The Winnipeg Jets continue their four-game road trip tonight by facing the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Sunshine State…The Jets started the road trip with a 5-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night for their second consecutive win…The Jets visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in the third game of the road trip.
On the Road Again
Winnipeg is 17-14-0 on the road this season and are 3-2-0 in their past five road
games…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 31 road games this season, which is tied for third-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 34 points (8G,
26A) in 31 games…Patrik Laine leads the Jets with 19 goals on the road.
Eastbound
The Jets are 16-8-2 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including 6-5-2
against the Atlantic 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 four
consecutive games against an Eastern Conference opponent (3-0-1)…Mark Scheifele
(16G, 16A) and Blake Wheeler (7G, 25A) lead the Jets with 32 points in 26 games
against the Eastern Conference…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 12-6-0 with a
2.71 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 18 games against the
Eastern Conference this season.
Late Heroics
In both of their last two games, the Jets have won after being tied going into
the third period to improve to 14-0-1 this season when tied after the second period…The
Jets are the only team in the NHL this season that is undefeated in regulation
when being tied after the second period…The Jets have scored 19 game-winning
goals in third periods this season…Nikolaj Ehlers leads the Jets with three
third-period game-winning goals, while Blake Wheeler, 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 79-51-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past
three seasons, the Jets are 29-8-2 in March and April, including a perfect
8-0-0 in April…Blake Wheeler is the franchise’s leading scorer in March with 113
points (44G, 69A) in 120 games, while Mark Scheifele has 56 points (22G, 34A)
in 58 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 14-5-2 during his career in March
with a 2.64 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.
Star Captain
The NHL announced on Monday that Jets captain Blake Wheeler is the league’s
second star of the week…Wheeler opened the week
with an assist in Winnipeg’s 3-2 setback to Minnesota on Tuesday…On Friday, the
Jets captain scored and added a pair of assists in the Jets’ 5-3 comeback win
over the Nashville Predators…On Sunday, Wheeler recorded his first career
four-goal game in Winnipeg’s 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets…The
Plymouth, Minn. native’s four-goal effort was the seventh hat trick by a Jets
player this season, which paces all NHL teams…Wheeler led the NHL with five
goals and eight points this week…On the season, Wheeler has 80 points (17G,
63A) in 65 games and he is second in the NHL in assists (63) and tied for ninth
place in points (80)…Wheeler has surpassed the 60-assist and 70-point plateaus
for the fourth straight campaign and his 65 games to reach 80 points is the
second-fewest required to hit that mark in franchise history (Ilya Kovalchuk,
61 games in 2005-06)…This is the second time this season (also Nov. 12 – Second
Star) and the fourth time in his career that Wheeler has been selected in the
NHL’s Three Stars of the Week.
Closing in on a Career Year
While he leads the Jets in goals this season with 32, Mark Scheifele matched a single-game
career high with three assists on Sunday…Scheifele has matched the career-high
32 goals he scored during the 2016-17 season in 79 games…Scheifele is seven
assists away from matching his career-high 50 assists, which he also accomplished
during the 2016-17 season.
Backend Production
Newly acquired Nathan Beaulieu notched two assists against Columbus on Sunday
for his first points as a member of the Jets…It’s the fifth time in his career
that he had two assists in a game…Sami Niku scored his first goal of the season
on Sunday in his 18th game with the Jets this season…He also had
three goals in 20 games with the Manitoba Moose this season.
Jets vs. Lightning All-Time Records
Overall: 39-30-20
At Bell
MTS Place: 6-3-2
At Amalie Arena: 15-19-10
2018-19 Game Log vs. Lightning
| Date | Location | Score | Rec | Scorers | Goaltender |
| Dec. 16 | Winnipeg | 5-4 OTW | 1-0-0 (22-9-2) | Perreault (7), Tanev (7), Ehlers (11, 12), Scheifele(21) | Hellebuyck (43 sv, 4 ga) |
| Mar. 5 | Tampa Bay |
Jets vs. Lightning Notes
- The Jets have a point in seven of their past eight games against the Lightning (4-1-3).
- Since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg, the Jets are 11-5-5 against the Lightning.
- The Jets have allowed four goals or more in eight of their past 10 games against the Lightning (35 GA).
- The Jets have a point in their last six trips to Tampa (4-0-2).
- Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in career scoring against the Lightning with 30 points (8G, 22A) in 32 games.
- Patrik Laine has six points (2G, 4A) in five games against Tampa Bay, while Nikolaj Ehlers has nine points (6G, 3A) in seven games.
Jets-Lightning Connections
- Lightning defenceman Braydon Coburn was originally a draft pick of the Jets’ franchise. The Atlanta Thrashers selected Coburn eighth overall in 2003. Coburn played 38 games for the Thrashers over the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
- Lightning forward Ryan Callahan and Jets forward Blake Wheeler played together for Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
- The Jets’ Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele played with the Lightning’s Alexander Killorn and Brayden Point for Canada during the 2017 IIHF World Championship where they were coached by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper.
- Jets’ Mark Scheifele, Jacob Trouba and Connor Hellebuyck were coached by Cooper when they played in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey for Team North America.
- Morrissey and Point were teammates with Canada at the 2015 World Junior Championship, winning a gold medal.
Upcoming Milestones
Dustin Byfuglien
- Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.
Nikolaj Ehlers
- Needs two penalty minutes to reach 100 for his career.
Kevin Hayes
- Needs two penalty minutes to reach 100 for his career.
Connor Hellebuyck
- Needs two games played to reach 200 for his career.
- Needs eight starts to reach 200 games started for his career.
Jack Roslovic
- Needs five games played to reach 100 for his NHL career.
Blake Wheeler
- Needs three power play assists to pass Slava Kozlov (130) for the most power play assists in franchise history.
- Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.