Jets run home win streak to four with decisive win over Chicago

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets offence started rolling less than a minute into Friday night's divisional tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks - and it never stopped.
Five different goal scorers powered the Jets to a 5-1 win over Chicago, improving the Jets record to 6-2-2 this season. The 14 points in the standings is also the best start the team has had since relocating to Winnipeg in 2011.
And yet, head coach Paul Maurice feels there is more potential in this group.
"We're still very excited about where we could get to here. There is still lots to learn. There is lots of development to happen. We're playing with a lot of different things. I've like the way we've played."

Andrew Copp had three assists - on Winnipeg's first three goals - and now has 12 points through 10 games this season, putting him second on the team in points behind only Kyle Connor's 16.

His line with Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers got things rolling for the Jets, and they finished the night combining for six points.
"Growing up, I feel like I've always played this type of game, but I've just got better," said Copp.
"It's taken a lot of hard work, a lot of video, and understanding where everyone is on the ice. I feel like I've always been able to understand that, especially defensively, now I'm trying to use that in an offensive mindset as well."
The Jets wasted no time getting the lead on Chicago, when Copp threaded a perfect saucer pass over the sticks of two Chicago defenders onto the tape of a rushing Stastny. The veteran forward made no mistake, tucking home his fourth goal of the season to give the Jets a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the game.
"I mean he just sauced it through two guys and it was right on my stick," Stastny said with a grin, describing the play and Copp's growth.
"He plays the same two-way game. He's playing centre now, so he's got more responsibility defensively," said Stastny. "He's very easy to play with whether it's me and Fly playing with him or other guys, he makes the game easier for everybody."

Neal Pionk built on that lead on the first power play opportunity of the game. He snapped a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Marc-Andre Fleury on the glove side, giving Pionk his first of the season.
Before the game was 2:30 old, it was 2-0 for the home side.
Chicago looked to have cut into the lead less than a minute into the second, but an offside review proved they had entered the zone offside 21 seconds prior to the goal, wiping it off the board.
"I thought it might have been, but it was too close to see. It was a bang-bang play at the line and it's a weird angle for me to see," said Eric Comrie.
"That's why (video coach) Matty (Prefontaine) gets paid as much as he does. He's the best in the league. I'd like to see his percentage. It's got to be pretty high."
Then, as the Jets kept applying pressure, they were rewarded.

Off the rush, Copp sent another perfect pass - this one off his backhand - through the legs of Chicago's Nicolas Beaudin, right onto the tape of Dominic Toninato on the right wing. Toninato cut around his check and around Fleury, sliding the puck into the empty cage for his first of the season and a 3-0 Jets lead.
It was Toninato's first of the season and was also an example of what can happen with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, which the Jets deployed yet again on Friday.
It's also an example of why speed is so important.
"We made a lot of plays at the offensive blue line tonight, Stastny's goal, Toninato's goal, and normally I'm not a huge fan of that but we did it with speed," said Maurice. "That's what made those things happen."
Just 1:29 later, Connor flew down the right wing side after making a play to create space in the neutral zone, and snapped home his eighth of the season from the face-off dot, beating Fleury on the stick side.

It was 4-0 Jets after 40 minutes.
"We play a better game when it's not a track meet. I'm not going to take much out of this game, they had some people out of their line-up," said Maurice.
"We never allowed that game to get into a track meet, for me. We were pretty good, responsible defensively straight through."
Chicago got on the board with a shorthanded marker 56 seconds into the third period. MacKenzie Entwistle banged home a puck that came off the end boards just before Eric Comrie could his left leg across to the post, knocking the Winnipeg lead down to 4-1.

Comrie finished with 17 saves, and was 19:04 away from his first NHL shutout.
"I mean, I'd be crazy to say it's not going through my mind, of course it's going through your mind," Comrie said.
"I'm just trying to focus on the moment and focus on the process. It was a good play by them. It was bang-bang off the back boards to their guy."
The exclamation mark on the night came with 5:57 to go, when Ehlers intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and wired home his third of the season to round out the scoring in a 5-1 final.
Winnipeg now has points in eight consecutive games, the fifth time the franchise has accomplished that feat since coming to the Manitoba capital.

But they don't get to celebrate for long, as the home stand continues with the first set of back-to-back games on Saturday with the New York Islanders in town.
With Connor Hellebuyck's status still uncertain, Maurice said Comrie might get the call in goal yet again.
"We're not going to ask him. We're pretty sure we know what the answer is going to be," Maurice grinned. "We'll think about it, but I think he's in a good position to get a chance to get it."