Jets hope to make Coyotes howl
WINNIPEG Call this the first real must-win of the season for the Winnipeg Jets.
Yes, they ’re all must-wins at this point, but beating a rival who is also in the dogfight for the wildcard spot has immeasurable increased significance.
The Arizona Coyotes are two points shy of the Jets, with both teams having played 69 games.
The math becomes quite simple for Winnipeg.
Win Monday’s game and they put some distance between themselves and Coyotes. Lose and they allow the Coyotes back into a race that already features six teams.
Every game for Winnipeg is their biggest of the season at this point.
The Jets have a good chance at creating a four-point buffer on Arizona and moving back into a playoff spot.
Here are five things to watch for when the Coyotes (33-28-8) line up against the Jets (35-28-6) in Winnipeg:
1. The Kyle Connor show With goals in five straight games, Connor will look to continue his climb to the 40-goal plateau.
Connor scored his sixth goal in his past five games in Friday’s 4-0 shutout of the Vegas Golden Knights. The goal was his 36th of the season, which is already a career high.
Connor is tied for sixth in NHL goals with Carolina’s Sebastian Aho.
2. Top line continues to roll The trio of Connor, Mark Scheifele
and Blake Wheeler added another couple of points to their collection since getting reunited 4½ games ago.
In that span, the threesome has combined for eight goals and 18 points. Not too shabby from the tried-and-true line.
3. Connor Vezinabuyck The Jets needed Connor Hellebuyck
to be on top of his game to get past the Golden Knights and he was all of that and more, stopping 29 shots for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season.
Hellebuyck owns a .921 save percentage this season (.928 at 5-on-5) despite seeing the most high-danger shots against of any goalie in the NHL.
Hellebuyck is third in the NHL in goals saved above average, trailing Anton Khudobin and Tuukka Rask, who have played 26 and 16 fewer games than Hellebuyck, respectively.
4. Adam Lowry return? The big, physical (and oft-injured) centre is nearing a return for the Jets and could suit up Monday, providing there are no setbacks after Sunday’s full practice.
Lowry has missed 20 games with an upper-body injury after a blindside hit by Chicago Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula during a Jan. 19 game.
5. Franchise record on horizon Neal Pionk’s 22nd assist on the power play on Friday tied him with Toby Enstrom for most assists by a defenceman in a single season with the man advantage. Pionk’s next will establish a new mark.
He is still 14 shy of the standard for any skater, which is held by Marc Savard, who had 36 assists during the 2005-06 season.