The Winnipeg Jets travel to Nashville to face the Predators tonight in a quick one-game road trip before returning to Bell MTS Place for a six-game homestand…The Jets defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night in Winnipeg’s home opener…After tonight’s game, the Jets homestand begins on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
We Meet Again
The Jets and Predators faced each other in a thrilling seven-game second round Stanley Cup playoff series this past spring, with the Jets winning Game 7 in Nashville to eliminate the Predators…The road team won five of the seven games in the series…Mark Scheifele had seven goals in the four games in Nashville, including two-goal games in Game 1, 2 and 7, which set an NHL record for most road goals in a playoff series.
Division Rivals
Tonight is the last of Winnipeg’s three of four games to start the 2018-19 season against divisional rivals…The Jets went 15-9-2 against their Central Division foes last season and are 35-18-4 dating back to the start of 2016-17, which is the best in-division record during that time frame…Blake Wheeler led the NHL in points against Central Division teams last season with 35 points (10G, 25A) in 26 games.
| Record Within Central Division Since 2016-17 Season | |||||
| Season | GP | W | L | OL | PTS |
| Winnipeg Jets | 57 | 35 | 18 | 4 | 74 |
| Nashville Predators | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 |
| Minnesota Wild | 56 | 30 | 22 | 4 | 64 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 56 | 29 | 22 | 5 | 63 |
| St. Louis Blues | 57 | 25 | 25 | 7 | 57 |
| Dallas Stars | 56 | 22 | 29 | 5 | 49 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 57 | 22 | 31 | 4 | 48 |
Turning Around the Special Teams Differential
Through three games, the Jets have played 5:27 more on the penalty kill than they have on the power play, which is the fourth most in the NHL…Winnipeg played 1:12 more on the power play than on the penalty kill in Tuesday against the Kings, which was the first time this season the team had a positive special teams differential in a game…Last season, the Jets played 20:14 more shorthanded than on the power play.
Back on the Road
The Jets play their third road game of the season tonight, but after tonight they won’t see the road again until Oct. 26 when they play the Detroit Red Wings…The Jets are 1-1-0 on the road this season…Last season, Winnipeg went 20-13-8 on the road and had top 10 special teams, as the power play was tied for seventh in the NHL (20.8) and the penalty kill was tied for sixth (82.4%).
Three for KC
Kyle Connor scored the game-winning goal in Tuesday’s win against Los Angeles and has a goal in all three of Winnipeg’s games this season…He’s the only member of the Jets with a point in all three games this season (3G, 1A)..He has nine career game-winning goals, including five in his last 13 games dating back to last season.
Mo Production
Defenceman Josh Morrissey has an assist in back-to-back games…He has six points (2G, 4A) in his last 12 games dating back to last season…He’s one game shy of matching his career high for a point streak (three times) and assist streak (two times)…Defensively, Morrissey is second in the NHL with 13 blocked shots this season.
Helluva Performance
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 16 of 17 shots on Tuesday for his second win of the season…He’s allowed a single goal against in each of the wins and has a .966 save percentage in the pair of games…Hellebuyck has traditionally strung multiple wins together, as last season he followed a single win with a loss just three times, while having 13 winning streaks of two games or more.
Hitman
Jets forward Brandon Tanev had five hits on Tuesday against the Kings and is tied for sixth in the NHL with 11 hits this season…He also had the primary assist on Mark Scheifele’s first period goal to give him eight points (5G, 3A) in his last nine games dating back to last season…Of Tanev’s 13 career assists, four have been primary assists.