GAME DAY: Jets vs Sabres

WINNIPEG -With six points in their pocket through the first three games, the Winnipeg Jets have their sights set on wrapping up this four-game home stand the right way.
But standing in the way of that perfect four-for-four stretch is the Buffalo Sabres, who have won four of their last five games.
A big part of Winnipeg's seven wins in their last 10 has been the play of captain Blake Wheeler. The 32-year-old has points in 11 straight games, accumulating 20 points in that span.
His focus isn't on his stats though. It's on what his team has done well during this time at home.
"Our emphasis has been on structurally doing the right things, coming back, stopping and starting," said Wheeeler. "From there chances are going to come, we're going to get offensive opportunities. Our line has been going pretty good, our power play has been going pretty good. Those things all contribute to getting some good looks."

Eighteen of the 20 points Wheeler has racked up during his point streak have been assists. In fact, Wheeler's 21 total assists this season have him one back of the league lead, held by Colorado's Mikko Rantanen.
"His strength is he's a power forward that can make those plays at speed," said head coach Paul Maurice of Wheeler. "It's why whoever plays with him, when you have a centre like Mark that can play at that rate - and the two wingers we've used for the most part, Kyle Connor and Nik Ehlers, both very quick.
"Neither of the three slow the play down to make the plays."
The Jets (11-5-1) didn't do full line rushes as part of Friday's pre-game skate, but based on Thursday's practice, the lines are expected to look similar to the way they finished the 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Laine
Copp-Lowry-Tanev
Petan-Roslovic-Perreault
Morrissey-Trouba
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Morrow-Myers
Josh Morrissey will be in the line-up after NHL Player Safety gave the Jets defenceman a fine for his hit on TJ Oshie late in the win over the Capitals on Wednesday night.
Morrissey said he was nervous during the phone call with the league, which occurred yesterday afternoon.
"I don't ever play the game to hurt anybody. I would never want to see that happen. I felt bad right away, no matter how I thought the play went," said Morrissey. "I'm just trying to move on from it, the league made their decision and I respect that. I'm focusing on tonight's game it's a big one."

Now his focus shifts to the Sabres, who are 10-6-2 this season, and are led offensively by Jeff Skinner's 20 points.
Skinner was acquired by the Sabres in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in August. He's one of a handful of new faces on the Sabres roster this season.
"They've got a lot of guys with speed. They've got a young group there that's trying to build and they're playing really well right now," said Morrissey. "It's going to be a good test for us. They've got some elite players up front, some great guys on the back end. It'll be a big test."
Maurice coached Skinner in Carolina from 2010-2012, when Skinner was just breaking into the NHL.
"He's a really unique player. His skating to start with, how he can twist his body around a puck to shelter it," Maurice said, adding he and his staff marveled at how the young winger would make plays under pressure.
As Skinner's NHL career continued, Maurice saw the young forward balance that risk profile.
"What you see now is a really good balance between the two. He doesn't put himself in harm's way the way we felt he did in his first year," said Maurice. "He's an incredibly dynamic player in small areas."

For the Jets, a strong start will be a focus after being outshot 10-2 in the opening frame against Washington. That particular stat is a bit misleading, in the fact the Jets actually had more shot attempts at five-on-five than Washington that period, but missed the net on numerous chances.
Defenceman Tyler Myers, a former Sabre, said the Jets moved past that period quickly, and he anticipates things to be better tonight in the home stand finale.
"We know how we have to start hockey games," said Myers. "We've done it the last three years very well. We'll try and do it again tonight."
Laurent Brossoit starts in goal for the Jets, while Carter Hutton gets the call for the Sabres. Puck drop is set for 7 pm.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets finish a four-game homestand tonight against the visiting Buffalo Sabres...The Jets improved to 3-0 on the homestand with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night...Following tomorrow, the Jets start a four-game road trip in Vancouver against the Canucks on Monday.
Home Cookin'
After leading the NHL in scoring at home last season with 156 goals, the Jets are once again the NHL's most productive team on home ice with a league-best 40 goals in 11 games...Winnipeg has allowed 28 goals in 11 home games this season, but have only given up five goals in the three games during the homestand....The Jets also lead the NHL with a power play percentage of 40% (12-for-30) on home ice.
Friendly Confines
After Wednesday's win, the Jets have an NHL-best home record of 17-1-1 since Mar. 2/18 (excluding being considered the home team for the Nov. 2 game in Finland)...Winnipeg's Oct. 24 loss to Toronto was the Jets first regulation loss at Bell MTS Place since Feb. 27/18 vs. NSH...The Jets haven't lost back-to-back games at Bell MTS Place since Feb. 20-27/18...Winnipeg has won three in a row at Bell MTS Place for the second time this season and can sweep the homestand with a win tomorrow.
Dominating the East
Tomorrow is the third of three consecutive games for the Jets against an Eastern Conference team to finish off the homestand...Winnipeg is also finishing a stretch of eight of nine games against a team from the East...The Jets are 5-3-0 against Eastern Conference teams this season and went 19-7-6 against the Eastern Conference last season, including a 10-3-3 record versus the Atlantic Division and 9-4-3 record against the Metropolitan Division.
Streaking
Captain Blake Wheeler extended his point streak to 11 games (2G, 18A) with an assist on Mark Scheifele's goal on Wednesday...It is Wheeler's second 11-game point streak of his career after going 11 games with a point from Mar. 20-Apr. 9/16...Ilya Kovalchuk is the only other player in franchise history to have two double-digit point streaks...Wheeler also has an assist in nine consecutive games (17A), which has tied a franchise record for longest assist streak...Mark Scheifele (4G, 3A) and Kyle Connor (2G, 2A) are on three-game point streaks...Scheifele has a goal in all three games.
Shooting Star
Mark Scheifele tallied his 10th goal of the season on Wednesday to become the sixth active player to need 17 games or less to reach 10 goals in three consecutive seasons...He's the only member of the Jets to reach the double-digit goal mark so far this season...Scheifele has a career-best 0.59 goals per game and 1.6 goals per 60 minutes this season...His shooting percentage is also clicking on a career-best 23.3%...Of the 18 players in the NHL that have reached 10 goals this season, Scheifele's 43 shots are the fifth fewest.
VIEW THE FULL GAME NOTES
Star II
Wheeler was named the NHL's second star of the week on Monday after tallying seven points (1G, 6A) in two games last week...He recorded a new career-high with five points (1G, 4A), as he played a part in each Jets goal to lead the club to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday...His empty net goal against the Avalanche snapped a string of nine straight Jets goals where he earned an assist, as Wheeler joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to assist on nine-or-more consecutive team goals...On Sunday, the Plymouth, Minn. native added another pair of assists to propel Winnipeg to a 5-2 victory over New Jersey...This is the third time in his career that Wheeler has been selected in the NHL's Three Stars of the Week...Wheeler joins Mark Scheifele (Oct. 29 - Second Star) as members of the Jets that have earned NHL Three Stars of the Week honours this season.
Heating Up in November
After going 4-4-1 with a 3.00 goals-against average and .907 save percentage in October, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has started all five games for the Jets in November, going 4-1-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .930 save percentage...He's stopped 89 of 94 shots through the first three games of the homestand for a .947 save percentage...After leading the NHL with 30 wins at home last season, Hellebuyck is once again one of the pacesetters for home wins this season with six...Since making his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season, Hellebuyck's 59 wins at home are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
Winner, Winner
Ben Chiarot scored the game-winning goal on Wednesday to become the 10th different Jets player to score a game-winning goal this season in the Jets' 11 victories...Only Bryan Little, with two game winners, has multiple game-winning goals this season for the Jets.