Philadelphia Flyers at Winnipeg Jets

It’s been a while since the Winnipeg Jets had to turn the page after a loss, but their ability to debrief and move on to the next challenge is something they’ve leaned on all season long.

So after watching a franchise-record 11-game winning streak come to an end in a 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday, the Jets have set their sights on the Philadelphia Flyers.

“Guys certainly have become accustomed to winning. Everybody wanted to get to 12,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “The guys really felt like we could have kept this going and that’s great. That’s part of our group, they’re still hungry to win hockey games. We’re not taking things for granted.

“But, at the same time, we’ve done a really good job in the past of ‘now that’s done, it’s over and we’ve got to worry about the Flyers.’”

This is the first of two meetings in a span of six days between the two clubs and both teams are coming off one-goal losses.

The Flyers figure to be in a sour mood after blowing leads of 3-0 and 4-2 before falling 5-4 in overtime to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.

John Tortorella’s team has had challenges scoring at times this season, but they work hard and have a habit of making life difficult on their opponent.

“Yeah, I think we go into every game expecting to win and expecting to put our best foot forward,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “Disappointed to see this streak end, but like I said, we go into the games expecting to win. When the results are not there, we’re disappointed. It was a good rest day yesterday. We had a nice meeting this morning to refocus and get back at it.

“We know Philly’s a real hard working team. They’re right in the thick of things. We can be disappointed with the previous game but at the same time, we had the morning skate, we got to wash it and get ready for the Flyers.”

Although Travis Konecny is the lone point-per-game player on the roster (22 goals and 63 points in 60 games), the Flyers have six players in double digits for goals — and a seventh (in captain Sean Couturier) knocking on the door with nine.

For the sake of comparison, the Jets have eight players that have reached double digits, with one more sitting at nine and three more hovering at eight.

The goalie matchup features Connor Hellebuyck making his 46th start of the season for the Jets, while the Flyers are expected to counter with Sam Ersson.

Hellebuyck is riding an eight-game personal winning streak in what has been another remarkable season for the Jets’ puck stopper.

Left-winger Morgan Barron returns to the Jets lineup after missing eight games with an upper-body injury he suffered in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on January 28, while Colin Miller draws back in on the third pairing after he was a healthy scratch on Thursday.

“It was kind of a weird play. I didn’t really think anything of it at first, then kind of got on the bench and something felt a little off,” said Barron, who suffered the injury on a hit he delivered to Kirby Dach.

“Then, we got checked out after the game. It’s hockey when things are moving at a high speed. I guess just weird stuff happens sometimes.”

The Flyers didn’t skate on Saturday morning, so there is a question about the lineup, though Nic Deslauriers is expected to replace Garnet Hathaway on the fourth line after Hathaway was injured against the Penguins.

Here’s some other information to get you ready for this Saturday night showdown:

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: Could Hellebuyck go where no goalie in NHL history ever has?

He is already up to 36 wins this year (in his 45 starts), with Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger and Tampa Bay puck stopper Andrei Vasilevskiy a very distant second at 28. The two-time Vezina Trophy seems destined to add a third to his resume, and he’s making a compelling Hart Trophy case as well. He would absolutely be on my ballot at this point.

With 22 games left, Hellebuyck is a safe bet to make approximately 17-18 more starts. And if he keeps winning at his current pace this year, that would equate to 13-14 more wins for a total of 49 or 50.

The all-time NHL record by a goaltender in a single year is 48, currently shared by Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils (2006-07) and Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals (2015-16).

Hellebuyck’s personal career high (and the franchise high) is 44, which he set in 2017-18 and has him tied for eight-best all-time. There’s a very good chance his name is going to rocket up that list — perhaps all the way to the top.

We are potentially witnessing a historic season unfold before our very eyes.

With six more years left on his contract after this and Hellebuyck showing no signs of slowing down, it’s not a stretch to suggest he could end up as one of the greatest of all times — statistically and otherwise.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) shows no signs of slowing down. (Nick Wass / The Associated Press files)

KEN SAYS: Jets defenceman Neal Pionk scored the lone goal on Thursday and he’s up to nine for the season to go along with 28 assists for 37 points. That’s solid production for the pending unrestricted free agent, whose career-highs are 10 goals (2022-23) and 45 points (2019-20). Most importantly, his bounceback season has included mostly strong play in the defensive zone.

Jets left-winger Kyle Connor has continued to be dangerous offensively coming out of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Although he’s scored only one goal in those four games, he’s been a shot-attempt machine, with seven shots on goal and a whopping 16 shot-attempts on Thursday against Nashville. Connor has also produced four points in his past four games and continues to lead the Jets with 73 in 60 games.

The recent struggles on the power play remains a talking point going into this one, only because it’s the first time this season the Jets have gone five games without scoring on the man-advantage.

Oddly enough, the 0-for-14 drought included a pair of lengthy five-on-three’s. However, ebbs and flows are natural over the course of a long season, even for a power play that remains first in the NHL in efficiency and is still operating at 30.9 per cent — even after the five-game mini-slump.

“This is the type of stuff that happens,” said Arniel, noting that going through a stretch like this on the power play and working through it should be beneficial when the playoffs arrive.

Elkhorn product Travis Sanheim is having an excellent season with the Flyers and recently helped Canada win a gold medal at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He’s got six goals and 27 points in 60 games this season while playing on the top pairing.

Russian rookie Matvei Michkov has turned heads this season and currently sits second on the team in goals (19) and points (44) in 58 games. There have been the usual hiccups for a player in his first season in North America, but he’s a dynamic talent. Definitely looking forward to seeing him play live for the first time.

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo

DEFENCE:

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller

GOAL:

Hellebuyck
Comrie

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Fleury, D Heinola, F Gustafsson

INJURED: None

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

FORWARDS:

Foerster-Cates-Brink
Kuzmenko-Laughton-Konecny
Tippett-Couturier-Michkov
Pelletier-Poehling-Deslauriers

DEFENCE:

York-Sanheim
Seeler-Drysdale
Zamula-Ristolainen

GOAL:

Ersson
Fedotov

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: G Fedotov, D Johnson

INJURED: E Ellis (back), RW Hathaway (upper body)

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Jets head coach Scott Arniel on what Morgan Barron can bring in his return to the lineup:

“He’s a guy that certainly has size, power, (a) big power forward. He’s responsible without the puck. He’s heavy on the forecheck, we use him on the penalty kill. He’s just a guy that you’re comfortable with as a coach. You know what you’re kind of going to get every night. We missed his size. He’s been here, he knows how we play and we need his play.”