GAMEDAY: Jets at Predators

A season-long five-game road trip comes to an end tonight, as the Winnipeg Jets square off with the Nashville Predators.
If the Jets (31-16-1) win, it'll put together their seventh win streak of at least three games or more, and give them a winning record on the road trip as well.
"These games are fun. They're a lot of fun," said Nikolaj Ehlers. "It's two teams that go at it pretty good and have been for many years now. We have to continue playing our game, work hard, play fast, get pucks to the net and we'll come out on top."
If past history is to be believed, Winnipeg's 12-3-0 record against Central Division opponents - the best divisional record among their Central counterparts - should be an added bit of confidence for the Jets.
In the first meeting of the season, Winnipeg beat Nashville 2-1 in overtime in a tightly contested game on December 15. The Jets expect no different tonight.

"They have that blend of heaviness and they're going to come hard, they're going to forecheck, they're going to be able to make some plays and create offence," said Cole Perfetti. "They're going to be hard on us and it's very similar to that Philly game. We're going to have to play smart and make their D turn, put pucks behind them, and be heavy on them. Make it that kind of game."

That game also lives in a bit of infamy, as the Jets lost Nate Schmidt to injury in that game, which kept the defenceman out of the line-up until the second game of the new year.
Blake Wheeler was also injured in the contest, but returned for the third period before having a procedure two days later to help heal a lower-body injury suffered in the second period.
That was the moment the Jets went down six regulars (they lost Perfetti a week later), but they continued to battle before getting Schmidt, Wheeler, Perfetti, and Nikolaj Ehlers on January 6.
Winnipeg is 7-3-0 in the 10 games since their return. But after the win over Philadelphia on Sunday, those players in the 'top six' were praising the work of every player in the line-up - including Axel Jonsson-Fjallby who not only scored in the win, he came up with big shot block in the final minutes.
"You could tell he was in pain. No one loves doing that, but you're putting your body on the line for the guys, for the goalie, that's a heavy shot," said Perfetti. "That goes a long way in this dressing room, showing he's willing to sacrifice and put his body on the line, be in pain to make sure the puck doesn't get to the net. It's really important for us, a key block and a big moment for our team."

Line-up wise, the Jets have a couple of game-time decisions, but head coach Rick Bowness wouldn't divulge who they were. Connor Hellebuyck gets the call in goal after having the night off in Philadelphia.
The line-up on Sunday looked like this, and depending on those game-time decisions, the line-up could be similar tonight.
Connor-Dubois-Perfetti
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Barron-Lowry-Kuhlman
Jonsson-Fjallby-Stenlund-Maenalanen
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
The Predators picked up a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and have won three of their past four games. Tonight's tilt is the second of a four-game home stand for Nashville, who have won three in a row at Bridgestone Arena.

With a 22-18-6 record, the Predators are currently fifth in the Central and five points back of Calgary for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
"They're a heavy forechecking team," said Bowness. "They have good size up front. When they're coming at you, they're looking to bang you around a little bit in your zone and spend some time on the forecheck. They've also got two lines that are very creative on the rush."
After where the road trip started - a tough 4-1 loss in Montreal - being in this position to possibly end up with a winning record on the trip is serving as a motivator in the road trip finale.
"We want to go home with an above .500 record," said Bowness. "The way the trip started in Montreal wasn't the way we wanted to. We're quite happy with the last three games. We want to go home with a winning record."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets are 12-3-0 against the Central Division counterparts this season, which is tops in the Central Division. Winnipeg has won seven of their past eight games against Central Division teams.
The Jets can extend their winning streak to three games with a victory on Tuesday. The Jets have six winning streaks of three games or more this season, which is third in the NHL.
Josh Morrissey has been named to the Central Division's team for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game taking place in Florida on Feb. 4. He is second on the Jets in scoring with 51 points (8G, 43A) in 48 games, which is a career high for points.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was voted to the Central Division's all-star team on Thursday. It's his third time representing the Jets at the NHL's All-Star Game (2018 and 2020). He his tied for third in the NHL with a 0.924 save percentage this season.
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