Jets ready to build off season opening win

DALLAS, Texas - After a full practice on Saturday afternoon at American Airlines Center in Dallas, the Winnipeg Jets held an optional skate ahead of tonight's Central Division clash with the Stars.

With heavy travel and a hectic schedule in the Western Conference, these optional skates might become more frequent for head coach Paul Maurice and the Jets.
"Given the choice, I'd prefer that eventually we'd get into a routine where they didn't skate in the morning and felt good about their game," said Maurice. "But six o'clock game (tonight), we have kind of routines for each hour depending on when the game starts. So it's always optional."

After not skating yesterday, Patrik Laine was out on the ice and says he's good to go this evening's tilt. Laine scored six times in all four games against Dallas last season including back-to-back multiple goal contests in the final two clashes.
"It's just another game for us," said Laine when asked about his success against Dallas.
"Every game is different. It doesn't matter how many goals you have scored before. It's always a new game and that's how we are treating this one too."

Bryan Little didn't skate Saturday morning but Maurice said the exact same lineup from the season opener will go against Dallas. Here is the projected lineup:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Perreault-Little-Laine
Copp-Lowry-Tanev
Vesalainen-Roslovic-Ehlers
Morrissey-Trouba
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Morrow-Myers
Hellebuyck
Brossoit
The Jets gave up 41 shots on Thursday in St. Louis - an area the team would like to improve upon.
"Obviously the first game has a lot to critique on," said Joe Morrow who played 15:35 against the Blues.
"You take that much time off from a game and mistakes are going to be made. Having that day, day and a half between games to be able to practice, to be able to tighten things up is huge. I think it's just little things in the neutral zone and the defensive zone that need to be sorted out. That comes with having a couple new guys and developing chemistry with new lines and things like that will come into play. That will get tightened up real quick."

The Stars missed the playoffs a year ago and new head coach Jim Montgomery pointed out that had Dallas split the season series with Winnipeg they would have made the playoffs. While it's only one game into his tenure, Maurice thinks there is an obvious change in the way the Stars will play.
"That's inevitable. I think you're going to see the playing personnel for the most part doesn't change," said Maurice. "They are who they are. They have a very talented group up front. We always felt they worked really hard, competed real hard and battled. Last year they spent a lot of time working on the defensive components to the game, it was something to add. I think it's still, there right? You don't forget how to play the game. They've changed some things they do."

--Jamie Thomas, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
The Winnipeg Jets play the second game of their 2018-19 season tonight on the road against the Dallas Stars…The Jets began the season on Thursday night with a 5-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues…After tomorrow's game, the Jets return to Winnipeg for their home opener on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Continuing to Roll
With Thursday's win over the Blues, the Jets have won six consecutive regular season games, dating back to last season…Since Mar. 2, the Jets are 16-3-1, which is tops in the NHL…Winnipeg has outscored their opponents 67-48 in those 20 games.
Locking It Down
The Jets took a 1-0 lead into the third period on Thursday against the Blues and proceeded to score four third-period goals, which was the 20th time in franchise history the team scored four or more goals in the third period…Winnipeg led the NHL last season with a 42-1-1 record when leading after 40 minutes…Last season the Jets did most of their scoring in the first two periods, as they had a league-best 92 goals in the first period and 92 goals in the second period, but 82 goals in the third period…Winnipeg scored four goals or more in the third period only twice last season - Dec. 1 vs. VGK (5 in a 7-4 W) and Feb. 18 vs. FLA (4 in 7-2 W).
Pre-Season Recap
The Jets went 4-3-0 during their seven-game pre-season slate, including 1-2-0 on the road…Two of Winnipeg's four wins came in overtime…Captain Blake Wheeler led the Jets in scoring in the pre-season with seven points (2G, 5A) in three games…Dustin Byfuglien (3G, 3A) and Mark Scheifele (2G, 4A) also had strong pre-seasons with six points each.
Division Rivals
Winnipeg plays three of their first four games of the 2018-19 season against divisional foes…The Jets went 15-9-2 against their Central Division rivals last season and are 35-17-4 dating back to the start of 2016-17, which is tied with the Nashville Predators for the best in-division record during that time frame…Blake Wheeler led the NHL in points against Central Division teams last season with 35 points (10G, 25A) in 26 games.
Multi-Point Nights
Four Jets had multi-point games in the season opener on Thursday, as Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist, while Mark Scheifele had two assists…The quartet led the Jets in multi-point games last season…Wheeler had a team high 25 multi-point games, while Connor and Scheifele each had 16 and Laine and 15.
Where He Left Off
Thursday's win ran goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's personal winning streak to 10 games, dating back to last season…He has a 2.25 goals-against average and .927 save percentage during the streak…He's allowed just a single goal against in four of his last five games.
Where He Left Off II
Brandon Tanev tallied his first goal of the season against the Blues on Thursday and has seven points (5G, 2A) in his last seven games dating back to last season…He's scored five of his 11 career goals in the last seven of his 116 career games…Tanev also had four goals in 17 playoff games last season.
VIEW THE FULL GAME NOTES
Another First Rounder Debuts
Forward Kristian Vesalainen, who the Jets drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut on Thursday…He had an assist on Brandon Tanev's third period goal and played 8:12…Of Winnipeg's nine first round picks since relocation in 2011, eight played in the season opener, while Logan Stanley spent the entire pre-season with the Jets and is starting the season in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose.