GAME DAY: Jets vs Stars

WINNIPEG - All three of this season's previous match-ups between the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars have featured a lot of offence. The two teams combined for 18 goals with the Jets winning one of those on home ice.
But since the third game of the season series back on Jan. 19 (a 4-2 Stars win at American Airlines Center), Dallas has been stingy in their own end.
The 57 goals they've allowed since Jan. 20 are the fewest in the NHL and goaltender Ben Bishop's four shutouts are the second most in that time frame.
"The next two games will be real interesting for these, you're getting the number one and two best defensive teams in the NHL," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice, adding that if there aren't as many offensive chances, it may be more difficult to replicate the memorable buzz in the building from Saturday night.

"You're going to play these next two games where they're not going to give you anything. The feel on the bench is 'hey we're not playing as well as we did against Nashville.' But you might be. It's just different circumstances," said Maurice. "They're fighting for their playoff lives. The potential of it being a first-round match-up are all pieces to this."

The Jets (45-26-4) hold a four-point lead over the Nashville Predators for top spot in the Central Division. That lead doubled from two points thanks to a 5-0 victory two nights ago at Bell MTS Place.
Based on this morning's skate, it will be the exact same line-up for the Jets against the Stars tonight. Connor Hellebuyck is expected to start in goal fresh off his second shutout in as many starts.
The line rushes looked like this:
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Hayes-Laine
Little-Lowry-Tanev
Perreault-Copp-Hendricks
Beaulieu-Trouba
Kulikov-Myers
Chiarot-Niku
One of the big keys to the win over Nashville was the fact the Jets could roll all four lines. Not a single forward went over 20 minutes of ice time, but every one of them played over 10 minutes.
"Since the trade deadline we've tried to go four lines. I think last game was the first time it kind of clicked for everyone," said Blake Wheeler. "We had four lines all going hard and all going in the same direction. If we can play at that tempo with four lines, it's a tough pace to keep up.
"It's going to be challenge for us to maintain that, but if we can find a way to do it, that's going to give us the best chance to have success."

The trio of Kyle Connor, Kevin Hayes, and Patrik Laine combined for nine points in the win over Nashville.
In fact, Connor's first career hat trick on Saturday helped him earn the NHL's First Star of the Week honours on Monday.
For Hayes, it was the first time in his NHL career he's had four points in a game. As a line, he'd like to see the group continue to get even better.
"It's easy to say we clicked because we scored four goals, but we just stuck to the game plan," said Hayes.
"You just have to play the right way. I like to look at myself as a two-way centre man. Even though I had a couple points last game, if I wasn't doing things correctly defensively, I wouldn't be as happy as I was."

At 38-31-6, the Stars begin a four-game road trip through Western Canada tonight in Winnipeg.
Dallas holds the top wild card spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche who sit in the second wild card spot.
The Stars have dropped each of their last two games with their power play going a combined 0-for-5 in those contests - and 2-for-25 in their last 11 games with a power play chance.
Still, the Jets are very aware of what the Stars are capable of on the man advantage. Dallas has capitalized on six of 15 chances against Winnipeg.
"They have some pretty good movement. That was hard to track where guys were exactly," said Andrew Copp. "(Jamie) Benn is one of the best net front guys in the league, so I think that helps. (Tyler) Seguin has a bomb, (John) Klingberg is really good at moving along that blue line.
"We've changed our PK a little bit, so it should play to our strengths a little bit more now. It's the same reason any power play works, they have great players, they have a system that lets them be great in their respective spots. It will be a good challenge tonight for sure."

