GAME DAY: Jets vs Sharks

WINNIPEG -Paul Maurice couldn't ask for a better opponent tonight, as the Winnipeg Jets host the San Jose Sharks in what will be Maurice's 1,500th game as a head coach in the National Hockey League.
Not only was Maurice's first career game as a head coach in this league against the Sharks (a 7-3 Hartford Whalers win back on Nov. 7, 1995), but San Jose's current coach - Pete DeBoer - is a long-time friend of Maurice.
In fact, DeBoer was Maurice's assistant coach back in the OHL in 1993-94, the first year Maurice served as the head coach of the Detroit Jr. Red Wings.
"I'd say I hired him as an assistant, but I didn't. It was my first year, I was 26, we coached together, he was in law school at the time," said Maurice. "We were roommates, ex-teammates from junior, so at that time he would have been as close a friend as I had. I got a lot of real nice texts over the last week, but his is the one I'll cherish and appreciate very much.
"As long as we win, I'm happy he's here."

The first match-up between the Jets and Sharks this season was a wild one. The Jets opened the scoring 51 seconds in, the Sharks answered less than a minute later - and with over six minutes left in the opening period, Winnipeg held a 3-2 lead.
The Jets went on to win that game 5-3 with Nikolaj Ehlers - who remains out with an upper-body injury - scoring a hat trick.
"Our teams have tremendous amount of speed on both sides and lots of confidence. So the game kind of ebbs and flows where one team just controls," said Maurice. "But the goals that are scored against, if you line them up, they're almost inexplicable. Nik Ehlers had a hat trick last game and there wasn't a goalie in the net for any of his shots…. It makes for good video."

Winnipeg has won seven straight on home ice, tied with the Sharks for the longest streak in the NHL. The seventh win came in a decisive 9-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
But Adam Lowry said the Jets have already wiped that game from their memory, as they prepare to host the Sharks who sit second in the Pacific Division with a 30-16-7 record.
"We have to expect a different game," said Lowry, adding that being on the puck and quick are two things the Jets would like to replicate from that six-goal first period against Anaheim.
"We know San Jose is playing extremely well. They've only had one game out of the break but they've been a team that's very dangerous. They don't just have one particular guy or one defenceman. They're a team that is similar to ours. They have a lot of depth that can hurt you."
Bryan Little is a game-time decision for the Jets and Dustin Byfuglien also won't play against the Sharks tonight. Byfuglien has been out with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 29.
Byfuglien has been skating since prior to the All-Star break, but his first full practice with the team was on Monday at Bell MTS Iceplex. Maurice said keeping the defenceman out one more game is a precaution.
"He's ready to play. He'd like to play. I just want to hold him out one more," said Maurice. "We're not concerned about the injury or where it's at. It's all the other things - groins, hip flexors - that when you don't get to push at a high level for a long period of time.
"He's not coming back in at 12 minutes. He's coming back in at 20-plus minutes and he's got to be ready to go. We wanted to get him another skate today, get him a skate tomorrow, then he'll go tomorrow."

The Sharks will also be without a key defenceman, as Erik Karlsson will miss his fifth straight game due to injury.
San Jose has gone 2-2-0 without Karlsson in the line-up and over the last five games, have given up six goals four times.
"They're a solid team. They have a lot of guys that can make some plays and make you pay," said Mark Scheifele, who had two assists in the first meeting with the Sharks this season. "They have a lot of guys that can make it hard on you in the offensive zone. We just have to be prepared to play a full 60 minutes. That's what it comes down to against a team like this."
While the 166 goals the Sharks have allowed this season are tied for the ninth most in the league, San Jose possesses the offensive weapons to off set that. Collectively, the Sharks have 190 goals for this season, the third most in the league behind only Tampa Bay and Calgary.
"You have Joe Thornton on your third line right now. Then Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, they're playing extremely well. (Joe) Pavelski is having what seems like a career year," said Lowry.
"There is a lot of different guys that can hurt you and they can hurt you in different ways. It's not just off the rush or in the zone. They're a team that can create in many ways."

