Off Day Notebook - Dec. 19, 2022

WINNIPEG -Monday's day away from the rink will be used for all it's worth by the Winnipeg Jets.
Sunday's 3-2 loss in Seattle came at the end of a stretch of seven games in 10 days, and the Jets still have work to do before the three-day holiday break begins on December 24.
"We've got another big three in four, basically Pacific, west coast, home for a day and a bit and then go out to the east coast," said Josh Morrissey. "It's going to be a tough stretch here these next few games but we will get some rest and try to be ready to go on Tuesday."
That final stretch of three games in four nights begins on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators (14-15-2), who had a four-game win streak snapped by the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
As Morrissey stated, the Jets will then hop on the plane on Wednesday to take on the Boston Bruins (24-4-2), who will have two days of rest before that contest after facing Florida on Monday.

The pre-Christmas schedule wraps up in Washington against the Capitals, who will also be on the back half of a back-to-back (with travel), as they take on Ottawa at Canadian Tire Centre before returning home to face-off with the Jets on Friday.

As of Sunday night, the 10 games the Jets have played through the first 18 days of December is tied with the Minnesota Wild for the most in the National Hockey League. Yet, at 20-10-1, the Jets are just one point back of Dallas for top spot in the Central Division with a game in hand.
"Obviously the schedule is tough right now," Morrissey said. "It's the NHL. You've got a lot of games, obviously. There's no time to dwell. You look at things you need to be better at, things you do well and try to keep building."
BIG CONTRIBUTORS
With numerous players from the opening night line-up out due to injury - Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Mason Appleton, Nate Schmidt, Logan Stanley, and Saku Maenalanen - the term "total team effort" has taken on a whole new meaning for the Jets.
None of those players are expected to return anytime soon, according to head coach Rick Bowness, so the contributions the Jets have been getting throughout the line-up will need to continue.
Along the way, there have been some incredible performances.

With his two assists on Sunday against the Kraken, Morrissey's point streak now sits at nine games - a new franchise record for a defenceman, surpassing Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom's eight game runs.
The 27-year-old has 36 points this season, with 31 of those being assists. Those 31 helpers are the most in the NHL by a defenceman - two clear of San Jose's Erik Karlsson - and put Morrissey behind only Nikita Kucherov (35), Connor McDavid (34), Leon Draisaitl (33), and Artemi Panarin (32) for the most in the league.
Mark Scheifele is up to 19 goals on the season, tied with Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov for the ninth most in the NHL. The Kitchener, Ontario product has hit the 30-goal plateau twice in his career - including a career-high 38 in 2018-19 - but has never hit 40 goals. It sure seems like he's on pace for that this season.

Thanks to a goal and an assist on Sunday, Pierre-Luc Dubois now has eight multi-point games so far this season. The weekend road trip saw him do it twice, with three assists in the 5-1 win over Vancouver added to his work in Seattle, giving him five points in the last two games. Dubois already has 20 assists in 31 games, which means his career-high of 34 assists (set in 2018-19 with Columbus) is well within reach.
Hard to believe we've gone this far without mentioning the 2022 Lady Byng Trophy winner, but Kyle Connor also keeps rolling along. His assist in Seattle extended his point streak to nine games, and since November 23, his 20 points are the fifth most in the NHL
Also not to be lost in the shuffle, Cole Perfetti's assist in Vancouver moved him to 20 points on the season, which is the third most among rookies. Only Seattle's Matty Beniers (24) and Arizona's Matias Maccelli (21) have more.
AMONG THE LEADERS
Connor Hellebuyck was just 5:24 away from his fourth shutout of the season on Saturday, but Bo Horvat's deflection on a late Vancouver power play spoiled the party. Still, Hellebuyck sits tied for the league lead in shutouts with three, and is third in the NHL in save percentage with a 0.928.
The 2020 Vezina Trophy winner is already in the conversation for this year's award as well, and gave some insight into the Horvat goal after Saturday's game.
"It was a one timer," said Hellebuyck on the initial shot from Quinn Hughes. "So it made me react just slightly different, which pulled me just a hair off and allowed a little bit of room for the deflection."
Shutouts are great, but the one stat that Hellebuyck cares the most about is wins. The Jets have 20, and he has 16, putting him one back of Linus Ullmark for the league lead in that category.
GETTING EVERYONE INVOLVED
Injuries also offer players a chance to make the most of their opportunities.
Look no further than Kevin Stenlund, who was recalled from the Manitoba Moose on December 13. He picked up an assist in his Jets debut, and has now appeared in four straight games.
His line with David Gustafsson and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby gave the Vancouver Canucks all they could handle on Saturday, and Stenlund's work in the dot earned him a bump up the line-up against Seattle with the Jets trying to find some offence in the third.
"He was winning a lot of faceoffs, that's the biggest thing," said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. "He's been good for us. But the big thing is that he was winning all of those faceoffs and we were getting control of the puck and trying to do something with it."
The triumph in Vancouver was also a case of the defence getting involved in the offence. Kyle Capobianco scored his first as a Jet, and Neal Pionk's blast shortly after that turned a 2-0 lead into a 3-0 advantage.
The defensive contributions didn't stop there, though. Morrissey had an assist earlier in the game, Brenden Dillon set up Pionk for the one-timer, and Dylan Samberg's stretch pass sent Jonsson-Fjallby in alone for Winnipeg's fifth goal.
Even the one goal without a defenceman on the scoresheet - Sam Gagner's goal in the third to make it 4-0 - it was Dylan DeMelo sending a perfect indirect pass to Kyle Connor to start the rush up ice off a neutral zone regroup.
"It starts in our defensive zone with our coverage. It's us not allowing the opposition to kind of get into their gameplan and usually a good defence leads to offence," said associate coach Scott Arniel. "When we do get in the zone we don't just throw pucks away. That we play a possession game. We look for some quality. That's been a real good thing for us."