Where to watch/listen Broadcast Schedule Broadcast Schedule Time: 7:00 P.M. CDT TV: TSN3, FS-N+ Radio: TSN1290, KFAN 100.3 It’s been a couple of weeks, but the Winnipeg Jets are back at home tonight, playing against the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time this season. The Jets are coming off of a shootout victory against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, a game in which the Connors (Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck) were the key factors. The Blue Jackets also played on Tuesday, losing 5-4 to the Buffalo Sabres. The Jackets sit third in the Metropolitan Division, despite the fact they have had sub-par goaltending from both Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo. The team’s leading scorer could very well get dealt at or before the trade deadline, as Artemi Panarin is set to become and unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. So, things could be better for Columbus. Despite the fact that the Jets have also had struggles in their game, they sit atop the Central Division with a couple of games in hand, and are 7-3-0 in their last 10, which is better than any other team in the division can boast during that time. Tale of the Tape Winnipeg Jets Stats San Jose Sharks Winnipeg Jets Stats San Jose Sharks 1-0-0 Series 0-1-0 14-9-1 Record 13-11-1 29 Points 27 3rd Central Division 4th Pacific 5th West Conference 8th West 4-1-0 Last 5 4-1-0 68 Goals For 73 73 Goals Against 83 Regular Season Nikolaj Ehlers (11) Goals Evander Kane (12) Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele (14) Assists Logan Couture (20) Scheifele (22) Points Couture (25) Connor Hellebuyck (11) Wins Martin Jones (10) Hellebuyck (2.42) Goals Against Average Jones (3.18) Hellebuyck (.928) Save Percentage Aaron Dell (.897) 15.5 (24th) Power Play % 19.5 (14th) 72.2 (29th) Penalty Kill % 91.4 (1st) Enemy Territory Columbus Blue Jackets Coverage: The Cannon Last Jets Game: Winnipeg Jets 4-3 (SO) Boston Bruins Kyle Connor scored two in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 36 of 39 before stopping another three in the shootout. Last Blue Jackets Game: Buffalo Sabres 5-4 Columbus Blue Jackets Columbus came back from being down 3-1 to tie things at four after two, but Buffalo scored the only goal in the third, as Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 30 shots. Players to watch: Winnipeg Jets He’s 20-years-old, leads one of the best teams in the NHL in goals, has 105 regular season goals in 205 regular season games, and is getting EATEN ALIVE THIS YEAR. Benched for a large swatch of time in Tuesday’s game, the kid is slumping, with four goals on his last 74 shots going back to December 1. That’s 5.4% accuracy for someone who has a career average of 17%. I have extreme doubts he’s the next Jimmy Carson, so things will get better. He’s not the only Jet struggling of late, but he’s arguably getting the mist flack. Columbus Blue Jackets I am going to preface what I say next with “there is a difference between correlation and causation” and I’m not willing to say it’s causation, but Nick Foligno has been in decline since signing a six-year, $33-million contract in 2015. He was coming off of a 31-goal, 73-point season, and at the time of signing would have been 27 turning 28. It looked like a good contract for the Jackets, but as things stand right now the Columbus captain has 57 points in his last 116 regular season games, which is pretty meh. It’s not terrible, but it’s not fantastic by any means. Is he done? He’s 31-years-old, so I kind of doubt it, but the offensive well is running dry.<doc-sep>Thursday, January 31, 2019 - 8:00 EST Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM Opponent’s Blog: Arctic Ice Hockey Columbus Blue Jackets (28-18-3, 59 points, 4th Metro, 8th East) at Winnipeg Jets (32-16-2, 66 points, 1st Central, 2nd West) With the second half of the season officially underway, the Columbus Blue Jackets have a tough test ahead of them as they take on one of the best teams in the Western Conference, and the entire NHL, the Winnipeg Jets. Columbus comes in on a season-long three-game losing streak after their 5-4 loss to the Sabres at home Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Jets come into play off a come-from-behind 4-3 shootout win at the Bruins Tuesday. They fell to the Flyers 3-1 on Monday, their first game since the All-Star Break. Player to Watch It was just a couple years ago the Jets locked up power forward Mark Scheifele to an eight-year, $49 million deal. And he’s only getting better. In his eighth season, Scheifele is having his best season to date with 25 goals (co-leads team), 36 assists (second on team), and 61 points (second on team). Adding to that, he looks to potentially smash career-highs among points (82), goals (32), and assists (50). The All-Star center also has his Jets in prime position as they contend for their first Stanley Cup. Jackets Notes The Blue Jackets called up Mark