Thomas' Three Storylines - ARI @ WPG

THE FIRST GOAL
While the Jets continue to struggle with consistency, one of their issues as of late has been giving up the game's first goal. Winnipeg has surrendered the first goal in five straight and 12 of the last 14 contests and this is all fine except when you are not getting results, these facts pop up. They gave up the first goal in Nashville but continued to dominate the Predators on route to their overtime win. However, they dominated the first three and a half minutes in St. Louis and then Kasperi Kapanen opened the scoring for the Blues. Rick Bowness liked the response from his group in Nashville and didn't like the response after the first goal against the Blues. The Jets coach isn't openly concerned about the first goal, he is more concerned about the response that comes after.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SCHEDULE
Winnipeg is in the midst of playing six of seven games against teams that are out of the playoff situation until the end of March. They are 1-1 so far after their win in Nashville and loss in St. Louis. The only team they have left that is going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the rest of the month, is the Los Angeles Kings, who they will visit on Saturday afternoon. Another fact they have to take advantage of is their next five games including tonight will be played over 11 days, which means they should be well rested as they attempt to lock down one of the wild card spots in the Western Conference.
COYOTES ROLLING
Tonight's opponent, the Arizona Coyotes, have won six of their last eight and have points in eight straight. Like the Predators and Blues, the Coyotes have dealt off players for draft picks and are looking to the future. Management has their sights set on entering the Connor Bedard sweepstakes, but the players have other ideas considering how well they have played in the month of March. The combo of Clayton Keller (8-9-17) and Barrett Hayton (5-8-13) have tallied a combined 13-17-30 in March (10 GP), ranking T-2nd and T-13th in the NHL in that span.