Game Notes: Dec. 29 vs. Minnesota Wild

The Winnipeg Jets close out a two-game homestand today against the Minnesota Wild…The Jets lost 4-1 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday in the first game of the homestand…Winnipeg is back on the road after today’s game for a New Year’s Eve clash with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Game Notes PDF

Friendly Confines
Winnipeg is 13-5-2 at home this season, which is tied for the third-most wins and tied for the second-most points in the NHL…Winnipeg’s four-game home winning streak, which is its longest of the season, ended on Thursday…The Jets have the best power play at home in the NHL this season at 35.6%…Winnipeg’s 21 power play goals at home this season lead the NHL…The Jets have a 45-12-4 record at Bell MTS Place during the past two seasons, making it the toughest building in the NHL for opposing teams to play.

Against the Central
The Jets are 7-4-0 against Central Division teams this season…Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Jets are 41-21-4 against teams within their own division, which is first in the NHL…In that same time frame, Blake Wheeler leads all NHLers in scoring against the Central Division with 85 points (26G, 59A) in 66 games, while Mark Scheifele is second with 79 points (32G, 467) in 58 games.

Best Year So Far
The Jets have compiled 113 points so far in the 2018 calendar year by going 53-20-6 in 79 games…Winnipeg is one of three teams in the NHL to reach 112 points or more in the calendar year…It establishes a new benchmark for wins and points in a calendar year since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011…Winnipeg’s 20 losses in regulation this year are the fewest in the NHL.

Lighter Load
After playing 12 games (10-2-0) in 22 days to begin December, the Jets are scheduled to play four games in a span of 13 days between Dec. 23-Jan. 4…Winnipeg’s three-day break between games in Edmonton on Dec. 31 and Pittsburgh on Jan. 4 is one of two three-day breaks between games in its schedule that isn’t attached to the Global Series, Christmas break, or player break/all-star break…The Jets trip to Pittsburgh on Jan. 4 begins a run of nine games in 16 days before the player break.

Power Play Sputters
After going 1-for-1 on the power play on Dec. 16 against Tampa Bay which extended their power play goal streak to five games, the Jets have gone 0-for-10 on the power play in their past four games…The Jets were 9-for-19 (47.4%) on the power play during the five-game streak…Despite the four-game drought, the Jets are still tied for second this season in the NHL with a power play clicking at 28.2%.

Outshot, but Out Gunned
The Jets outshot the Flames 36-29 on Thursday, marking the first time in five games the Jets outshot their opponent…Winnipeg fell to 10-4-0 when outshooting their opponents this season…The Jets have more wins when being outshot this season with a 14-7-2 record.

A Handful
Patrik Laine had a team-high five shots against the Flames…It was his 12^th game this season where he had five shots or more, which leads the Jets and is tied for seventh in the NHL…Laine leads the Jets with 133 shots this season in 37 games for an average of 3.6 per game.

December to Remember
Mark Scheifele is tied for fourth in the NHL in scoring in December with 20 points (9G, 11A) in 13 games…He has a point in nine of Winnipeg’s 13 games this month and has multiple points in seven of those nine games…Scheifele is tied for seventh in NHL scoring with 49 points (22G, 37A) in 37 games.

Wingman
Blake Wheeler is third in the NHL with 43 assists in 37 games this season…Wheeler has five three-assist games this season, which is tied for first in the NHL…Wheeler has 111 assists during the past two seasons, which is the most in the NHL, and he is the only player in the NHL to have more than 100 assists during that time frame…Wheeler has 20 primary assists, which is second in the NHL…Wheeler’s 426 career assists is second among right wingers since his rookie season of 2008-09…He has reached 40 assists for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in his career.

Lone Tally
Adam Lowry scored Winnipeg’s lone goal against the Flames for his sixth goal of the season…It also ended a seven-game goalless drought…With 35 games played this season, Lowry is two goals shy of the eight goals he scored last season in 45 games.

Power Play Helpers
Blake Wheeler (18) and Dustin Byfuglien (14) lead the Jets in power play assists this season and are closing in on the franchise record, which is held by Slava Kozlov (130)…Byfuglien (126) is four power play assists behind Kozlov, while Wheeler (120) is 10 behind.

Jets vs. Wild All-Time Records
Overall: 17-17-3
At Bell MTS Place: 8-3-1
At Xcel Energy Center: 7-10-2

2018-19 Jets Gamelog vs. Wild

Jets vs. Wild Series Notes

• Including the playoffs, the Jets won seven of their nine games against the Wild last season, but lost the first meeting this season 4-2 in Minnesota on Nov. 23.
• Winnipeg is 14-11-2 during the regular season when facing Minnesota since moving to Manitoba in 2011.
• Including their first-round playoff series last season, the Jets have won six consecutive games against the Wild at Bell MTS Place, outscoring them 28-12.
• The Jets are 7-for-21 (33.3%) on the power play in their past six regular season games against the Wild and have at least one power play goal in five of the six games.
• Dustin Byfuglien leads all Minnesotans in career scoring against the Wild with 32 points (8G, 24A) in 40 games, while Blake Wheeler is second with 26 points (11G, 15A) in 31 games.
• Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler each have four career game-winning goals against the Wild.
• Kyle Connor has also enjoyed success against the Wild in his career with five points (2G, 3A) in six games.

Jets-Wild Connections

• Blake Wheeler is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
• Wild forward Matt Hendricks play with the Jets last season.
• Wild forward Eric Fehr played with the Jets during the 2011-12 season.
• Wheeler and the Wild’s Ryan Suter and Zach Parise competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as teammates representing USA, while Wheeler and Byfuglien played alongside Parise and Suter at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
• Patrik Laine suited up for Finland at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with the Wild’s Mikko Koivu, and Granlund.
• During his tenure as the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, Paul Maurice coached the Wild’s Eric Staal from 2003-04 and 2008-2012.
• Mathieu Perreault played under Wild’s head coach Bruce Boudreau during his time with the Washington Capitals from 2009-2012.
• Tyler Myers played with Wild’s Marcus Foligno from 2011-2015 with the Buffalo Sabres.
• Mark Scheifele played with Wild’s Matt Dumba at the 2016 IIHF World Championship for Team Canada.
• Connor Hellebuyck played with Wild’s Charlie Coyle for Team USA at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.

Upcoming Milestones

Dustin Byfuglien

• Needs two more games played to reach 600 as a member of the Jets franchise.
• Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.

Kyle Connor

• Needs 10 points to reach 100 for his NHL career.

Nikolaj Ehlers

• Needs two penalty minutes to reach 100 for his career.

Connor Hellebuyck

• Needs one win to reach 100 for his NHL career.

Bryan Little

• Needs four points to reach 500 for his NHL career.

Paul Maurice

• Needs one win to pass Mike Keenan (672) for the 9^th-most wins in NHL history.

Josh Morrissey

• Needs one game played to reach 200 for his NHL career.

Tyler Myers

• Needs eight points to reach 100 as a member of the Jets.

Blake Wheeler

• Needs one multi-goal game to pass Marian Hossa and take sole possession of third in multi-goal games in franchise history. They are both currently at 21.
• Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.