GAMEDAY: Jets at Capitals

WASHINGTON - With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror, the Winnipeg Jets now shift their focus to ending a four-game road trip on a positive note against the Washington Capitals (38-18-6).
The best way to do that will be getting off to a good start, something Andrew Copp says is a focus for the Jets, who have given up the game's opening goal in each of their last eight outings.
"We have to get the first one, especially in a building like this where there is going to be some momentum from the 700 and all that," said Copp. "They're obviously one of the best teams in the league. A good start is going to be paramount - whether we get the first one or not, I don't know - but getting to a good start and not feeding them opportunities is going to be important."

The 700 ceremony Copp speaks of will be for Capitals captain, Alexander Ovechkin. The 34-year-old scored his 700th career goal on Saturday and he'll be honoured for that accomplishment prior to tonight's puck drop.
Patrik Laine grew up idolizing Ovechkin, and while he admits playing against him is still fun to do, he says he has a long way to go before he can comprehend scoring 700 goals in the National Hockey League.
"I'm like 570 shy, so I don't know, but it must be fun. There are a lot of times he's put his hands in the air," said Laine, who will play his 300th career game tonight. "I didn't know it was my 300th. It came up pretty quickly. It doesn't feel like I've played 300 games, but it's pretty cool. I didn't know it was my 300th. It came up pretty quickly. It doesn't feel like I've played 300 games, but it's pretty cool."
Jets head coach Paul Maurice has seen a lot of Ovechkin, dating back to Maurice's time with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Southeast Division. He also doesn't think Laine should sell himself short on his milestone of 300 games before turning 22-years-old.
"That's just a huge number, 300 games when you say that to me," said Maurice.
"The growth in his game each year just continues. This guy is developing more and more into a power forward. But boy, 300 at that age, that's a feat."

Winnipeg (32-27-5) will make a slight tweak to their line-up from the one that dropped a 2-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Sami Niku will draw in for the first time since February 16. That night, he played 14:08 in a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Maurice was clear about what he wanted to see from Niku - who will be paired with Tucker Poolman - especially with Josh Morrissey missing his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
"Puck movement for us. When you've lost Josh - certainly he's a great defender for us - he moves the puck very well, and that's what Sami does well," said Maurice. "He's the natural guy to slot in there now and help us move some pucks from the back end."
Laurent Brossoit will start in goal for the Jets. He made 29 saves in the road trip opening win over the Ottawa Senators five days ago. The rest of the Jets line-up is expected to look like this:
Harkins-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Copp-Laine
Ehlers-Eakin-Roslovic
Bourque-Shore-Appleton
Kulikov-Pionk
Beaulieu-DeMelo
Niku-Poolman
Maurice made the switch of putting Harkins with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler early in Sunday's game against Buffalo and liked what he saw from Harkins - who had an assist and a career-high six shots on goal - in that outing.
"He created some plays on the forecheck. It looked like they got right into being in-sync," said Maurice. "Of our best chances, they had five of them. We'll leave them together today. Both Mark and Blake appreciated the style of game he played and thought there was something there."

Tonight's tilt marks the beginning of a home-and-home set between the Jets and Capitals, who added Ilya Kovalchuk to their roster the day before Monday's trade deadline.
"He looks rejuvenated when he went to Montreal and scored some big goals," said Maurice.
"The best pick-ups are specific to your room… The relationship he would have with Alex Ovechkin, that alone makes it a real nice pick-up for them."
With 18 games to go in the regular season, the Jets sit one point back of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with tonight's puck drop set for 6 pm CT.
"We're ready to make the final push and get into the playoffs," said Copp. "It's going to be a tough road, but all the adversity we've faced throughout this year has seasoned us for it."
--Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
The Winnipeg Jets finish a four-game road trip today by visiting the Washington Capitals, which begins a home-and-home set between the two teams. The Jets lost 2-1 to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday to fall to 1-2-0 on the road trip. Winnipeg hosts Washington on Thursday at Bell MTS Place.
Last GameFeb. 23 at BUF - 2-1 LJets Scorer: Wheeler (21)
Sabres Scorer: Okposo (8, 9)
Jets Goaltender: Connor Hellebuyck (23 sv, 2 ga)
Sabres Goaltender: Jonas Johansson (25 sv, 1 ga)
Jets PP: 0-for-1
Jets PK: 3-for-3
Recap: The Jets lost 2-1 to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon...Blake Wheeler tallied Winnipeg's only goal of the game in the first period...Jansen Harkins had a primary assist and led the Jets with six shots...Andrew Copp won a career high 19 face-offs...Winnipeg won 67.9% of the face-offs, which was the 11th most in a game in franchise history.
READ THE FULL GAME NOTES
On the Road
Winnipeg is in a stretch of five of six games on the road...The Jets are 2-6-0 in their past eight road games, but are still tied for 12th in the NHL on the road this season with a record of 16-13-2...The Jets are a perfect 10-for-10 on the penalty kill in their past three road games to push themselves to 80% for the season, which is 13th in the league.
Down Early
The Jets have allowed the first goal of the game in eight consecutive contests...The Jets had scored the game's opening goal in six consecutive contests before this streak...Winnipeg is 12-19-4 this season when trailing first, which is tied for the seventh most wins.
Potent PK
The Jets are a perfect 12-for-12 on the penalty kill in their past five games and 18-for-19 (94.7%) in their past eight games...Winnipeg is third in the NHL in penalty kill percentage in February at 92.3%.
Harks
Jansen Harkins had a career high six shots on Sunday against Buffalo...He had a combined 14 shots in his first 23 NHL games this season...Harkins has three points (1G, 2A) in his past five games.
Approaching 60
The Jets are one of eight teams in the NHL this season with two players with 60 points...Patrik Laine is one point shy of 60 to give the Jets three 60-point getters, while Blake Wheeler is three points away as well...The franchise record for most players with 60 points in a season is four, which has been done three times.
At the Deadline
Winnipeg didn't made a deal on NHL trade deadline day...The Jets made two trades in the days leading up to the deadline, acquiring Dylan DeMelo from the Ottawa Senators and Cody Eakin from the Vegas Golden Knights.