only missed six regular season games since the franchise moved to Winnipeg. 

Total Man Games Lost: 332