GAME DAY: Jets at Penguins

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania -The Winnipeg Jets arrive in Pittsburgh playing some of their best road hockey, winning eight of their last nine. It's perfect timing considering the Penguins have won seven straight contests.

Head coach Paul Maurice believes his group turned a corner away from Bell MTS Place during the early December New York road trip.
"We had a bunch of defencemen missing and we had to become a little tighter with our defensive game," said Maurice.
"As it always goes mid-December, we got on a stretch where we were kind of scoring at will. But (we are) comfortable on the road, the road is a different place now. You don't get the matchup you want but like Pittsburgh we're not a one-line team."

Jets forward Andrew Copp hopes to keep the good times going on the road.
"I feel like our records are pretty similar between home and on the road," said Andrew Copp who had an assist on the game winning goal against the Oilers.
"Hopefully it doesn't change our game at all but we got to be quick and that's the biggest thing. Because our quickness and our engagement level mentally so we got to have that right from the start tonight."
The Penguins provide a unique challenge because of their depth up the middle and their ability to make teams pay for their mistakes.
"The standard cliche is you need everyone going," said Maurice.
"If you don't have everybody going, (the puck) is in the back of your net."
Another positive for Winnipeg is that they have had three days off ahead of their battle with the Penguins.
"I think that always with a couple of days off and no games you get to recharge and get some energy. So we are ready to go," said Nikolaj Ehlers.

The Jets did not have any line rushes during their morning skate at PPG Paints Arena on Friday morning but here are the projected lines for tonight's game.
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Laine
Perreault-Lowry-Tanev
Lemieux-Copp-Roslovic
Morrissey-Trouba
Chiarot-Myers
Morrow-Kulikov
Hellebuyck
ICE CHIPS
Joe Morrow returns to Pittsburgh, the team who drafted him in the first round back in 2011. The Edmonton product never ended up playing a regular season game for the Penguins before he was dealt to Boston.
"It's always cool to come back here. A place where you kind of began your NHL career and it will always be special to me because that is sort of the first stepping stone to try and make a career in the National Hockey League," said Morrow.
"Kind of experiencing that National Hockey League life in Pittsburgh for the first time. Every time coming back to the city it's kind of cool to see people that are still left in the organization from when I was here, it's good to see familiar faces."

Morrow returned to the Jets' lineup on Monday night after not having played since the end of November. So if you ask him, the three days off between games was a little long for his liking.
"To come back and to not be able to play right away was a little different," smiled Morrow.
"I know it's a pretty hectic schedule going down the road here and we had our fun little skills competition (on Wednesday night) which was a good time for everybody to kind of get out there and enjoy themselves a little bit. Definitely ready to be back in games here."
-- Jamie Thomas, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets play the second of two road games this week tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins...The Jets have had three days off since a 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers on New Year's Eve...After tonight's game, the Jets return home to play five of their next six games at Bell MTS Place, beginning on Sunday against the Dallas Stars.
25 Wins
The Jets won their 25th game of the season in Edmonton on Monday in their 39th game to set a franchise record for fewest games needed to reach 25 wins...Last season, the Jets won their 25th game in their 43rd game, while it took 47 games for the Jets post their 25th win in 2014-15.
On the Road Again
The Jets are 12-6-0 on the road this season and are on a three-game road winning streak...Winnipeg has won eight of their past nine games away from Bell MTS Place...Winnipeg matched a franchise record with a five-game road winning streak from Nov. 24-Dec. 14...Blake Wheeler (3G, 19A) leads the Jets in scoring on the road with 22 points in 18 games.
Best Year So Far
The Jets compiled 114 points in the 2018 calendar year by going 54-21-6 in 81 games...Winnipeg was one of three teams in the NHL to reach 114 points or more in the calendar year...It establishes a new benchmark for wins and points in a calendar year since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011...Winnipeg's 21 losses in regulation last year were the fewest in the NHL.
Lighter Load
After playing 12 games (10-2-0) in 22 days to begin December, the Jets are finishing a stretch of four games in a span of 13 days between Dec. 23-Jan. 4...Winnipeg's three-day break between games this week is one of two three-day breaks between games in its schedule that isn't attached to the Global Series, Christmas break, or player break/all-star break...However, tomorrow begins a run of nine games in 16 days for the Jets leading into the player and all-star break from Jan. 20-27.
Against the East
The Jets are 10-4-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including 7-1-0 against the Metropolitan Division...The Jets haven't played an Eastern Conference team since a 5-4 overtime win against the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning at Bell MTS Place on Dec. 16...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 21 points (1G, 20A) in 15 games against the Eastern Conference, while Mark Scheifele has 19 points (11G, 8A) in 15 games...Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 7-4-0 with a 2.63 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 11 games against the Eastern Conference this season.
VIEW FULL GAME NOTES
Seeing Stars
The NHL announced the rosters for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game yesterday and Jets forwards Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele were selected to the Central Division team...Wheeler, who is making his second consecutive all-star appearance, leads the Jets and is tied for ninth in the league in points (50) and also leads the Jets and ranks third in the NHL in assists (44)...Scheifele is making his first all-star appearance and is second on the Jets in points (49), goals (22), and assists (27)...He is also in the top 15 in the NHL in goals and points...Forward Patrik Laine is on a Last Man In ballot, as fans vote on the final member of each all-star team...If the Jets retain their first place standing in the Central Division through the halfway point of the season, head coach Paul Maurice will be selected as the coach of the Central Division team.
Two for Lemieux
Brendan Lemieux had two goals on Monday against Edmonton, which doubled his career goal total and was the first multi-goal game of his career...Lemieux's second goal of the game was also the first game-winning goal of his career...The Jets have had six players score multiple goals in a game this season, led by Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele, who each have five multi-goal games.
100
Connor Hellebuyck won his 100th career game on Monday against the Oilers...He reached the milestone in 179 games, which the fourth fastest in NHL history by an American born goaltender...Hellebuyck is second all-time in franchise wins, behind Ondrej Pavelec's 152 victories...Hellebuyck's .644 winning percentage is first in franchise history among goaltenders that have made 100 starts.
Increased Production
Brandon Tanev netted his eighth goal of the season on Monday, which matches the eight goals he had last season in 61 games...He needs four more assists and points to match the career high 10 assists and 18 points he had last season...Tanev's ice time has also increased from an average of 12:40 per game last season to 14:11 this season.