GAMEDAY: Senators at Jets

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets hope they can carry over some momentum from Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals tonight when they host the Ottawa Senators at Canada Life Centre (Amazon Prime, 680 CJOB/Power 97).

The Jets rode the momentum from the pregame celebration of Nino Niederreiter’s1000th NHL contest to dominate the high-flying Capitals, afterwards head coach Scott Arniel said it was one of the best games of the year for his team.

"Yeah, for sure it was. It was 20 guys. That was complete, throughout the lineup, all four lines looking a lot alike. D were real solid,” said Arniel on Saturday.

“Obviously Helle was good when it had to be, but you're right. That was one of the best, most complete games of the year."

The Jets welcomed back their number one goaltender Connor Hellebuyck after his recovery from knee surgery and used that confidence to beat one of the best teams in the league.

“It’s been a grind. It’s been tough. Just a phenomenal job from top to bottom. Pete (MacDonald), great surgeon. Adam (Francilia) just did a phenomenal job with me. Behnad (Honarbakhsh) in Vancouver,” said Hellebuyck who made 24 saves.

“We saw a couple guys who really helped flush the system and get the blood pumping. Then the staff here, just so great. They were involved in every single way they possibly could. Just top to bottom, everyone worked so hard, so that’s why we got back early.”

The Jets will have a morning skate at 9:30 CT, check back here for more information about the lineup.

Make sure to watch the Jets pregame show “The Check In” with Sara Orlesky and Jamie Thomas at 12:30 CT.

As good as the Jets played on Saturday, the key now is to do it all over again against another quality opponent.

“Yeah, because then you can build momentum. You know, shift in, shift out,” said Alex Iafallo who has goals in back-to-back games.

“Feel like, it's a big test for us tonight to keep that going. And it's in the room everybody, you could feel it. So just keep pushing forward. Keep working hard in every zone.”

Part of the Jets issues with consistency has been the penalty kill haven’t looked like they did earlier in the season. Saturday night against a dangerous Capital power play, they were nearly perfect but did give up a late goal 5-on-3. Ottawa arrives in Winnipeg with the fourth best power play in the league with Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson just a few of the names that have been terrorizing the NHL.

“They’ve had a good power play for numerous years. They have really good players. They score multiple ways on it,” said Dylan DeMelo.

“Obviously Tkachuk in front of the net causing a lot of havoc, they got great D that are good at getting pucks through and they’ve got shooters on each flank so it’s a big task.”

The Jets saw a renewed offensive performance from their depth forwards following a group of new-look forward lines on Saturday. Most notably, the Jets line of Morgan Barron, Adam Lowry, and Alex Iafallo led the offence. Barron and Iafallo both found the back of the net for the second consecutive game, with Iafallo also tallying an assist. Lowry also recorded two assists in the game, marking his first multi-point effort of the season.

“Yeah, it's fun playing with them. A lot of chances down low, solid defensively. Obviously, Lows, taking all those draws, winning those battles is huge for us. Starting with the puck like that,” said Iafallo.

“We got a lot more offensive draws too. So, you know, that helped out getting those and getting some shots through. Bear he’s got so much speed down the line there, in the corners winning all those battles. We’re going to keep doing that tonight.”

The Jets have posted a 6-4-0 record in the last 10 games against the Senators and a 4-1-0 record in the last five. Winnipeg won both games against Ottawa to sweep the season series last year.

Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 CT.