TAMPA - The Winnipeg Jets (10-5-2) begin a three-game road trip tonight when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-4) at Amalie Arena.
It's a clash between two teams on three-game win streaks, with the Jets looking for their first four-game streak of the season.
“You always want to build off the previous game,” Vladislav Namestnikov said after Tuesday’s 40-minute skate. “We’ve strung together a couple good games here. We have to keep building on it, each game, and get better and better. Hopefully we can get more wins here.”
Usually a full pre-scout of the opposition requires going through video clips of previous games, but this one is a little different for associate coach Scott Arniel and the Jets coaching staff.
The team flew into Tampa on Monday afternoon, and later that evening, the group watched every second of the Lightning's Atlantic Division tilt with the Boston Bruins.
The Lightning prevailed in overtime after captain Steven Stamkos tied the game with five seconds left in regulation.
“It was a fun game to watch, lots of chances,” said Arniel. “Boston is obviously having a real good year, but so is Tampa. They’ve been on a roll here too. Their transition game, their top players, they’ve been doing a lot of good things - even without their number one goaltender. Probably the biggest thing though is that their transition has been real good.”
The emphasis for tonight's game is on being ready from the drop of the puck. The Jets are a rested club that hasn't played since Saturday. The chance to rest and recharge has been nice, but they'll need to be on their game early against Tampa Bay, who is tied for the league-lead in first period goals with 25.
"A good start will hopefully get us going in the right direction," said Dylan DeMelo after the morning skate. "We feel our game is in a good spot, and they feel their game is in a good spot. It should be a good game tonight. Hopefully we can play our game and make it hard for them out there, force them to do things they’re not used to doing."
LINE RUSHES
There were no changes to the Jets line rushes from Tuesday's practice, so Winnipeg's projected line-up looks the same as the win over Arizona:
Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Gustafsson-Jonsson-Fjallby
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Connor Hellebuyck went through his regular starting routine and is expected to get the call between the pipes tonight. Hellebuyck is 7-2-1 in his last 10 starts, and is 6-3-1 against Tampa Bay in his career.
PENALTY KILL IMPROVING
It doesn't seem that long ago that Dylan DeMelo stood in a dressing room in Arizona and said that he felt the penalty kill was close to getting the reward for their hard work.
Since that game that followed that tilt against Coyotes on November 4, the Jets penalty kill is 16-for-19, the 10th best in the NHL during that span.
"We have our sorts out a little better now. We have our responsibilities down much better than we did before," said DeMelo. "If we can have our system right and our structure right we’re usually in a good spot. Our goalies have made some really big saves for us too, which is obviously very important. Sometimes there are going to be breakdowns and really good looks and LB and Bucky have done a great job of being that last line of defence for us. We’re also doing a good job of getting clears. Before, we were struggling to get that clear or make that pass to get the clear. We’ve been a little sharper there."
During that span, the Jets have faced the league's best power play (New Jersey), the sixth-ranked power play (Arizona), and tonight they'll go up against the fourth-best in Tampa Bay.
"I know our guys are pretty excited coming in here against a team that’s playing real well right now," said Arniel. "(Nikita) Kucherov, (Steven) Stamkos, (Victor) Hedman, these guys are rolling and at the top of their game. It’s a big challenge for us.”