Letestu (healthy scratch) before Tuesday’s game against Buffalo as Boone Jenner is considered day-to-day with an unspecified injury and did not travel with the team. ... Markus Hannikainen [elbow] will return to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 8. ... After two assists against Buffalo on Tuesday, Ryan Murray set a career high with his 23rd assist of the season. ... Columbus has a chance to close out the month of January perfect on the penalty kill (22-for-22), and are up to 7th in the league overall (83.2%). ... They are first in the league (89.3%) since Dec. 1. ... Per Bluejackets.com: “According to Natural Stat Trick, Columbus allowed 31 scoring chances in 5-on-5 play and 19 high-danger chances” in their game against the Sabres. More Tortorella: “For us to be ready for Winnipeg, everything has to improve. I haven’t seen a team play as bad as we played last night. I haven’t seen this team play as bad as we did. Everything needs to improve.” #CBJ — Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 30, 2019 The Other Bench I picked the Jets to win the Cup. So far, they are currently first atop the Central Division, only trailing the surprising Flames in the Western Conference. Last season’s run to the Western Conference Finals came against the Golden Knights, and now the Jets are aiming for the whole thing this season. Similarly, I picked Connor Hellebuyck as my Vezina favorite, and he’s right about where you’d expect, tied-for-third in the league among wins (22), with a .910 SV% and 2.85 GAA. Last season he played a career-high 67 games in the regular season and logged a high 3,969 minutes, while posting a league-best 44 wins and had a .924 SV% to go with a 2.36 GAA. As you might expect with an explosive offense featuring leading point scorer Blake Wheeler — second in league with 53 assists, tied-for-eighth with 62 points — Scheifele, and of course Patrik Laine, co-leading the squad with Scheifele with 25 goals, the Jets unsurprisingly boast a top-10 NHL offense (3.40 GF/GP). They are just as stingy on the other side (2.78 GA/GP). The power play hums (26.5% 4th) and the penalty kill shuts down at 81.2%, 11th in the league. They’ll be getting even stronger once Nikolaj Ehlers (15 goals, 12 assists) returns from a shoulder injury. They’re also doing this without the services of Dustin Byfuglien who is injured (lower-body) but should be nearing a February return. The Jets have won their previous five games at home, scoring at least four goals in each game. Season Series 1/31/2019 CBJ @ WPG 3/3/2019 WPG @ CBJ Stats Winnipeg Columbus 3.40 (6) GPG 3.22 (9) 2.78 (6) GAPG 3.06 (19) 26.5% (4) PP% 15.1% (27) 81.2% (11) PK% 83.2% (t-6) 49.97% (15) EV Corsi % 49.82% (16) 100.4 (t-12) EV PDO 100.1 (15) Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele, 25 G Leader Cam Atkinson, 28 Blake Wheeler, 53 A Leader Artemi Panarin, 36 Blake Wheeler, 62 P Leader Artemi Panarin, 55 Dustin Byfuglien, 52 PIM Leader Josh Anderson, 44 18-6-2 Home / Road 14-8-1 7-3-0 Last 10 5-5-0 Projected Lineups<doc-sep>The Jets have been getting very strong performances from blue-liners Jacob Trouba (23:49 of ice time Tuesday), Josh Morrissey (24:28) and Tyler Myers (24:49) in the absence of workhorse Dustin Byfuglien, and they’ll need that to continue against a strong Columbus lineup that includes dangerous forwards Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson. Containing those two will be key to the Jets’ fortunes as the rest of the Columbus forwards are far less productive. Hellebuyck was spectacular Tuesday in the Jets’ win over Boston, making 36 saves in regulation and overtime and three more in the shootout. He has been very strong in his last three outings and has a 2-1 record to show for it. The Blue Jackets have been getting average goaltending all season. In fact, Bobrovsky might not even get the start as Joonas Korpisalo has been playing a lot lately. Bobrovsky is one of the best goalies in the league but his future with Columbus is clouded and there’s a chance he could be dealt before the Feb. 25 trade deadline. His 2.97 goals against average and .902 save percentage are poor and Korpisalo’s numbers are not much better (2.95, .901). Article content KEEP UP THE SPEED The Jets’ top line of Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Kyle Connor finally started to look like itself again Tuesday after three straight unproductive games, combining for two goals and five points against the Bruins. The Jets have scraped by with some good production from their bottom-6 forwards of late, but they need consistent scoring from the top line. SECOND-LINE SLUMP The line of Bryan Little, Patrik Laine, and Jack Roslovic has struggled and had one of its worst games of the season on Tuesday. Roslovic played less than 10 minutes and Laine played only 10:55, a career low. Some sort of shakeup seems necessary with a line that should be much more productive at 5-on-5 and it will be interesting to see if Jets coach Paul