GAME DAY: Jets begin road trip, look to extend winning streak in Buffalo

Mason has only appeared in 10 games during his first season in Winnipeg, but he has been the perfect teammate while seeing limited action on the ice.
"He's worked hard every day; it's not easy," Maurice said. "It's made easier, to be honest, (because) he's a smart man and he watches the games, so he knows Connor has earned every start he's been given."

The Jets did not run any line rushes during their morning skate at KeyBank Center, but the forward combinations and D pairs are expected to be same as they were on Sunday.
Connor - Wheeler - Laine
Perreault - Little - Ehlers
Matthias - Copp - Armia
Roslovic - Hendricks - Dano
Morrissey - Trouba
Kulikov - Myers
Enstrom - Byfuglien
Adam Lowry remains out of the lineup with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day.
"He's better than he was," Maurice said. "We just don't want to push that right now. We know this isn't going to be a long-term issue unless we push him too early."
BACK IN BUFFALO
A number of current Jets players have played a portion of their NHL career in Buffalo and a lot of them were part of the Evander Kane/Zach Bogosian trade back on Feb. 11, 2015.
After missing the past two visits due to injury, Tyler Myers will finally get to play in his old haunts, while fellow defenceman Dmitri Kulikov will be doing the same after signing a free-agent contract with the Jets last summer.
Joel Armia, Jack Roslovic and Brendan Lemieux - who were also part of the blockbuster trade two years ago - are back in town as well.
The Sabres have only 10 wins so far this season, and to Kulikov, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
"To be honest, I don't know what the problem is," he said. "They have a way better team on paper than their record shows."

Buffalo never held a lead in their visit to Bell MTS Place last Friday, but gave the Jets a run for their money in the 4-3 Winnipeg victory.
You don't find the Central Division leaders taking the Sabres for granted tonight.
"They're going to be ready to go," said Maurice of the Sabres, who are playing their first game in Buffalo since Dec. 22 thanks to the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship that recently took over their home rink. "They're going to have answers for some of the things we did well (on Friday). We think we were fairly good defensively through two periods. We don't look at anybody in the standings differently. This is a National Hockey League team. When you play one, the other goalie can beat you. They've got elite players and they can beat you."
This will be the seventh time this season the Jets have played the same opponent twice in a week. In their first six tries, they're 6-0 with a 28-5 scoring edge.

OBSCURE STAT OF THE DAY
From the Elias Stats Bureau: Mark Dano's goal on Sunday afternoon was the game-winner in the Jets' 4-1 victory over the Sharks. Dano's only other goal for Winnipeg this season, against the Oilers on New Year's Eve, was also a game-winner. Before Dano, the only player in Thrashers/Jets history whose first two goals of a season were both game-winners was Ilya Kovalchuk for Atlanta in 2006-07.
- Jamie Thomas, WinnipegJets.com
JETS GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets begin a three-game road trip and the first of four straight on the road tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres...The Jets won a pair of home games on the weekend, concluding with a 4-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday...This week's road trip also sees the Jets play the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and Minnesota Wild on Saturday...After their bye week next week, the Jets head out on the road again to play the Calgary Flames on Jan. 20.
Jets vs. Sabres Notes
- Last week's win against the Sabres ended Winnipeg's four-game losing streak to Buffalo.
- The Jets have dropped three of their last four games in Buffalo.
- Winnipeg has scored exactly two goals in eight of their last 10 games in Buffalo, winning four of the eight games by a score of 2-1.
- The Jets are 10-5-1 against the Sabres since the franchise moved to Winnipeg in 2011.
- Winnipeg is 3-for-7 (42.9%) on the power play in their last two games against the Sabres.
Life on the Road
The Jets play six of their next seven games on the road...Thanks to the bye week and all-star break, the seven games take place over the course of 21 days, which is the lightest stretch of Winnipeg's schedule since playing seven games in 22 days to start the season...The Jets have played 23 road games this season, which is the second-most in the NHL...By the time Winnipeg begins a 10-game homestand on Jan. 30, the Jets will have played 29 road games compared to 21 home games.
Twice in a Week
Tonight's game is the second of two meetings in less than a week for the Jets and Sabres...This is the seventh and final time in 2017-18 that the Jets play an opponent twice in a week...The Jets sport a 10-2-1 record in those games, including a perfect 6-0-0 in the second leg...In those six games against a squad they have met less than a week earlier, the Jets are outscoring their opposition 28-5.
Facing the East
The Jets are 7-5-5 against the Eastern Conference this season, including a 2-3-3 record versus the Atlantic Division...Winnipeg has earned a point in their last three games against Atlantic opponents (4-3 OTL at Tampa Bay on Dec. 9/17, 3-2 SOL at Boston on Dec. 21/17 and 4-3 W vs. Buffalo on Jan. 5)...Blake Wheeler (4G, 7A) lead the Jets with 11 points in eight games against the Atlantic.
Points in Six
The Jets have a point in six consecutive games (5-0-1) since the Christmas break and have points in nine of their last 10 games (7-1-2)...Winnipeg's longest point streak of the season is eight games (5-0-3) from Oct. 20-Nov. 6/17...The Jets have only suffered three losing streaks of two or more games so far this season...In the games following those streak-breaking victories, the Jets have yet to fall back and suffer another loss in regulation, going 6-0-2 in games after ending a losing streak.
Special Special Teams
The Jets power play has a goal in five consecutive games and is chugging along at a 36.8% (7-for-19) success rate in the last five games...Winnipeg has scored two power play goals in two of their last four games...On the penalty kill, the Jets have killed 17 of the last 18 power play opportunities they've allowed...Sunday's game marked the first time in six games the Jets allowed a power play goal against.
Gettin' Streaky
Blake Wheeler had an assist on Sunday to extend his point streak to six games (5G, 4A)...It's his fourth point streak of three games or more this season...Jacob Trouba (1G, 2A), Tyler Myers (3A), Andrew Copp (3A) and Matt Hendricks (1G, 1A) are on two-game scoring streaks.
Winner, Winner
Marko Dano scored his second goal of the season Sunday...Both of his goals have been game-winning goals...Dano is one of four players in the NHL to score two goals this season and have both be game-winning goals.
Hellebuyck Stays Hot
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is unbeaten in regulation in his last nine starts with a 7-0-2 record...He boasts a 1.86 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in the nine games.
Career Year
At age 36, veteran Matt Hendricks is having a career year from many statistical points of view...He's already matched his goal total from last year with four and is scoring 0.7 goals per 60 minutes, which is a career-high...His 1.1 assists per 60 minutes is matching a career high, as is his 1.9 points per 60 minutes...Hendricks has a 52.2% corsi for percentage at even strength, which is a career-high and the second time in his career it's better than 50%...His corsi for % relative is 1.2, marking the first time in his career it's on the positive side of the ledger.
Jets vs. Sabres All-Time Records
Overall: 33-21-6
At Bell MTS Place: 6-2-0
At KeyBank Center: 13-15-2