GAME DAY: Laine a game-time decision as Jets host Ducks

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WINNIPEG - About 90 minutes prior to his team's morning skate, Patrik Laine hit the ice with some of the other injured Winnipeg Jets to test the bruise left behind by an Alec Martinez slap shot on Tuesday.
That test lasted about two minutes.
Laine felt ready. So much so, head coach Paul Maurice had him take the regular pre-game skate with his teammates ahead of tonight's tilt against the Anaheim Ducks.
Now, Laine is a game-time decision.

"That was his best morning skate of the year. I'll guarantee you that," Maurice deadpanned.
"He goes out there, skates faster than he has all year so everybody knows he can play. Then he skates off the ice and walks into my office and says 'I can play.' That's how it went.
"I said 'fine. You prepare like you're going to play, we're going to give it the afternoon to make sure nothing changes.'"
So, what looked like an injury that could sideline the 19-year-old for a few games, may not cost him any. Though at the time the puck made impact on Tuesday, Laine wasn't so sure.
"It was hurting a lot," said Laine. "I've never had problems with my ankle, so I have no idea how it feels when it breaks or it's serious. There were a lot of things going on though your head.
"Just (tried) to get on the bench, because I'm not going to help the team on my ice by skating with one foot."

Maurice wants to see how the Jets' leading goal-scorer comes back to the rink before making an official decision. He said that Laine's lower-body injury has significantly improved over the last couple days.
"There's three boxes that have to get checked," said Maurice. "First the doctors, we're sure with this kind of injury that it won't go backwards any more than any other player that got hit. The next would be fitness, and he hasn't been out long enough for that to be a concern.
"The big one is confidence. He has lots of confidence that he's a player tonight."
Speaking of goals, Laine's 43 has him one back of Alexander Ovechkin for the league-lead. But Laine says that isn't driving him to return. He wants to help his team, and won't change how he plays to do it.
"It's your duty as a player. It doesn't matter if you're playing on the first line or the fourth line, you have to block a shot if you have a chance," Laine said.
"Sometimes it's going to hurt. That doesn't matter. It's one for the team."

The Jets (44-19-10) are feeling confident these days as well, with three straight wins to open a six-game home stand over Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
Captain Blake Wheeler has points in all three victories, including an assist on the game-tying goal against the Kings.
"We're still integrating guys back into our line-up. We're losing guys seemingly every game, so it's a challenge to weigh those things," Wheeler said. "Overall, we're playing against desperate teams. We're trying to match their desperation, and hopefully be playing our best at the end of the year."
Winnipeg is the second stop on a four-game road trip for the Ducks, who shut out the Calgary Flames 4-0 on Wednesday.
It was the fourth straight win for the Ducks (38-24-12), giving them a three-point cushion over St. Louis for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
"We know they're a good team. They play a hard game. They do it all. They have a lot of skill up front. We know it's a tough test, and we're always excited for that challenge," said Scheifele.
"We just focus on our game. We don't get caught up in who we're playing against or how the game is going. No matter what adversity we face, we're going to continue to play our game, and stick to what we know best. That has to always be our main focus."