Maurice has anything in store. POWERING UP The Jets scored a power-play goal for the second straight game on Tuesday after going 0-for-11 in their previous three games. Morrissey blasted one in from the point with Connor providing the screen in front. Wheeler said after the Jets’ loss in Philadelphia on Monday that they needed to get more traffic in front of the opposition net. They did just that and it resulted in an important goal. The Blue Jackets have one of the worst penalty killing percentages in the league, so the Jets will look to put their fourth-ranked power play to good use on home ice. KEEP IT FRESH The Jets cancelled their practice on Wednesday after a pair of gritty road games Monday and Tuesday. They still have two more games this week and four more next week as they make up games in hand on other teams in the Central Division. There no doubt will be some battered and bruised players after a game in Boston that featured plenty of big hits and a couple of fights.<doc-sep>Share this Story: Jets set to face Blue Jackets: Laine drought of little concern to Maurice Jets set to face Blue Jackets: Laine drought of little concern to Maurice Photo by Elsa / Getty Images North America Article content This time, Patrik Laine was not in the mood to give himself a public dressing down. Instead, the Winnipeg Jets forward was mostly upbeat and measured during a scrum about his recent slump. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Jets set to face Blue Jackets: Laine drought of little concern to Maurice Back to video “Obviously, it’s frustrating. It’s been like this for a couple of months. It’s tough to handle as a 20-year-old,” said Laine, who has two goals in his past 18 games going into Thursday’s tilt against the Columbus Blue Jackets. “But everybody is going to go through this. Just have to learn from this. Have to work hard every day to get through this. That’s all you can do. Just try to play hard every day and do every small detail as best as you can.” Laine stayed on for a little extra work on Thursday and was testing out a tinted visor, but he’s not about to make a bunch of drastic changes as he tries to snap out of this offensive dry spell. The Jets are coming off a 4-3 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins and remain in top spot in the Central Division standings. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content In that game, Laine saw only 10:55 of ice time, which was the second lowest total of his three-year NHL career. Did Laine view the reduction of ice time as a message from his head coach? “I don’t know. I’m not him, so it’s hard to say. But probably that we just need to play better. We can’t get scored on every game,” said Laine. “That’s something we need to work on a lot as a line. They can’t put us out there if we get scored on every time. So I get that. But the team is winning, and that’s all that matters. We have a room full of guys who can score and play good hockey. We know we didn’t play the way we need to play and all the other lines were playing great, so obviously wanted to give them probably a little more ice time because they were going. We get that as a line, that that’s unacceptable and just try to learn from that game.” Jets head coach Paul Maurice spent the better part of five minutes discussing Laine during his morning media session. The conversation ranged from what the discussions with Laine have been like to the ice time he received against the Bruins. “(The reduced ice time) had more to do with the match-up and who was going (rather) than (Laine) hasn’t scored in a while and I’m going to bench him to send him a message. I wasn’t thinking about (Laine) when I made those changes,” said Maurice. “He’s frustrated, for sure. He’s a competitive guy and he cares an awful lot. But you’ll also notice that he’s hanging onto the puck more and he’s throwing more hits, trying to get more physical and he’s trying to do the things to get himself going.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Despite the recent cold spell, Laine has 25 goals and remains tied for the team lead with Mark Scheifele. In 205 NHL games, Laine has recorded 105 goals and 168 points. It’s obvious Maurice is happy with the play of three of his four lines right now, so don’t expect a bunch of juggling to try and get Laine back on track. “That’s a real simple answer. Wins. I don’t go behind the bench to do anything for any one individual. You go behind the bench to win a hockey game,” said Maurice. “(Laine) has been part of that. I get it. It’s kind of like, you’ve got a cat and something sparkly comes out and all of their focus is there. (Laine) hasn’t scored in a little while, so we’ve got to watch this guy. It’s about the Winnipeg Jets. So, that’s how we run the bench and we run the room. I know he’s a gifted shooter and I also know that he’s like every other kid in that lineup – there are going to be parts of the game that you don’t love about it. “But our expectation can’t be that this guy should score 200 because he had a five-goal game. Right? Other than that shot, he’s like every other player in the NHL. He’s going to learn and he’s going to get better. And that’s been going on all year, it’s been going on since he got here.” Connor Hellebuyck starts in goal for the Jets, while the Blue Jackets will counter with Sergei Bobrovsky. Meanwhile, if the Blue Jackets display the same type of intensity as head coach John Tortorella did during his morning media session, it could be an interesting night. