The Winnipeg Jets finish a four-game homestand tonight against the visiting Buffalo Sabres…The Jets improved to 3-0 on the homestand with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night…Following tomorrow, the Jets start a four-game road trip in Vancouver against the Canucks on Monday.
Home Cookin’
After leading the NHL in scoring at home last season with 156 goals, the Jets are once again the NHL’s most productive team on home ice with a league-best 40 goals in 11 games…Winnipeg has allowed 28 goals in 11 home games this season, but have only given up five goals in the three games during the homestand….The Jets also lead the NHL with a power play percentage of 40% (12-for-30) on home ice.
Friendly Confines
After Wednesday’s win, the Jets have an NHL-best home record of 17-1-1 since Mar. 2/18 (excluding being considered the home team for the Nov. 2 game in Finland)…Winnipeg’s Oct. 24 loss to Toronto was the Jets first regulation loss at Bell MTS Place since Feb. 27/18 vs. NSH…The Jets haven’t lost back-to-back games at Bell MTS Place since Feb. 20-27/18…Winnipeg has won three in a row at Bell MTS Place for the second time this season and can sweep the homestand with a win tonight.
Dominating the East
Tonight is the third of three consecutive games for the Jets against an Eastern Conference team to finish off the homestand…Winnipeg is also finishing a stretch of eight of nine games against a team from the East…The Jets are 5-3-0 against Eastern Conference teams this season and went 19-7-6 against the Eastern Conference last season, including a 10-3-3 record versus the Atlantic Division and 9-4-3 record against the Metropolitan Division.
Streaking
Captain Blake Wheeler extended his point streak to 11 games (2G, 18A) with an assist on Mark Scheifele’s goal on Wednesday…It is Wheeler’s second 11-game point streak of his career after going 11 games with a point from Mar. 20-Apr. 9/16…Ilya Kovalchuk is the only other player in franchise history to have two double-digit point streaks…Wheeler also has an assist in nine consecutive games (17A), which has tied a franchise record for longest assist streak…Mark Scheifele (4G, 3A) and Kyle Connor (2G, 2A) are on three-game point streaks…Scheifele has a goal in all three games.
Shooting Star
Mark Scheifele tallied his 10th goal of the season on Wednesday to become the sixth active player to need 17 games or less to reach 10 goals in three consecutive seasons…He’s the only member of the Jets to reach the double-digit goal mark so far this season…Scheifele has a career-best 0.59 goals per game and 1.6 goals per 60 minutes this season…His shooting percentage is also clicking on a career-best 23.3%…Of the 18 players in the NHL that have reached 10 goals this season, Scheifele’s 43 shots are the fifth fewest.
Star II
Wheeler was named the NHL’s second star of the week on Monday after tallying seven points (1G, 6A) in two games last week…He recorded a new career-high with five points (1G, 4A), as he played a part in each Jets goal to lead the club to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday…His empty net goal against the Avalanche snapped a string of nine straight Jets goals where he earned an assist, as Wheeler joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to assist on nine-or-more consecutive team goals…On Sunday, the Plymouth, Minn. native added another pair of assists to propel Winnipeg to a 5-2 victory over New Jersey…This is the third time in his career that Wheeler has been selected in the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week…Wheeler joins Mark Scheifele (Oct. 29 – Second Star) as members of the Jets that have earned NHL Three Stars of the Week honours this season.
Heating Up in November
After going 4-4-1 with a 3.00 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in October, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has started all five games for the Jets in November, going 4-1-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .930 save percentage…He’s stopped 89 of 94 shots through the first three games of the homestand for a .947 save percentage…After leading the NHL with 30 wins at home last season, Hellebuyck is once again one of the pacesetters for home wins this season with six…Since making his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season, Hellebuyck’s 59 wins at home are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
Winner, Winner
Ben Chiarot scored the game-winning goal on Wednesday to become the 10th different Jets player to score a game-winning goal this season in the Jets’ 11 victories…Only Bryan Little, with two game winners, has multiple game-winning goals this season for the Jets.