Jets looking for rebound performance Sunday against Rangers

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AT SATURDAY'S PRACTICE
WINNIPEG - Regulation losses at Bell MTS Place have been uncommon for the Winnipeg Jets.
In fact, there have only been four of them all season, and before Friday, the last one came almost a month ago (a 5-1 setback to Chicago on Dec. 14).
The Jets followed that loss in December by going on a 9-0-1 run on home ice. They did the same thing after an Oct. 27 loss to Columbus.
Now, with the New York Rangers in town on Sunday, the Jets have a chance to begin a similar run. The key is making sure the Jets don't carry the loss to the Blues for too long.
"Don't burn the house down after you've had one bad game. We'll be good tomorrow. We'll skate well," said head coach Paul Maurice. "I've got lots of confidence in our ability to rebound."

Nobody in the Jets dressing room was happy with the 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. In an effort to find a spark, Maurice shuffled his lines going into the third period, and kept those lines in tact at Saturday's 30-minute practice:
Perreault-Scheifele-Wheeler
Ehlers-Little-Laine
Connor-Copp-Armia
Dano-Petan-Roslovic
Morrissey-Myers
Enstrom-Byfuglien
Chiarot-Kulikov
"Nik has gone a few games here without being overly prolific. I've used Little's line in a role against the other team's best," said Maurice. "At some point that has to transition. It's different now with the injuries that we have on what was the Lowry line. All those things kind of factored into it."

Ehlers, one of the eight players on the Jets with double digits in the goal column, has lit the lamp once in his last 11 games. He's been on similar stretches before in his career though. Last season, he had one goal in 18 games before exploding for nine more in his next nine outings.
Though his line with Mathieu Perreault and Bryan Little had some success in generating chances, Ehlers is also looking forward to the chance to go back to his trio with Little and Patrik Laine, who played together earlier this season.
"We've done it before. We can play together. We have to get that going as quick as possible," said Ehlers.
"We don't like losing. No one likes losing. We have a team in here this year that wants to win every single game. When we lose a game, we have to bounce back as quick as possible, and tomorrow is that day."

The 21-year-old Ehlers had chances last game to score, including a 2-on-1 with Laine, where Ehlers tried to slide a late pass over to the Finnish sniper. The pass got caught up in a Blues defenceman, and goaltender Jake Allen smothered the puck before the Jets could find it.
But Maurice isn't concerned about the young winger.
"The goalie's position on that was really good. (Ehlers isn't) taking a wide open net and sending it back to somebody for an easy tap in," said Maurice.
"If you get an odd-man rush, I'm not telling them what to do. These guys score goals. They're going to score more than they score now as they get older. What they have to learn is the right time.
"If we as a group though are coming down the ice and nothing is getting to the net, then we have to change that mentality a little bit and get more direct and focused with it."

The Rangers (26-24-5) come into Winnipeg after erasing a 3-2 deficit to the Calgary Flames with goals from Rick Nash and Mika Zibanejad in the third period. The 4-3 final moved the Rangers to within three points of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, just a few days after the team's management indicated a rebuild may be in the team's future.
"They've been in the playoffs for a long time, they've got some big contracts, some older players there. There's an awful lot of pressure," said Maurice.
"The pressure has been lifted from them. They're at their most dangerous now. They've got a far better chance of making the playoffs now than they did five or six days ago."
ICE CHIPS
Matt Hendricks joined today's practice in a non-contact jersey for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 3.
"Today was a good practice for me. I worked hard and got my heart rate up where I wanted it to be," said Hendricks. "I got in a couple battles, as much as they'd allow me to anyway, with the yellow jersey on. Now it's about tonight. See how everything reacts and how I feel a couple hours from now."
Maurice says the veteran forward is a possibility for Sunday's game, but it all depends on how Hendricks comes to the rink tomorrow, since there will be no morning skate.
"He had a really good day today. He went hard today," said Maurice. "We'll see how he is tomorrow, and we'll talk to the trainers and see how they feel about it. If he's able to perform the way he performed today, and he feels confident in that, he's possible for tomorrow."
JETS GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets welcome the New York Rangers to Bell MTS Place this afternoon for New York's only visit to Winnipeg this season…The Jets are currently 3-1-1 on this season-long 10-game home stand, which will continue on Tuesday against the Washington Capitals.
Jets vs. Rangers Notes
- Winnipeg is 2-for-29 on the power play against the Rangers in the last nine meetings…Both power play goals came Oct. 13/15 at NYR in a 4-1 win.
- The Jets are 1-for-20 (5.0%) on the power play all-time against the Rangers at Bell MTS Place.
- The Jets have been narrowly outscored 18-16 by the Rangers in the seven games at Bell MTS Place since 2011, but Winnipeg has outshot New York 187-149.
- The Jets have only scored more than three goals once against the Rangers in Winnipeg - Dec. 18/15 5-1 win.
Home Dominance
The Jets hold down the best home record in the NHL this season at 20-3-2, good for an .840 points percentage… The Jets have won 16 of their last 18 home games, outscoring their opposition 69-33 in the process…Winnipeg has scored four goals or more in 15 of the 20 wins at Bell MTS Place…The Jets and Vegas Golden Knights are the only clubs in the NHL with five total losses at home this season…In 2017-18, the Jets have already twice tied the franchise record with seven consecutive wins on home ice (Nov. 14 - Dec. 11/17 and Dec. 17/17-Jan. 30/18)…The Jets also have a point in 10 consecutive home games, which is one game shy of the season-high and franchise record of 11 games (Oct. 20-Dec. 11/17)…Since Oct. 17, the Jets have lost just twice at home in regulation…The Jets also have the second-best power play in the NHL at home at 29.5% (26-for-88).
The (Bell MTS) Place to Be
Tonight is the fifth game of a 10-game homestand for the Jets, the longest run of consecutive games on home ice in the history of the Jets/Thrashers franchise…Before this 10-game stretch at home, the longest homestand for the club was eight games from Feb. 17-Mar. 12/12 where the Jets went 5-1-2…Of the 10 Bell MTS Place contests during this run, Winnipeg plays six games against Western Conference opponents and four against the East…This will be one of just two times this season that the Jets are home for more than three straight games at home (six games from Mar. 15-27).
Rosy Rising
After going pointless in his first seven games since being recalled from the Manitoba Moose, Jack Roslovic has three goals in his last five games, including goals in back-to-back games…All three of Roslovic's goals have come at even strength…In his last five games, Roslovic has seen his average ice time rise to 16:10, compared to 12:48 for the season…He played a career-high 3:45 on the power play on Tuesday against Arizona.
Homestand Leaders
Kyle Connor (2G, 2A), Dustin Byfuglien (1G, 3A) and Blake Wheeler (4A) are leading the Jets during the homestand with four points in four games…Joining Connor with two goals in the four games are Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.
Jets vs. Rangers All-Time Records
Overall: 30-25-4
At Bell MTS Place: 2-5-0
At Madison Square Garden: 18-10-2
Milestones
Dustin Byfuglien
- Needs one game-winning goal to take over sole possession of fourth place in franchise game-winning goals.
Andrew Copp
- Needs three games played to reach 200 for his NHL career.

Toby Enstrom
- Needs three games played to pass Chris Thorburn for second place in franchise games played.
Bryan Little
- Needs six even-strength assists to reach 200 for his NHL career.
- Needs five goals to reach 200 for his NHL career.
Blake Wheeler
- Needs two power play assists to reach 100 for his NHL career.
- Needs one assist to reach 300 as a member of the Jets franchise.