GAME DAY: Jets vs Blue Jackets

WINNIPEG -For most of the season, the Winnipeg Jets have noticed differences between playing an opponent from the Eastern Conference versus the Western Conference.
Tonight, they face their third consecutive opponent from the East in the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Jets head coach Paul Maurice feels tonight's match-up will have more of a Western Conference feel.
"They're an awful lot like we are. They've got a young team that's got some high-end skill, but also has some physicality to them. They play hard, they finish their checks," said Maurice. "Our games against Columbus have a heavy cost but are usually a pretty entertaining night."

The Jets (32-16-2) come into this three-game home stand after a split of a back-to-back set in Philadelphia and Boston.
Following the setback in Philly, the Jets responded with a 4-3 shootout win in Boston against the Bruins.
That was a victory Bryan Little feels the Jets can build on.
"The way we ended in Boston is a lot more of the way we want to play," said Little.
"We all know without saying it that that's the level we have to be at. Boston gave us a tough game, almost a playoff-like speed and grittiness to it. It took us a while to get back up to speed but once we did, that was back to our hockey."
Another positive to build on from the road trip was that both power play units found the back of the net on the road trip, going a combined 2-for-5.
Despite the numerous chances the Jets had created on the man advantage in the three games leading up to the player break, they hadn't managed to light the lamp.

Josh Morrissey - who scored the power play marker against the Bruins - said cashing in on the power play is always a momentum boost.
"We've got a lot of talented players on our team. We have the mindset every time that a power play unit goes out there that we want to score," said Morrissey.
"The other team gets paid to do their job too. Sometimes you get looks and it just doesn't go for you…. Just coming out of the break to play with a little more pace on our power play, do everything fast, that's when we have success. It's been nice to get a couple here in the last couple games."
The Blue Jackets have lost three straight games and will be without alternate captain Boone Jenner for one to three weeks. Jenner suffered a cut on his ankle blocking a shot on Jan. 12 against the Washington Capitals. That laceration became infected following Tuesday's practice.
As a result, the Blue Jackets have recalled veteran Mark Letestu from Cleveland.
Despite the Jenner injury, the Blue Jackets still have a number of weapons on the offensive side, including Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson, and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
But as much as the Blue Jackets can score, they're also known for keeping pucks away from their net. As a team, they're ranked inside the top 10 in the NHL for shots against per game, one spot ahead of the Bruins (10th) and four ahead of the Flyers (13th).
"They have guys that can play a heavy game and don't give you a lot," said Morrissey. "It should be similar to how those last couple games looked. The intensity is ramped up now that we're into that last stretch."
Connor Hellebuyck was the first goaltender off the ice for the Jets and is expected to get the start after a sparkling 36-save performance against the Bruins on Tuesday night.
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets return to Bell MTS Place to begin a three-game homestand tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets…The Jets beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday to end a two-game losing streak…The homestand continues Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Home Comforts
Winnipeg has won five consecutive games and nine of their last 11 contests at Bell MTS Place to improve to 18-6-2 at home this season…The Jets five-game home winning streak is their longest of the season…The Jets have the second most wins and are tied for the third most points at home in the NHL…The Jets have the best power play at home in the NHL this season at 35.5%…Winnipeg's 27 power play goals at home this season are second in the NHL…The Jets are 14-for-34 (41.2%) on the power play in their past 11 home games…The Jets have a 50-13-4 record at Bell MTS Place during the past two seasons, making it the toughest building in the NHL for opposing teams to play…The Jets have scored 99 goals at home this season, which is third in the NHL, and have outscored their opposition 85-43 in their 18 wins…Winnipeg has scored at least four goals in all five games of their home winning streak.
Busy Time
The Jets are in a stretch of 11 games (1-1-0) in 20 days…Winnipeg went 6-3-0 in nine games in 16 days leading into the break…The Jets play their last 34 games of the regular season in 69 days.
Eastbound and Rolling
The Jets are 12-6-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including 7-3-0 against the Metropolitan Division…Winnipeg is in a stretch of seven of nine games against Eastern Conference teams…Winnipeg 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…Blake Wheeler leads the Jets with 22 points (1G, 21A) in 18 games against the Eastern Conference, while Mark Scheifele has 21 points (11G, 10A) in 18 games.
As the Offence Goes…
Winnipeg has scored four goals or more in eight consecutive victories and in 14 of their past 15 wins… Meanwhile, the Jets have been limited to two goals or less in eight consecutive losses and have been outscored 26-8 in those games…Of the 50 games the Jets have played this season, 31 have been decided by two goals or more.
Third Act
The Jets are second in the NHL with 68 goals in the third period this season…Winnipeg's plus-19 goal differential in the third period is tied for second in the league…The Jets have scored in the third period in nine of their past 10 games (17G), including two goals in four of the past five games…Patrik Laine leads the Jets with 10 goals in the third period this season, while Kyle Connor has nine.
Closing in on 1,500
Jets head coach Paul Maurice is three games away from reaching 1,500 NHL games coached…He's slated to reach the milestone on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks…Maurice will be the sixth coach in NHL history to reach 1,500 games coached, joining active NHL coaches Barry Trotz (New York Islanders) and Ken Hitchcock (Edmonton Oilers)…Maurice is ninth in NHL history with 680 wins and needs five wins to pass Pat Quinn for eighth place…He is the winningest coach in franchise history with a record of 220-148-45 during the past six seasons…Maurice became the head coach of the Hartford Whalers in November of 1995 and coached his first NHL game on Nov. 7/95 against the San Jose Sharks, which Hartford won 7-3…One of the goaltenders in that game for San Jose is Jets goaltending coach Wade Flaherty.
Double Time
Kyle Connor scored twice in a span of 34 seconds against the Bruins on Tuesday for his third multi-goal game of the season…He has eight goals and 12 points in his past 10 games…Connor has 21 goals this season, which marks the second consecutive season he has passed the 20-goal mark…He needs 10 goals this season to match the career high 31 goals he scored last season.
VIEW FULL GAME NOTES
Mo Power
Defenceman Josh Morrissey scored his third power play goal of the season on Tuesday, which is a career high…The goal propelled him to 27 points (6G, 21A) this season, which is a career high…Previously, he had a career high 26 points (7G, 19A) in 81 games last season…He's also averaging a career high 22:58 minutes per game and 1:50 minutes of power play time per game this season.
Career Year
Blake Wheeler is second in the NHL with 53 assists this season…His 1.06 assists per game this season is a career high…He needs 17 assists to match the career high of 68 assists he had last season…Wheeler's 36 primary assists are also second in the NHL this season…During the past four seasons, Wheeler leads the NHL with 221 assists and 154 primary assists in 295 games.