The Winnipeg Jets play the second game of their 2018-19 season tonight on the road against the Dallas Stars…The Jets began the season on Thursday night with a 5-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues…After tonight’s game, the Jets return to Winnipeg for their home opener on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Continuing to Roll
With Thursday’s win over the Blues, the Jets have won six consecutive regular season games, dating back to last season…Since Mar. 2, the Jets are 16-3-1, which is tops in the NHL…Winnipeg has outscored their opponents 67-48 in those 20 games.
Locking It Down
The Jets took a 1-0 lead into the third period on Thursday against the Blues and proceeded to score four third-period goals, which was the 20th time in franchise history the team scored four or more goals in the third period…Winnipeg led the NHL last season with a 42-1-1 record when leading after 40 minutes…Last season the Jets did most of their scoring in the first two periods, as they had a league-best 92 goals in the first period and 92 goals in the second period, but 82 goals in the third period…Winnipeg scored four goals or more in the third period only twice last season – Dec. 1 vs. VGK (5 in a 7-4 W) and Feb. 18 vs. FLA (4 in 7-2 W).
Pre-Season Recap
The Jets went 4-3-0 during their seven-game pre-season slate, including 1-2-0 on the road…Two of Winnipeg’s four wins came in overtime…Captain Blake Wheeler led the Jets in scoring in the pre-season with seven points (2G, 5A) in three games…Dustin Byfuglien (3G, 3A) and Mark Scheifele (2G, 4A) also had strong pre-seasons with six points each.
Division Rivals
Winnipeg plays three of their first four games of the 2018-19 season against divisional foes…The Jets went 15-9-2 against their Central Division rivals last season and are 35-17-4 dating back to the start of 2016-17, which is tied with the Nashville Predators for the best in-division record during that time frame…Blake Wheeler led the NHL in points against Central Division teams last season with 35 points (10G, 25A) in 26 games.
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Record Within Central Division Since 2016-17 Season |
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| Season | GP | W | L | OL | PTS |
| Winnipeg Jets | 56 | 35 | 17 | 4 | 74 |
| Nashville Predators | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 |
| Minnesota Wild | 56 | 30 | 22 | 4 | 64 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 55 | 28 | 22 | 5 | 61 |
| St. Louis Blues | 56 | 25 | 25 | 6 | 56 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 56 | 22 | 31 | 4 | 48 |
Multi-Point Nights
Four Jets had multi-point games in the season opener on Thursday, as Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist, while Mark Scheifele had two assists…The quartet led the Jets in multi-point games last season…Wheeler had a team high 25 multi-point games, while Connor and Scheifele each had 16 and Laine and 15.
Where He Left Off
Thursday’s win ran goaltender Connor Hellebuyck’s personal winning streak to 10 games, dating back to last season…He has a 2.25 goals-against average and .927 save percentage during the streak…He’s allowed just a single goal against in four of his last five games.
Where He Left Off II
Brandon Tanev tallied his first goal of the season against the Blues on Thursday and has seven points (5G, 2A) in his last seven games dating back to last season…He’s scored five of his 11 career goals in the last seven of his 116 career games…Tanev also had four goals in 17 playoff games last season.
Another First Rounder Debuts
Forward Kristian Vesalainen, who the Jets drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut on Thursday…He had an assist on Brandon Tanev’s third period goal and played 8:12…Of Winnipeg’s nine first round picks since relocation in 2011, eight played in the season opener, while Logan Stanley spent the entire pre-season with the Jets and is starting the season in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose.