DETROIT -- Nothing like trying to end a seven-game losing streak against one of the best teams in the league but that is the task ahead of the Red Wings tonight.
Last season the young, talented Winnipeg Jets finished just outside a wild card spot in the Western Conference with 87 points in 82 games.
Notes: Wings face tough challenge in high-scoring Jets
Winnipeg has several players from state of Michigan contributing
© Dave Reginek/Detroit Red Wings
By
Dana Wakiji and Art Regner @Dwakiji and @ArthurJRegner / DetroitRedWings.com
This season the Jets are tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for most points in the league, 38 in 27 games. The Lightning have a game in hand.
"First of all, they've got some real high-end (players) at each position," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "Connor Hellebuyck's playing very, very well, who I had at the world championships and I think has really improved his game. But they got some real high-end up front and some real high-end on the back end so that's one.
"Two, they're really, really pressuring the puck well and not really having to play a whole bunch of defense. They had the puck almost the whole game. So they've done a real good job of pressuring. I think in hockey, one of the two teams has the other one on their heels in the games I watch, most of the time Winnipeg has their opponents on their heels. We got to put them on their heels, otherwise it'll be a tough night so we got to make sure we do a great job of putting them on their heels, making them defend and making it hard to skate up our ice."
The Jets have outscored their opponents 94-71.
They have outscored opponents by 13 goals in both the first period (36-23) and the third period (31-18).
"They are playing really fast hockey right now and they are a big team," Tomas Tatar said. "They are playing really well, so it's going to be a good challenge for us. We just need to step up."
MICHIGAN KIDS ON JETS: Everyone knows the state of Michigan is well-represented on the Wings but there are also several Michigan-born players on the Jets.
Hellebuyck is from Commerce, Jacob Trouba is from Rochester, Andrew Copp is from Ann Arbor and Kyle Connor is from Shelby Township.
"There will be a good amount of Winnipeg fans here tonight between the four of us and a few guys from Toronto, their parents are coming down so it should be a pretty good Winnipeg following tonight," Copp said.
Trouba, Copp and Connor all attended the University of Michigan and all four played at Joe Louis Arena either as a kid or in college or in the NHL.
"I guess I remember it as a kid more than I remember it now," Trouba said. "First time playing in the NHL was pretty cool. But just going there as a kid and growing up with the Wings playing there, that was the place to be. I don't know. I guess it's a little different coming here but it's exciting."
Connor has fond memories of the old barn and says he will miss it a bit.
"Growing up and watching the games was always awesome but we won the GLI (Great Lakes Invitational) there," Connor said. "Just happy every time you get to play there and played my first game last year at the Joe so that was pretty special as well."
Trouba was amused that teammate Patrik Laine, who is only 19, wasn't too familiar with the famous Wings of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
"I'm old," the 23-year-old Trouba quipped. "I guess it's different for everyone. I'm different from some of the older guys. I don't know how you don't know that era of Red Wings. Read a book or something."
There is a nice camaraderie among the four Michiganders on the team.
"I think it was really nice for me to have Jacob, not just from Michigan but from when we were 10, we played there for so long that it's really nice to have that person that's been with you for your entire life to go through that journey with you," Copp said. "I'm sure it was easier for Connor to have me and Hellebuyck and Troubs there already as well. It's definitely helped us out, being able to lean on each other and whatnot."
Connor, who played 20 games as a rookie last season, was glad to have some people from his own state on his professional team.
"It's awesome coming in and it was great to kind of have that bond with those guys," Connor said. "My first year I lived with Andrew Copp so it kind of helped the transition for sure."
DEKEYSER TAKES IT PERSONALLY: It's not a secret Saturday's shellacking in Montreal has not set well with the Wings.
One player was especially miffed because he grew up in Detroit and understands what it means to be a Red Wing.
"You can say whatever you want to say," Danny DeKeyser said on Monday. "But until things change it's going to be the same until we go out and play better and win a game.
"We're playing two really good teams this week, but in today's NHL everybody is good. It's so even you have to go out there and compete every night and play.
"So, whether it's the first team in the league or the last team in the league, if you don't compete you're going to get your lunch handed to you."
DeKeyser missed 17 games with a broken bone in his ankle and has struggled since he returned to the lineup.
In the seven games since he came back, DeKeyser is pointless and a minus-9.
For the season, he's played in 10 games has not registered a point and is minus-10.
"It's been about two weeks or so (since his return on November 19, versus Colorado) I'm back in to it now and playing," he said. "I just wish we could win a couple games here and get the guys' confidence to get going a little bit.
"We are definitely better than what we've showed lately. We have tons of great players in this room we have to come together and play together as a team.
"Sometimes you have to go out there and not think and just play. That's the biggest thing for us, just go out there and play hockey."