GAMEDAY: Jets vs Canucks

WINNIPEG -With four straight wins in their back pocket, the Winnipeg Jets have their sights set on extending that streak tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.
It was two victories over the Canucks in Vancouver started the current streak, but after a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Winnipeg is wanting to see some improvement in their game.
The Jets (13-6-1) were outshot 14-2 in the final period of Saturday's game before Paul Stastny gave them the win with his overtime goal.
"That's of course something we've brought up this morning. That kind of game isn't sustainable throughout the year," said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. "Obviously you like to win those kind of games and find ways to win in different ways. But at the same time we have to find a way to play better and make sure we play good on home ice."

Bell MTS Place has been a friendly spot for the Jets, who are 8-3-1 in their own building this season. Those 17 points at home are tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the third most in the NHL, just two points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for top spot in that category.
However, one of those three regulation losses came at the hands of the Canucks (8-14-2), who beat the Jets 4-1 in their only visit to the Manitoba capital so far this season.
"You look at their roster they have a ton of good players and they're really good teams despite their record, I think," said Pionk. "We certainly can't take them lightly and we have to remember, too, that the last time they were in this building they beat us. So we're going to have to bring that intensity tonight."

There will be no changes to the Jets line-up as this morning's skate included some line rushes following Sunday's off day:
Dubois-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Stastny-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Perreault-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Beaulieu
Forbort-Pionk
Niku-DeMelo
Connor Hellebuyck, fresh off a 40-save performance in Saturday's win over Montreal, will start in goal for the Jets. Thatcher Demko gets the call for the Canucks, will be a desperate team tonight. They're 2-6-2 in their last 10 games and winless in their last four games.
That puts them sixth in the North Division.
"I think we all know how important points are," said Jets forward Adam Lowry. "those were two tough games we played in Vancouver, not a lot of space out there. It seemed like every puck they're battling hard on. It's important that you get off to a good start against teams like that, they're looking to get a little confidence, whether it's a good start to the game, a good first period.
So if you can take that away and start building your game you might be able to put a little doubt in their mind."
Jets head coach Paul Maurice believes that Lowry's idea of putting "a little doubt" in Vancouver's mind could also be a by-product of the amount of games the Canucks have played.
Vancouver has played 24 games this season, tied for the most in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings.
"I think fatigue will push emotions more quickly to extremes. And I guess I'm talking about the more fatigued your team is, there's just the greater potential for them to slide," said Maurice.
"It's going to weigh on them physically, and it's going to weigh on them mentally. So, your job, I think, from the coach's point of view, is to have a real steady hand here going into these…we've never, I don't think we've ever gotten too excited about ourselves here."
Winnipeg's dose of that heavy schedule starts this month.
The Jets will play 17 games in the next 31 days - with only five of them at home.

It's a stretch Maurice, his staff, and the players began preparing for in February. One of the points of emphasis was shift length.
"We wanted to run our bench and run our lines in February like we would do in March. So we had to show some video, we had to post some numbers and we had to make some improvements there," said Maurice. "Now guys are on and off the bench a little bit quicker, everybody's in the game a little bit more, I think the quality of your game is clearly just higher."
It's daunting to look at on the calendar, but Pionk feels the Jets will rise to the challenge.
"I think I played 40 games in college, and then my first-year pro would include preseason and world championships, I think I played something along the lines of 95 games," said Pionk. "So going from 40 to 95, that was quite the mental and physical challenge.
"I assume that's what the month of March is going to bring us, that same mental and physical challenge."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Winnipeg Jets are riding a season-high four game winning streak coming into the two-game mini series with the Vancouver Canucks.
The Jets play 17 games in 31 days in March.
Winnipeg is 8-3-1 on home ice this season and have won five of their past six games at Bell MTS Place.
Winnipeg is 1-1-1 in the first game of a back-to-back and 2-1-0 in the second game this season.
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