The Winnipeg Jets begin a three-game homestand tonight by entertaining the New York Rangers at Bell MTS Place…The Jets beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Sunday afternoon to finish 1-2 on a three-game road trip…The homestand continues Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche.
Back Home
Winnipeg has the second-best home record in the NHL at 20-6-3, but had their
seven-game winning streak end last Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks…The Jets
have a point in their past eight games at home (7-0-1) and 12 of their last 14
contests at Bell MTS Place (11-2-1)…The Jets have the best power play at home
in the NHL this season at 34.8% and have gone 4-for-13 (30.8%) in the past
three home games…Winnipeg’s 31 power play goals at home this season is first
in the NHL…The Jets have a 52-13-5 record at Bell MTS Place during the past two
seasons, making it the toughest building in the NHL for opposing teams to
play…The Jets have scored 114 goals at home this season, which is tied for second
in the NHL, and have outscored their opposition 108-49 in their 20 wins.
Getting Their Shots
In
Winnipeg has given up 1,861 shots this season, which is fourth most in the
NHL…The Jets have allowed 624 shots in first periods and 667 in second periods,
but only 552 in third periods…Winnipeg has a minus-34 shot differential in
first periods and minus-74 in second periods, but a plus-14 shot differential
in third periods…The Jets are one of only two teams in the NHL this season with
negative shot differential in first and second periods, but a positive shot
differential in third periods…Despite the shot differential, the Jets have a
positive goal differential in every period, including plus-20 in third periods.
Yawning Cage
Mark Scheifele’s empty net goal against Buffalo on Sunday was Winnipeg’s 15th
empty net goal of the season, which is a franchise record for most empty goals
in a season…The Jets scored 13 empty net goals in each of the last three
seasons, which is tied for the second most in a season…Since relocation, Blake
Wheeler leads the Jets with 20 empty net goals, which is also a franchise
record…Kyle Connor leads the Jets this season with four empty net goals.
Eastbound
The Jets are 14-8-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including
8-3-0 against the Metropolitan Division…Winnipeg is in a stretch of seven of
nine games against Eastern Conference teams…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…Blake Wheeler leads
the Jets with 27 points (3G, 24A) in 22 games against the Eastern Conference,
while Mark Scheifele has 26 points (14G, 12A) in 22 games.
Busy Time
The Jets are in a stretch of 11 games (4-3-1) in 20 days…Winnipeg went
6-3-0 in nine games in 16 days leading into the break…The Jets are in the midst
of playing their last 34 games of the regular season in 69 days.
February Producers
Seventeen of the 19 players that have played in Winnipeg’s five games in
February have at least one point…Bryan Little (3G, 2A) and Jacob Trouba (5A)
lead the Jets in scoring this month with five points in five games…Josh
Morrissey is also at a point per game pace with four assists in four games.
Carrying the Mail
Winnipeg’s top line of Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Kyle Connor have
tallied four of Winnipeg’s past eight even-strength goals, including both on
Sunday against Buffalo…Since Jan. 1, they are three of Winnipeg’s top four
scorers…Wheeler (6G, 11A) leads the Jets with 17 points in 17 games in 2019,
while Scheifele (6G, 10A) has 16 points and Connor (9G, 6A) has 15 points.
In Pursuit
After netting four points (2G, 2A) in his first 25 games, Andrew Copp has 11
points (3G, 8A) in his past 18 games since Dec. 31/18…He has a point in four of
his past six games and tallied his first shorthanded goal of the season on
Sunday against the Sabres…He’s tallied seven (3G, 4A) of his 15 points this
season in third periods.
Jets vs. Rangers All-Time Records
Overall: 32-26-4
At Bell MTS Place: 2-6-0
At Madison Square Garden: 20-10-2
2018-19 Game Log vs. Rangers
| Date | Location | Score | Rec | Scorers | Goaltender |
| Dec. 2 | New York | 4-3 SOW | 1-0-0 (16-8-2) | Scheifele (16), Roslovic (2), Little (5) | Hellebuyck (16 sv, 3 ga) |
| Feb. 12 | Winnipeg |
Jets vs. Rangers Notes
- The Jets have won back-to-back games against the Rangers after losing the previous three contests.
- Winnipeg is 3-for-37 (8.1%) on the power play against the Rangers in the last 12 meetings.
- The Jets are 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in their last three games against the Rangers.
- The Jets are 1-4 in their last five games against the Rangers at Bell MTS Place and are 0-for-16 on the power play in those five games.
- Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in career scoring against the Rangers with 16 points (3G, 13A) in 29 games.
- Dustin Byfuglien has four career goals against the Rangers, three of which are game-winning goals.
Jets-Rangers Connections
- New York’s Mika Zibanejad and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele were respectively the sixth and seventh selections in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
- Jets’ assistant coach Charlie Huddy worked as an assistant coach with the Rangers for two seasons, from 1998-2000.
- Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello played under Jets’ head coach Paul Maurice during the NHL lockout in 2012-13 while with Magnitogorsk of the KHL.
- The Jets’ Kyle Connor (Michigan) and the Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey (Harvard) were Hobey Hat Trick finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award during the 2015-16 season as the top player in college hockey. Vesey won the award.
- Rangers forward Brett Howden is from Oakbank. His brother Quinton played five games with the Jets during the 2016-17 season.
- Jets forward Tyler Myers played for Rangers assistant coach Lindy Ruff from 2009-2013 when Myers was a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
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.
Dmitry Kulikov
- Needs five games played to reach 100 as a member of the Jets.
Bryan Little
- Needs three assists to reach 300 for his NHL career.
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.