GAME DAY: Jets begin back-to-back in Calgary

Following the 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday, head coach Paul Maurice shuffled the lines at this morning's skate at the Scotiabank Saddledome. One of those moves included putting Marko Dano on the wing with Mark Scheifele and Wheeler.
"He's got a set of skills that say he can play with the other two men that he's playing with. He can make some things happen," said Maurice. "He can get on the puck, he can get to the net, he can do some of the hard, heavy lifting. He's earned it. I think Marko has played really well for us."

Dano has three goals and eight points since being recalled 20 games ago from the Manitoba Moose. The 22-year-old played a big role on a line with Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp for the majority of those games, and looks forward to the added ice time he'll see tonight.
"It's definitely going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it. It's a new challenge for me," Dano said. "I'm just going to try and play a simple game… Be strong on the body and be good on the puck in the corners."

The Calgary Flames (15-13-2, third in the Pacific Division) are a league best 10-3-1 since Nov. 15, and have won five straight games coming into tonight's game.
A big reason for that is the play of Chad Johnson. The Saskatoon, SK native has a 1.98 goals against average and a .932 save percentage this season. He's the goaltender credited with all ten wins the Flames have recorded since mid-November.
Johnson is expected to start tonight for the Flames, while Michael Hutchinson gets his second straight start, following a 22-save performance against the Rangers, and an overtime win in St. Louis on the previous road trip.
"Really liked his game in St. Louis. That was a big win for us, so there was some pressure going into that game on the road based on our trip going in," said Maurice. "He battled very hard against the Rangers. The two that beat him weren't on him, and he fought for it. We're going to need that in tonight's game."
Puck drop is 9 pm CT.
- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com

JETS GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets play the first game of a two-game, two-day road trip tonight against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome…The Jets lost 2-1 at MTS Centre to the New York Rangers on Thursday night and lost both games of a two-game homestand earlier this week…Mark Scheifele scored the lone goal for the Jets on Thursday…Calgary has won five in a row and won a pair of road games by a 2-1 score earlier this week against the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes…The Jets stay in Alberta for the second game of the trip tonight night against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Grinding Road
The Jets have won two in a row on the road after a 3-2 overtime win against St. Louis last Saturday and 2-1 victory against Chicago on Sunday…It's the first time the Jets have won back-to-back games on the road this season…The last time the Jets won the three games in a row on the road was the final three games of last season (Apr. 5-9)…Winnipeg also won four consecutive games on the road last season from Jan. 15-Feb. 13…Since the beginning of that four-game winning streak on Jan. 15/16, 10 of the Jets' 14 wins on the road have been by one goal.
Canadian Pacific
The Jets are 2-2-0 against Pacific Division teams this season…Their two losses are against the Edmonton Oilers (Oct. 23 3-0 and Dec. 1 6-3), while the Jets have picked up wins against the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings…Winnipeg plays five games against Pacific Division teams in December and all are against the three Canadian teams in the division (Edmonton - 2, Vancouver - 2, Calgary - 1)…Last season, the Jets went 12-8-1 against Pacific Division teams.
Weekend Getaway - Take Two
This weekend is the second of two consecutive weekends in which the Jets play back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday on the road… With last weekend's two wins, the Jets are 3-1-1 in the first game of back-to-backs and 3-1-1 in the second game of back-to-back games this season.
Buff Helper
Dustin Byfuglien has an assist in six consecutive games and seven points (1g,6a) in his last six games...It's one game shy of the longest assist streak of his career, which is seven games and occurred from Feb. 16-27/12 (13 assists).
Face-Off Man
Bryan Little has won a team-leading 55.7% (64-of-115) of his face-offs this season…He's won more than 60% of his face-offs in four of his seven games this season.
Hit Man
Brandon Tanev leads all NHL rookies in hits with 73 in 30 games…He had four hits on Thursday against the Rangers, which marked the ninth time this season he has had at least four hits in a game…He's had a hit in all but three of the 30 games he's played this season.
Special Teams Notes
- Winnipeg is 11-for-13 (84.6%) on the penalty kill in its last four games, compared to 78.9% for the season.
- The Jets haven't scored a power play goal in back-to-back games and are 4-for-34 (11.8%) on the power play in their 13 games since Nov. 15.
- The Jets are second in the NHL with 166 shots on the power play this season.

Quick Hits
- The Jets remain perfect when leading after the second period with a 9-0-0 record.
- Winnipeg is 8-4-3 in one-goal games this season and five of its last six games have been decided by one goal (3-1-1).
- The Jets have outscored their opposition 36-28 in the third period and overtime this season, but have been outscored 39-20 in second periods this season…The 39 goals against is the most total goals an NHL team has allowed in a period this season.