Connor Hellebuyck was the first goaltender off the ice and is expected to start in goal for the Jets with puck drop set for 7 pm CT.
ICE CHIPS
Nikolaj Ehlers continues to skate prior to formal Jets practices. While he didn't take part in this morning's pre-game skate, he will travel on the team's upcoming three-game Eastern Conference road trip, which begins Thursday in Montreal.
We're seven days away (from a practice)," said Maurice. "So he's back into the part now where the conditioning and some of the ice work gets handed over to the coaches. He has more of a defined window. He's not playing until a certain date. We're moving toward that now."
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
Tonight's Game
The Winnipeg Jets finish a three-game homestand tonight against the San Jose Sharks...The Jets beat the Anaheim Ducks 9-3 on Saturday night and have won both games of the homestand so far...After tonight, the Jets embark on a three-game road trip through the Atlantic Division, beginning Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Home Comforts
Winnipeg has won seven consecutive games and 11 of their last 13 contests at Bell MTS Place to improve to 20-6-2 at home this season...The Jets' seven-game home winning streak is their longest of the season...It's tied with San Jose for the longest active home winning streak in the league and two games shy of Tampa Bay's season-high nine game home winning streak...The Jets the have most points and are tied for the most wins at home in the NHL...The Jets have the best power play at home in the NHL this season at 36.9%, including four-for-eight during the homestand...Winnipeg's 31 power play goals at home this season is first in the NHL...The Jets are 18-for-43 (41.9%) on the power play in their past 13 home games...The Jets have a 52-13-4 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 112 goals at home this season, which is tied for first in the NHL, and have outscored their opposition 108-49 in their 20 wins...Winnipeg has scored at least four goals in all seven games of their home winning streak.
Power Play Run
The Jets have scored a power play goal in four consecutive games, going 6-for-13 (46.2%)...It's their fourth streak this season of four games or more with a power play goal...Winnipeg is second in the NHL with a 27.6% power play percentage.
Busy Time
The Jets are in a stretch of 11 games (3-1-0) in 20 days...Winnipeg went 6-3-0 in nine games in 16 days leading into the break...The Jets are playing their last 34 games of the regular season in 69 days.
Party in the Pacific
The Jets are 11-3-1 against Pacific Division opponents this season and have won six of the past seven games...Winnipeg was a dominant 17-4-2 against Pacific Division foes last season and are on an 21-4-3 run in their last 28 games versus the Pacific...Mark Scheifele (6G, 9A and Blake Wheeler (4G, 11A) lead the Jets in scoring against the Pacific Division this season with 15 points in 15 games...Dustin Byfuglien has 11 points (2G, 9A) in 10 games against the Pacific Division this season.
VIEW FULL GAME NOTES
As the Offence Goes...
Winnipeg has scored four goals or more in 10 consecutive victories and in 16 of their past 17 wins...The Jets are averaging 4.6 goals per game in wins this season, which is the second most in the NHL...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 52 games the Jets have played this season, 32 have been decided by two goals or more.
Third Act
The Jets are second in the NHL with 71 goals in the third period this season...Winnipeg's plus-21 goal differential in the third period is tied for second in the league...The Jets have scored in the third period in 11 of their past 12 games (20G), including two goals in five of the past seven games...Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor lead the Jets with 10 goals in the third period this season.
No. 1,500
Jets head coach Paul Maurice is slated to coach his 1,500th game as an NHL head coach tomorrow... Maurice will be the sixth head 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 682 wins and needs three wins to pass Pat Quinn for eighth place...He is the winningest coach in franchise history with a record of 222-148-45 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.
Roslovic First Star
The NHL named Jets forward Jack Roslovic the league's first star of the week on Monday...Roslovic opened the week with a goal in Winnipeg's 3-1 setback to Philadelphia on Monday...On Thursday, the Columbus, Ohio native scored again in the Jets' 4-3 come from behind win over his hometown Blue Jackets...On Saturday, Roslovic recorded his first career hat trick and four-point (3G, 1A) game in Winnipeg's 9-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks...Roslovic's trio of goals were all on the power play, as he was the first Jets/Thrashers player to tally three PPGs in a game since Ilya Kovalachuk did it on Nov. 6/06...Roslovic scored the three goals in 2:20 of power play ice time, which is the third fewest PP TOI to score three or more power play goals since the NHL started to record time on ice...Roslovic led the NHL with five goals this week and was tied for the most points (6)...On the season, Roslovic has 16 points (7G, 9A) in 51 games and his 16.3% shooting percentage is third best on the Jets...This is the first time in his career that Roslovic has been selected in the NHL's Three Stars of the Week...He is the sixth Jets player to be selected in 2018-19 after Winnipeg had eight appearances in the Three Stars of the Week last season...Roslovic joins Mark Scheifele (Dec. 17 - Second Star, Dec. 3 - First Star, and Oct. 29 - Second Star), Patrik Laine (Nov. 26 - First Star) and Blake Wheeler (Nov. 12 - Second Star) as members of the Jets that have earned NHL Three Stars of the Week honours this season.
Goals for Kids
During Winnipeg's three-game winning streak, 10 of the 16 goals have been scored by players aged 23 or younger...The Jets are second in the NHL with 85 goals scored this season by players age 23 or younger.
Consistent Contributor
Bryan Little has a point in 10 of past 12 games...He's tallied 14 (7G, 7A) of his 34 points this season in the past 12 games...He posted 20 points in his first 40 games of the season...He's also netted more than half of his 13 goals this season in his past nine games.
Fourth Line Producing
Dating back to their 5-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Jan. 17, the Jets have scored 18 even strength goals and eight of the 18 goals have been scored by Winnipeg's fourth line...Brendan Lemieux leads the trio with four goals, while Mason Appleton has two and Andrew Copp has one (Appleton set up defenseman Tyler Myers for the eighth goal).