The Jets didn't do any line rushes in morning skate, but Jack Roslovic was also on the ice after missing yesterday's practice with an illness.
Connor Hellebuyck is expected to start in goal for the Jets, with puck drop set for 7 pm CT.
- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
JETS GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets play host to the Anaheim Ducks tonight in the fourth game of a six-game home stand…The Jets defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday night to move to a perfect 3-0-0 on the homestand…Following tonight's game, the Jets face the Nashville Predators on Sunday and Boston Bruins on Tuesday to close out the home set.
Jets vs. Ducks Notes
- The Jets have earned a point in each of their last three games against the Ducks (2-0-1)
- Winnipeg is 3-for-33 (9.1%) on the power play in their last nine games against the Ducks, but went 2-for-3 in the first meeting this season.
- The Jets are 10-for-11 (90.9%) on the penalty kill in their last four games against Anaheim.
- Since the Jets franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011, seven of the 15 games between the Jets and Ducks have gone to overtime or a shootout.
Magical Time of Year
The Jets magic number to clinch a playoff spot sits at six, while the magic number to clinch home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs is 11...Based on points percentage, the projected points needed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference is 96 points, which the Jets have achieved with nine games remaining in the regular season.
Home, Sweet Home
The Jets enter tonight's game on a four-game home winning streak…Winnipeg has a share of the NHL lead in points at home with 56 and wins at home with 27…Winnipeg has also scored a league-high 139 goals at home this season, while the Jets have allowed just 89 goals, which is tied for sixth-fewest…Despite being 1-for-15 (6.7%) on with the extra man in its last four home games, Winnipeg's power play at home is third in the NHL at 26.6%.
That's a Record
The Jets won their franchise record 44th game of the season on Tuesday against Los Angeles…This is the fifth time in franchise history the team has won 40 games in a season, including the third time in the last four seasons…The Jets set a franchise record for the most home wins in a season earlier this season, which is currently at 26 wins and counting.
Marching Forward
The Jets are 7-2-1 in the month of March, which is tied for fifth in NHL…The Jets also had a strong March last season, going 8-5-1 in 14 games…Since relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, the Jets are 46-42-11 in the month of March…Despite the strong March, the Jets have actually lost four points in the standings to the Central Division-leading Nashville Predators, who are 9-0-1.
Against the Pacific
Tonight is the second consecutive game for the Jets against a Pacific Division team…The Jets are 16-4-2 against Pacific Division foes this season, including a 10-1-2 record in their last 13 games versus the Pacific…Winnipeg is 8-1-1 at Bell MTS Place against their Pacific Division foes with their lone regulation loss coming to Los Angeles on Feb. 20…Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck leads the NHL with 14 wins against the Pacific, while Bryan Little leads the Jets in scoring against the Pacific with 18 points (6G, 12A) in 22 games.
Keeping Up with KC
With five goals in his last four games, including two goals against Los Angeles on Tuesday, Kyle Connor has moved to second in NHL rookie goal scoring with 27 goals in 67 games…He's two goals behind Vancouver Brock Boeser, who is out for the rest of the season with an injury, for the rookie goal scoring lead…Connor needs three goals to reach 30 and pass Ilya Kovalchuk (2001-02) for the second-most goals by a rookie in a season in franchise history…Connor is nine back of the 36 goals Patrik Laine scored last season to set the rookie goal scoring record…Three of the top five rookie goal scoring seasons in franchise history have been done in the last three seasons.
Assists Leader
Blake Wheeler notched his 62nd assist of the season on Tuesday against Los Angeles to extend his assist streak to four games…He joins Marc Savard (69 in 2006-07) as the only two players in franchise history to reach 60 assists in a season…Wheeler leads the NHL in assists and needs eight assists in his last nine games to set a franchise record for most assists in a season…Wheeler also leads the NHL with 44 primary assists…Since the all-star break, Wheeler has 22 assists in 23 games and hasn't gone back-to-back games without an assist since Jan. 23-25.
Laine's World
Patrik Laine, who was injured in the second period against Los Angeles, had his point streak end at 15 games (18G, 8A), which is a franchise record and the NHL record for longest point streak by a teenager… He had two separate goal scoring streaks of five and six games during the 15 contests and the Finnish winger has not gone three games without a goal since Jan. 2-7…Laine has 12 goals in March, which is a franchise record for most goals in March in a season…He is two goals behind the franchise record for most goals in a month, which is held by Ilya Kovalchuk (14 in November - 2007)…The NHL record for most goals in a season in March is held by Teemu Selanne, who scored 20 goals as a member of Jets 1.0 in 1993…Laine has 43 goals this season, which is second in the NHL.
Jets vs. Ducks All-Time Records
Overall: 11-12-5
At Bell MTS Place: 2-3-2
At Honda Center: 7-5-3