WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets only have three home games left in the regular season and it looks like they will have to win all of them starting tonight when they host the Seattle Kraken.
The Jets arrive home after an impressive road trip where they went 3-1 including Saturday nights 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Winnipeg only gave up 16 shots that night and got a couple goals from Kyle Connor to give them the much needed two points. The Jets gave up a goal on the first shot of the night but locked it down afterwards.
“I thought after that, they were coming hard and were really aggressive, and it felt like we really got back to playing fast, we got out of our zone quick and really in the second period did a fantastic job of moving it north in a hurry,” said head coach Scott Arniel.
“And then obviously holding on to pucks once we got in the zone. That was a real solid game. We just wipe away that one goal, and we did a lot of great things and deserved the two points.”
Connor recorded the 50th multi-goal game of his career, joining Mark Scheifele (55) as the only players in franchise history with 50 or more multi-goal games. Connor became the ninth-fastest U.S.-born player to reach the mark, trailing Auston Matthews (388 GP), Pat LaFontaine (432 GP), Joe Mullen (528 GP), Jeremy Roenick (562 GP), Mike Modano (607 GP), John LeClair (611 GP), Jimmy Carson (611 GP) and Keith Tkachuk (619 GP). Connor is now four goals shy of his third 40-goal season, and he currently trails only Ilya Kovalchuk (5) for the most such seasons in franchise history.
“Yeah. It is awfully fun playing with 81,” said Mark Scheifele.
“He is an amazing shooter. He knows where to go. He is an absolute treat to play with.”
Now the Jets will face a Kraken team that is just three points behind them in the Western Conference standings. Seattle arrives in the Manitoba capital 2-6-2 in their last ten games. Winnipeg did not get any help on the out-of-town scoreboard from Sunday as the St. Louis Blues won in Denver 3-2 and also have 78 points like the Jets.
“We can’t do anything about what’s happening with the other teams. All we can do is take care of our own business,” said Arniel on Saturday.
“It may have to be we have to go 6-0, win all six games. Just focus on Seattle next. Take our moment here to enjoy this one but then turn our minds and our focus to that next game.”
Scheifele is now two points shy of reaching 900 in his career, becoming the 136th player in NHL history and the 22nd active player to hit the mark. Scheifele will become the first player in franchise history to reach the milestone and join Jonathan Toews as the only two active players on the team to hit 900. The 33-year-old is set to become the second player from the 2011 NHL Entry Draft to reach 900 career points, behind only Nikita Kucherov (1119).
Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 CT.
