The Winnipeg Jets begin a four-game road trip tonight when they meet the Columbus Blue Jackets…The Jets split a pair of home games last week and are coming off a 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Friday night…The road trip continues Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
On the Road Again
Winnipeg is 16-14-0 on the road this season…The Jets haven’t won back-to-back
road games in 2019, but Winnipeg hasn’t lost three consecutive road games in
regulation since Dec. 10-20/16…The Jets have played 30 road games this season,
which is tied for the fewest in the NHL, but are in a stretch of seven of nine
games away from Bell MTS Place…Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in scoring on the
road this season with 30 points (4G, 26A) in 30 games…Patrik Laine leads the
Jets with 19 goals on the road.
Eastbound
The Jets are 15-8-2 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including
9-3-0 against the Metropolitan Division…Winnipeg 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…The Jets have a
point in three consecutive games against an Eastern Conference opponent
(2-0-1)…Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 29 points (16G, 13A) in 25 games
against the Eastern Conference, while Blake Wheeler has 28 points (3G, 25A) in
25 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 11-6-0 with a 2.75 goals-against
average and .920 save percentage in 17 games against the Eastern Conference
this season.
Finding the Power
After going seven games without a power play goal (0-for-19), the Jets have
scored a power play goal in five consecutive games (6-for-20, 30.0%)…The Jets
have had four power play opportunities in each of the five games…Winnipeg is
tied for fourth in the NHL this season with a 25.3% power play percentage…The
Jets have scored a power play goal in 39 of their 64 games this season.
Late Heroics
With Friday’s win, the Jets improved to 13-0-1 when tied going into the third
period…The Jets and the Calgary Flames (11-0-4) are the only two teams in the
NHL that are undefeated in regulation when being tied after the second
period…The Jets have scored 18 game-winning goals in third periods this
season…Nikolaj Ehlers leads the Jets with three third-period game-winning
goals, while Andrew Copp, Bryan Little and Adam Lowry have two third-period
game-winning goals each.
Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the
team has gone 78-51-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past
three seasons, the Jets are 28-8-2 in March and April, including a perfect
8-0-0 in April…Blake Wheeler is the franchise’s leading scorer in March with
109 points (40G, 69A) in 119 games, while Mark Scheifele has 53 points (22G,
31A) in 57 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 13-5-2 during his career in
March with a 2.67 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
Sunday Funday
The Jets are 8-1-0 in Sunday games this season and are 18-1-0 in Sunday games
during the past two seasons…Five players for the Jets are averaging a point per
game or better in the nine Sunday games this season, led by Mark Scheifele’s 14
points (5G, 9A).
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Mark Scheifele | 9 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Josh Morrissey | 9 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| Blake Wheeler | 9 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Bryan Little | 9 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
Closing in on a Career Year
Mark Scheifele tallied his team-leading 32nd goal on Friday, which
gave him goals in back-to-back games…He’s matched the career-high 32 goals he
scored during the 2016-17 season in 79 games…Scheifele also had a career-high
50 assists and 82 points in 2016-17.
Streakers
Blake Wheeler (1G, 7A) and Kyle Connor (3G, 3A) are on five-game point streaks…It’s
Wheeler’s fourth point streak this season of five games or longer, while it’s
Connor’s third point streak of five games or more this season…Wheeler had a
team-best 11-game point streak from Oct. 18-Nov. 14 (2G, 18A) earlier this
season.
Wingman
After going back-to-back games without a point for just the second time this
season, Blake Wheeler has seven assists in a five-game assist streak…He leads
the Jets with 63 assists and 76 points…Wheeler has reached 70 points for the
fourth consecutive season, which is one season shy of Ilya Kovalchuk’s
franchise record of five consecutive 70-point seasons…He is the first player in
franchise history to record back-to-back 60-assist seasons…He is second in the
NHL in assists and 11th in points.
New Guy
In his second game with the Jets since being acquired from the New York Rangers
on Monday, Kevin Hayes tallied a goal and two assists on Friday for his first
points with the Jets…It was his second three-point game of the season and
matched a career high.
Jets
vs. Blue Jackets All-Time Records
Overall: 12-11-2
Bell
MTS Place: 3-3-0
At Nationwide Arena: 6-4-2
2018-19 Game Log vs. Blue Jackets
| Date | Location | Score | Rec | Scorers | Goaltender |
| Jan. 31 | Winnipeg | 4-3 W | 1-0-0 (33-16-2) | Scheifele (26), Appleton (3), Roslovic (4), Connor (22) | Hellebuyck (28 sv, 3 ga) |
| Mar. 3 | Columbus |
Jets vs. Blue Jackets Notes
- The Jets have points in eight of their past 11 games (7-3-1) against the Blue Jackets.
- Winnipeg went 0-for-7 in the power play in their two games against Columbus last season, but were 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. The two teams each had a power play goal in the first meeting this season.
- Winnipeg has been outshot by Columbus in each of the past five games between the two teams.
- This is the 13th meeting between the Jets and Blue Jackets since the Jets relocated to Winnipeg…The Jets hold a 7-5 advantage in the 12 games.
- Bryan Little has 17 points (7G, 10A) in 15 career games against Columbus.
- Mathieu Perreault has nine points (4G, 5A) in seven career games against the Blue Jackets, including eight points (3G, 5A) in his last four games.
Jets-Blue Jackets Connections
- Jets forward Jack Roslovic is from Columbus.
- Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele and Columbus’ Boone Jenner made up two of Team Canada’s centres during two years at the World Junior Championships in 2012 and 2013…Blue Jackets defenceman Scott Harrington was also a member of those teams.
- Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba and Blue Jackets defenceman Seth Jones won a gold medal playing for the USA at the 2011 and 2012 U18 World Championship and 2013 World Junior Championship. They also played together at the 2014 World Championship.
- The Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck won a bronze medal with Jones playing for the USA at the 2015 World Championship.
- The Jets’ Trouba, Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele played together with Jones for North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
- Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Bjorkstrand won the 2014 World Junior Challenge playing for Denmark and played together for their country at the 2015 World Junior Championship…Ehlers and Bjorkstrand are two of seven players from Denmark to play in the NHL this season.
- Jets forward Andrew Copp played with Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski at the University of Michigan during the 2014-15 season, while Jets forward Kyle Connor played with Werenski of the U of M during the 2015-16 season.
- Connor and Werenski were also teammates growing up with the Belle Tire AAA program in Detroit.