Lesson Learned

WINNIPEG - Patrik Laine chalks up last night to a lesson learned.
"We just have to learn from those mistakes that we made yesterday, and if we're leading 3-1, we have to be smart and not give up any easy goals," he said. "We can learn from yesterday's game, and be better at the next one."
One day after a 4-3 shootout loss at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, eight skaters took to the ice for practice, including Laine, whose goal last night (his 17th of the campaign) tied him with Sidney Crosby for the league lead.
In fact, even after coming in to talk with reporters, Laine and his roommate on the road Nikolaj Ehlers, went back on the ice for more work with assistant coach Todd Woodcroft.

Bryan Little was not one of the skaters at practice, opting instead for an off-ice workout followed by a recovery session. He says despite the fact the team feels they let a point slip away, gaining the point they did is valuable.
"Points are huge. It does mean a lot to get that one point, but coming in today, it definitely feels like we lost yesterday," said Little. "We weren't satisfied with our complete game. It's how we come in tomorrow, and how we prepare tomorrow to see how we bounce back from that loss."

The Jets are 4-1-1 in their last six games, and head coach Paul Maurice says with the 30th game of the regular season coming tomorrow, now is the time for the team's identity on the ice to be cemented.
"We've only got four or five guys out of our line-up now. Believe it or not, that should be a reasonably manageable number," said Maurice. "Are we a better team with Tyler Myers and Mark (Scheifele) in our line-up? Yes we're a better team. But everybody has to fight with injuries over the course of the year.
"Off our road trip we've played fairly close to our game… At 4-1-1 we'd be pretty comfortable with our game."

Winnipeg can improve on that stretch of games when they take on the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Little wasn't in the line-up when the Jets droped a 5-2 decision to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 6. But he knows what to expect from the Rangers, who are tied for top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
"It should be a good test for us. They're a good team," said Little. "I think everyone is going to be looking at how we bounce back from that loss, and if we can keep positive and keep going."
LATE HITS: Mark Scheifele skated with Tyler Myers, Joel Armia, and Shawn Matthias prior to today's noon practice. Maurice says Scheifele, who has missed the last three games with a lower body injury, is still day-to-day.
"He skated today but he's not 100 percent," said Maurice. "Better than he was yesterday, so again he's day-to-day. We'll skate him tomorrow and see how he feels."