It's the final meeting of the regular season between the two clubs, but with Dallas potentially being a team the Jets could see in the playoffs, Maurice and his staff have been doing a little extra prep.
"We would have started that process a while ago on who we thought were the four most likely candidates," said Maurice. "We're tracking all those teams now."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
ICE CHIPS
Dustin Byfuglien took part in Monday's morning skate in a non-contact jersey and could see full practice action as early as Wednesday (with Tuesday being a scheduled day off for the team).
"This is the first big step," said Maurice. "We'll get him into a full practice on Wednesday and move forward from there. He's been able to do quite a bit off ice, which has been good so he doesn't feel far off it. Dustin is one of those guys for the most part that could miss a couple weeks, throw his gear on and you couldn't tell."
Laurent Brossoit and Josh Morrissey skated prior to the morning skate. Morrissey continues to progress and Brossoit could possibly practice with the team on Wednesday as well.
--Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Today's Game
The Winnipeg Jets continue a four-game homestand, their last of the season, today when they welcome the Dallas Stars to Bell MTS Place...The Jets shutout the Nashville Predators 5-0 on Saturday night for their fifth win in their past six games...Winnipeg continues the homestand Thursday against the New York Islanders.
Playoff Bound
The Jets clinched their spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs with their win on Saturday night...It's the first time in franchise history that the Jets have reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons...Winnipeg has a four-point lead on the Predators for first place in the Central Division and its magic number to clinch its first divisional title since relocation is nine...If the playoffs started today, the Jets would host the Dallas Stars, who hold the Western Conference's first wild card spot, in the first round of the playoffs.
At Home
Winnipeg has the fourth-best home record in the NHL this season at 25-9-4...The Jets have points in 14 of their past 17 home games (12-3-2), which included a seven-game winning streak from Jan. 6-Feb. 2...The Jets have the best power play at home in the NHL this season at 31.3%...Winnipeg's 36 power play goals at home this season is second in the NHL...The Jets have a 57-15-6 record at Bell MTS Place during the past two seasons, which is the third best home record in the NHL...The Jets have scored 144 goals at home this season, which is third in the NHL, and have outscored their opposition 118-59 in their 25 wins.
Central Foes
The Jets are 12-10-0 against Central Division teams this season...Winnipeg is 3-5 in their past eight games against Central Division teams and all three wins have come against Nashville (Jan. 17 at NSH 5-1 W, Mar. 1 vs. NSH 5-3 W, and Mar. 23 vs. NSH 5-0 W)...Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Jets are 46-27-4 against Central Division teams, which is second in the NHL...In that same time frame, Blake Wheeler leads all NHLers in scoring against the Central Division with 97 points (28G, 69A) in 77 games, while Mark Scheifele is second with 89 points (36G, 53A) in 69 games.
Springing Ahead
March and April have historically been successful months for the Jets, as the team has gone 85-55-15 in those two months since relocation...During the past three seasons, the Jets are 35-12-2 in March and April, including a perfect 8-0-0 in April...Blake Wheeler is the franchise's leading scorer in March with 121 points (47G, 74A) in 130 games...Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is 18-7-2 in March during his career with a 2.5 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
Three for KC
Kyle Connor opened the scoring and tallied twice in the final 4:38 of Saturday's game to record his first career hat trick...The three goals give him 32 goals on the season, which is a career high...After scoring 31 goals last season, Connor is the fifth player in franchise history to record multiple 30-goal seasons and the second player to do so in his first two full seasons, joining Patrik Laine...Connor has eight points (5G, 3A) in his past four games, which includes three multi-point games.
Career Night
Kevin Hayes assisted all three of Kyle Connor's goals on Saturday and scored in the second period for the first four-point game of his career...He previously had three points on nine occasions...He nearly doubled his point total with the Jets on Saturday, as he now has 10 points (4G, 6A) in 13 games since being acquired from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline.
VIEW THE FULL GAME NOTES
Another Goose Egg
Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves on Saturday to give him back-to-back shutouts in games he's started (Mar. 20 at ANA 3-0 W)...In his past five games, Hellebuyck is 4-0-0 with a 1.32 goals-against average and .960 save percentage...He has stopped 143 of 149 shots in the five appearances...Hellebuyck is having his best month of the season with a .932 save percentage in March...His next start is the 200th of his career and he'll join Ondrej Pavelec as the only two goaltenders in franchise history with 200 games started.
Hit Record
Brandon Tanev had seven hits on Saturday to set a franchise record for most hits in a season with 259, which is third in the NHL this season...He has four hits or more in a game 34 times this season...Tanev's previous career high for hits in a season was 188, which he did last season...Tanev is averaging 3.45 hits per game this season, which is on pace to be a single-season franchise record.