GAMEDAY: Jets at Flames

CALGARY - A season-long seven-game road trip comes to an end for the Winnipeg Jets tonight, but the grind has been going on much longer than that.
Tonight's three-game series finale with the Calgary Flames (16-17-3) also concludes a stretch of 14 games that sees the Jets play 12 of those away from Bell MTS Place.
"History tells you that the last game of a long road trip, and we'll see, but you usually have more energy than you think you would," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "It's the light at the end of the tunnel. The guys are excited about getting home, but nothing changes for the next three weeks."
The coach is right.

Winnipeg Jets : Ground Control
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Fly By - March. 28, 2021 - WPG @ CGY
Even if this tough slog on the road is ending, the Jets still play at least every other day until they host the Edmonton Oilers on April 17.
But before the Jets can worry about that stretch, they want to finish this one on a positive note.
So far, they've split the first six games of the trip and are 11-7-1 on the road overall. Those 11 wins are tied for the third most in the NHL.
"I've liked the hockey that we've played. We've had some unusual scores and some really different styles of hockey in terms of the teams," said Maurice, saying he still notes a significant difference in style between the teams on the west and teams on the east.
"I'm happy with the learning we're doing as we go. We seem to be able to understand the games look differently every night," said Maurice. "That isn't a failure on your part to impose your will on other teams, it's the way the game is played."
The Jets (21-12-2) will be looking to bounce back after Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Flames. It ended Winnipeg's three-game winning streak, and also snapped Calgary's four-game skid.
As a team, the Jets have made a habit of getting back in the win column after a loss. They're 10-1-1 after suffering a loss this season.
In fact, the only time they've lost two in a row was the first two games of the trip in Edmonton.
"We had our first back-to-back losses of the year and came back and played well," said Maurice. "We had almost an unusual game - we haven't had a game like our last one in Calgary - so we're looking to bounce back again."
In an effort to do that, the Jets are expected to go with the same line-up against the Flames tonight.
The only change will come in goal, as Connor Hellebuyck gets his 28th start of the season.
At the end of Saturday's game, the Jets lines looked like this:
Stastny-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Perreault-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
Even though they gave up 33 shots in Saturday's defeat, the five-on-five high danger chances were nearly even according to Natural Stat Trick. Calgary had seven to Winnipeg's five.
"It's been a hard couple games and it's been fun hockey to play," said Josh Morrissey. "I like what we did in a lot of that game. Tonight we're going to have to bring even more intensity, take it to another level, and we know they're going to do the same. It should make for a fun game."
The North Division standings continue to tighten as the calendar gets closer to flipping to April.
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to lead the way with 46 points, with the Jets two points back and Edmonton three back.
"We're definitely happy with the improvement and how we've been able to handle the tough schedule," said Morrissey. "We've got a big one to finish off this trip and we're completely focused on that. We're not satisfied with how well we've done so far, or the light at the end of the tunnel about the road trip. We're focused on tonight's game and we need to bring our best."
So far this season, the Jets have brought their best in road trip finales.
On trips that have been longer than just a single game, Winnipeg is 3-0-0 in the final game of the trip.
It's just evidence of Maurice's earlier point about the burst of energy on that last night away from home.
"The truth of the matter is the challenge is going to be our next game," Maurice said, referencing Wednesday's game back at home against the Maple Leafs.
"I think Toronto will have spent the last three weeks in their time zone with two four-day blocks off. We're coming off what we're coming off. That will be the challenge."
Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT tonight.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets finish a seven-game road trip Monday, which is the third of three games against the Calgary Flames.
These three games in Calgary finish a stretch for Winnipeg that has them playing 12 of 14 games on the road.
The Jets have points in 13 of their past 19 games (12-6-1).
This is Winnipeg's fourth of five three-game series against the same team this season.
Winnipeg is 9-for-25 (36 per cent) on the power play in their past nine games.
Winnipeg is 11-7-1 on the road this season. The 11 wins are tied for third in the NHL.
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