The Winnipeg Jets host the Calgary Flames tonight in Winnipeg’s third game and second home game of the pre-season…The Jets lost 7-3 to the Edmonton Oilers last night at Rogers Place in Edmonton to drop to 1-1 in the pre-season…After an off day tomorrow, the Jets entertain the Oilers on Sunday on Bell MTS Place.
Sept. 21 Game Notes vs. Calgary Flames
Top Line Debuts
Tonight the Jets top line of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor are scheduled to make their pre-season debut…The trio combined for 77 goals and 208 points last season…Wheeler averaged more than a point per game with 91 points (23G, 68A) in 81 games, while Scheifele had exactly a point per game with 60 points (23G, 37A) in 60 games…Connor led all NHL rookies with 31 goals.
Helle’s First
Vezina Trophy finalist Connor Hellebuyck is slated to make his pre-season debut…The Michigan product tied for the NHL lead with 44 wins last season, which was the most by an American-born goaltender in NHL history…He also had a career best .924 save percentage…Hellebuyck signed a six-year, $37 million contract with the Jets this summer.
More Debuts
Two rookie forwards are slated to make their Jets pre-season debuts tonight in C.J. Suess and Kristian Reichel…Suess was selected by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft and played his college hockey at Minnesota State, while Reichel signed a contract with the Manitoba Moose this summer after playing two seasons in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels.
Three-for-Three
Forward Seth Griffith is set to play in his third game of the pre-season tonight and is the only member of the Jets slated to do so…He was a free agent signing on July 1, 2018 by the Jets after playing last season in the Buffalo Sabres organization…The product of Wallaceburg, Ont. has also spent time in the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers organizations.
Extinguishing the Flames
The Jets went 2-1-0 against the Calgary Flames last season…Most of Winnipeg’s success against Calgary has come at Bell MTS Place, as the Jets are 4-2-1 against the Flames in Winnipeg since 2011…Mathieu Perreault led the Jets in scoring last season against the Flames with three points (1G, 2A) in three games…Blake Wheeler is the Jets franchise leader in scoring against the Flames with 16 points (6G, 10A) in 15 games.
Road Start
For the first time since 2016, the Jets start the regular season on the road, as they begin the 2018-19 campaign at Enterprise Center in St. Louis against the Blues on Oct. 4 and follow up with their second game in Dallas against the Stars on Oct. 6…However, Winnipeg plays the bulk of their October schedule at Bell MTS Place, as the team has seven of their first 10 games at home…The Jets have a season-high six-game homestand from Oct. 14-24.
Pre-Season Sked
Last night, the Jets began a stretch of six games in eight days, including three back-to-back sets …Winnipeg plays their usual pre-season counterparts twice each – Minnesota, Calgary, and Edmonton – and host the New Jersey Devils on Sept. 27 in their lone pre-season game against an Eastern Conference opponent.