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content After watching video of Tuesday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres, Tortorella was fuming. “It’s a good team that we’re playing (the Jets) and it was a God-awful team that I coached the other night,” Tortorella said. “Hopefully, we’ll answer the proper way. “The team needs to be reset here pretty quickly. For us to get to be who we’re supposed to be, we need to reset pretty quickly.” Tortorella was asked if his players feel the same way as he does? “They better or they will get their ass kicked,” he said, before being asked if it was more of a mental or physical issue the other night. “Anything you want to name, it was that.<doc-sep>
The Blue Jackets face a true Stanley Cup contender in the Winnipeg Jets (32-16-2, 66 points) at 8 p.m Thursday in Bell MTS Place. This marks the first of five games over the next 10 days, four on the road. After allowing three goals in the first 10 minutes of Tuesday’s game against Buffalo, the Blue Jackets defense will be watched closely to see how it follows up what coach John Tortorella said was the worst he has ever seen this team play. Here are three other things to look for when the Jackets take on the Jets. 1. Top line vs. top line The ascension of Pierre-Luc Dubois in less than two years in the NHL has turned the Blue Jackets top line into one of the best in the NHL. Together, the Artemi Panarin-Dubois-Cam Atkinson line has a rating of 81.05, according to dailyfaceoff.com, good for fifth in the league. Winnipeg counters with one not far behind. Left wing Kyle Connor, center Mark Scheifele and right wing Blake Wheeler are all on pace for record seasons with Scheifele and Wheeler on pace for their first 100-point seasons. Dailyfaceoff.com rates the Jets top line sixth in the league at 80.52. Winnipeg has generated more points out of its top line — 163 to 150 — but Tortorella is looking more at how the scoring chances develop than total production. Join our group: Join our Blue Jackets Xtra Facebook group for the latest team news “We want them to see that so they buy into that you still need to be playing a complete game as best you can and you'll still get your offense,” Tortorella said. “You'll probably get more if you're playing the right way." 2. Strength vs. strength: Jets’ power play vs. Jackets’ penalty kill Tortorella said he didn’t think the penalty-kill units played particularly well against Buffalo on Tuesday, but they still extended their streak of 25 straight power plays without allowing a goal. The league’s fourth-best power play at 26.5 percent should certainly test that streak. Scheifele has scored 18 of his 61 points on the power play and Wheeler has 22 of his 62 points with the unit, including 21 of his 53 assists. Patrik Laine hasn’t had a similar season to his first couple with Winnipeg, but the 20-year-old still leads the team with 11 power-play goals. According to hockeyviz.com, the Blue Jackets have done an excellent job this season of limiting opportunities in front of the net on the penalty kill, which is where the Jets have the majority of their opportunities on the power play. “You can win a game based off your penalty kill and how it does that specific night,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “It’s a mindset, and you can’t get lackadaisical and you can’t get complacent on it.” 3. Jets give up quantity, not quality of shots The Jackets ripped off 37 shots against the Sabres, which allows the eighth-most shots against per game in the NHL. Winnipeg allows even more, ranked sixth at 32.8 shots per game. However, the Jets seem comfortable with that number given the quality of the chances. Hockeyviz rates the threat of even-strength shots against the Jets as average with the league, but no shots on the chart are concentrated in one particular area. Despite all the shots allowed, Winnipeg ranks sixth in the league in goals against per game for the reason above and two excellent goalies led by Connor Hellebuyck (2.85 goals-against average). Like Sergei Bobrovsky, Hellebuyck struggled early but has played much better lately. Since allowing 3.18 goals per game in November, he allowed 2.54 in December and has allowed 2.72 in January. As difficult as it is to get pucks into high-danger areas against Winnipeg and ultimately past Hellebuyck, the Jackets can’t afford another slow start from the defense. jmyers@dispatch.com @Jacob_Myers_25