"We know what kind of team we have and the players we have here. Everybody can make an impact every single night. That's something special when it's the whole group that is contributing."
Connor's 11th of the season was just one of the seven goals the Jets scored against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
But the Jets know that 7-1 victory wasn't their best effort. Connor Hellebuyck played a huge role in the win, coming up with highlight reel stops in the opening half of the first period. At one point, the Jets were outshot 10-1 before leaving the first period with a 2-1 lead.
Patrik Laine said the team's ability to rebound from a tough start says a lot about the character in the Jets room, but added they know they need better starts as the season continues.
"With the games getting harder, we have to play a full 60 (minutes)," said Laine. "If we play a really good team, they're not going to give us any easy goals. We have to be ready from the start."
From that point on, the Jets outscored the Flyers 5-0. A quick chat in the intermission was all that was needed for the team to get their feet under them.
"We changed our mindset completely to just playing a simple game, getting pucks deep, getting on pucks first and creating something off that," said Nikolaj Ehlers. "We did that pretty well and that kind of changed the game and created some momentum for us."
The Jets wrapped up the November portion of their schedule with a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, and will face their Central Division rival twice more before the end of the week.
The Blackhawks have lost seven straight games - a stretch that includes the loss to the Jets on Nov. 29 at Bell MTS Place.
"We don't have to get in a scoring race with them. You never know how that's going to go," said Laine. "We have to play our game, play good defence, hard gap, get pucks out and pucks deep. If we see the play, we're going to make it. But we don't have to force anything."
Ehlers recorded his third career hat trick in the most recent victory over the Blackhawks. While the Danish forward would love to replicate that performance on Thursday, he'd be far happier with a duplicate of the final 40 minutes against the Flyers.
"We have to continue working on our game as well. It's not exactly where it needs to be," said Ehlers. "The next couple games we have to get back to playing our game. Playing fast, playing hard, getting first on pucks and getting pucks to the net. It starts tomorrow."
ICE CHIPS
Monday's practice was missing a few players, with Mathieu Perreault, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, and Andrew Copp all absent from the session.
Morrissey - who returned from a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury on Sunday against the Flyers - missed the skate for maintenance and is good to go for Tuesday's game against Chicago.
Similar to Morrissey, Hellebuyck's absence from the ice was also for maintenance purposes, after the Jets goaltender took a puck to the ribs in the third period against Philadelphia. Though the 25-year-old was slow to get up, he finished the game.
Perreault will be a game-time decision on Tuesday, after the forward was hit just inside the Flyers blue line by Dale Weise. Perreault stayed down for a couple of minutes before leaving the ice with a few minutes left in regulation.
There has been no change in Copp's status, as he continues to progress from the ailment that kept him out of the past three games.
Joe Morrow skated in a non-contact jersey for the second straight practice on Monday, but there is no set date for his return as of yet.
