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TEMPE, Ariz. – It’s the end of the road for the Winnipeg Jets, who look to wrap up a three-game trip in the desert today by continuing their winning ways. The Jets earned hard-fought victories in San Jose (2-1) and Anaheim (3-1) on back-to-back nights, then enjoyed a day away from the rink Saturday for a golf outing with their fathers/mentors who have accompanied them south.
Overall, Winnipeg is now a sizzling 9-0-2 in its last 11 and enter play against the Arizona Coyotes tied with both the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers for most points (and best point percentage) in the NHL.
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Nothing seems to rattle these Jets, who have given up the first goal in four straight games but rallied to win all of them.
“We get behind by one and we have that feeling of we’re still going to win this game,” Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers told the Free Press following Friday’s triumph. “That’s a pretty good feeling to have, which is something we haven’t had for a while.”
Neither team held a morning skate but the Jets are expected to go with the same forwards and defencemen. Connor Hellebuyck will get the start in net. The Coyotes are coming off consecutive home losses to the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders in which they’ve been outscored 9-2, so you know they’ll be looking to bring a much better effort. Karel Vejmelka, who always seems to play well against Winnipeg, will start in net.
Here’s some other information to get you set for puck drop:
FROM THE PRESS BOX
KEN SAYS: Numerous players have spoken about how special this road trip has been, so after recharging the collective batteries on Saturday, one would expect the Jets to be motivated to complete a clean sweep of this stretch of three games in four days.
The Jets’ depth has dominated the discussion of late, which is natural when you consider they’ve used 15 forwards and eight different defencemen in the lineup to date. Rasmus Kupari is nearing a return, but the fourth line of Dominic Toninato, Morgan Barron and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby is playing so well right now that it’s given Kupari some additional time to recuperate from the shoulder injury that knocked him out of action on Nov. 14.
The reunited top line of Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers and Gabriel Vilardi got back on track in the win over the Duck and will be under the spotlight once again this evening.
It’s my second — and likely final — visit to Mullett Arena. It was a fun atmosphere on the ASU campus for the Coyotes home-opener last season. But this is a situation that needs to be resolved in the near future, as it’s just not right for an NHL franchise to be playing in an arena of this size for an extended period of time.
As for the Coyotes on the ice, they’ve moved onto the next stage of team building and are playing an exciting brand of hockey and battling for a playoff spot, currently one point behind the Edmonton Oilers in the battle for eighth.
They’ve got plenty of prospects on the horizon, including former Winnipeg Ice centre and 2022 first-rounder Conor Geekie, and the current club continues to be led by Clayton Keller (13 goals, 31 points). Lawson Crouse leads the Coyotes in goals with 16 in 36 games and is another player to pay close attention to.
RYAN SUN / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILESNikolaj Ehlers (above) and the rest of the Winnipeg Jets are enjoying the top spot in the NHL standings. Can they keep it up?
MIKE SAYS: You’d think the fuel tank might be running on nearly empty for the Jets given their tough schedule, considering they just played five games in seven days (going 5-0-0) and are now skating for a sixth time in nine. And while the club didn’t exactly steamroll inferior opponents in San Jose and Anaheim, Winnipeg showed no real signs of slowing down.
This team has become very predictable, and I mean that in the most flattering way possible. It rarely strays from its system, and that speaks volumes about the commitment of everyone on the club.
Can we say the power play is red-hot? The Jets went 1-for-1 with the man advantage in each of the past two games. No doubt they’d like to be getting a few more opportunities, but things appear to be trending in the right direction.
It’s not just the goals, but the player and puck movement which seems to have improved in recent outings. Winnipeg is dynamic at even strength. If they can even get to league-average special teams, then look out.
“It’s huge. And the PK as well,” Ehlers told Ken following Friday’s win. “It’s huge, because you know in the playoffs you’re going to have close games and a power play or PK might change the game completely. We obviously haven’t been great in both departments but we’re working our hardest to clean that up. The last two games have shown that.”
I’m curious to see Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, who will make his 2023-24 season debut for the Coyotes. The ninth-overall pick in 2021 had a solid start to his NHL career with 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 33 games last year, but was ultimately returned to junior, where he helped the Seattle Thunderbirds make it to the Memorial Cup (as a teammate of Jets prospects Brad Lambert and Thomas Milic).
Arizona wants to be patient with the young winger, who has spent this season so far in the American Hockey League where he has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 29 games. Now, he gets his chance to give the struggling big club a boost.
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