The Winnipeg Jets continue their four-game road trip tonight by facing the Carolina Hurricanes…The Jets are 1-1 on the road trip so far after losing 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night…The Jets visit the defending Stanley Cup Washington Capitals on Sunday night to finish the road trip.
On the Road Again
Winnipeg is 17-15-0 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 32 road games this season,
which is tied for fourth-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 35 points (9G, 26A) in 32 games…Patrik Laine leads
the Jets with 19 goals on the road.
Eastbound
The Jets are 16-9-2 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including 10-3-0
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 are 3-1-1 in their
past five games against an Eastern Conference opponent…Blake Wheeler (8G, 25A) leads
the Jets with 33 points in 27 games against the Eastern Conference.
Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the
team has gone 79-52-15 in those two months since relocation…During the past
three seasons, the Jets are 29-9-2 in March and April, including a perfect
8-0-0 in April…Blake Wheeler is the franchise’s leading scorer in March with 114
points (45G, 69A) in 121 games, while Mark Scheifele has 56 points (22G, 34A)
in 59 games…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 14-5-2 during his career in March
with a 2.71 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
Taking Their Shots
The Jets have allowed at least 35 shots in four consecutive games and have
given up 33.8 shots per game this season, which is third most in the NHL…Winnipeg
has allowed 35 shots or more in 33 games this season, which is the second most
in the NHL, but have a 21-9-3 record in those games…The 21 victories is a
franchise record for most wins in a season when allowing 35 shots or more in a
game…The NHL record for most wins in a season when allowing 35 shots or more in
a game is 27, which was done by the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins and 2013-14
Toronto Maple Leafs.
Stepping Up
Jacob Trouba was in on both of Winnipeg’s goals on Tuesday with a goal and an
assist…He leads Jets defencemen in scoring this season with 37 points (5G, 32A)
in 66 games…He has established career highs for assists and points, but needs
to double his goal total to match the 10 goals he scored as a rookie in 2013-14…He’s
filled the offensive void left by Dustin Byfuglien who has missed 29 games due
to injury this season…Trouba has 25 points (4G, 21A) in games Byfuglien has
missed and has 12 points (1G, 11A) in the 37 games Byfuglien has been in the
line-up.
Evening Out and Heating Up
Patrik Laine has an assist in back-to-back games to reach 15 assists this season…Twelve of his past 20 points have been assists, while 21 of his first 24 points were goals…After putting up five points (1G, 4A) in 20 games between Jan. 4-Feb. 16, Laine has eight points (4G, 4A) in his past seven games and has a point in six of the seven games.
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 81 points (18G,
63A) in 66 games and he is second in the NHL in assists (63) and tied for ninth
place in points (81)…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.
Jets vs. Hurricanes All-Time Records
Overall: 35-41-13
At Bell MTS Place: 7-4-0
At PNC Arena: 21-17-6
2018-19 Game Log vs. Hurricanes
| Date | Location | Score | Rec | Scorers | Goaltender |
| Oct. 12 | Winnipeg | 3-1 W | 1-0-0 (3-2-0) | Laine (2), Little (1), Connor (4) | Brossoit (42 sv, 1 ga) |
| Mar. 4 | Carolina |
Jets vs. Hurricanes Notes
- The Jets are 6-2-0 in their past eight games against the Hurricanes in Carolina.
- Despite being outshot in all five games, the Jets have won four of the past five games against the Hurricanes.
- Each of the last 13 meetings between Winnipeg and Carolina have been decided by two goals or less.
- The Jets are 3-for-15 (20.0%) on the power play in the past five games against the Hurricanes, including 1-for-2 in each of the past two games.
- Winnipeg is 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the past two contests against Carolina.
- Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in scoring against Carolina with 31 points (13G, 18A) in 35 games, while Bryan Little has 30 points (12G, 18A) in 43 career games against the ‘Canes.
- Wheeler has 10 points (5G, 5A) in his past eight games against the Hurricanes.
- In his third NHL season, Patrik Laine has seven points (4G, 3A) in five games against Carolina, including a three-point night (2G, 1A) last season on Mar. 4/18 at Carolina.
Jets-Hurricanes Connections
- Jets bench boss Paul Maurice spent 920 games as the head coach of the Harford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes, with one stint running from 1995-2004 and the other from 2009-2012.
- Justin Faulk and Blake Wheeler (USA) were teammates at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, RUS.
- Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland is from Swan River, Manitoba and played his junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
- Carolina forward Jordan Martinook was born in Brandon, Manitoba.
- The Jets’ Patrik Laine and the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho won a gold medal together with Finland at the 2016 IIHF World Championship and silver medal at the 2016 IIHF World Championship. They also were teammates for Finland with Carolina forward Teuvo Teravainen at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
- Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele played together for Canada at the 2013 IIHF World Juniors.
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 one game played to reach 200 for his career.
- Needs seven starts to reach 200 games started for his career.
Jack Roslovic
- Needs four 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.