GAMEDAY: Jets vs Coyotes

WINNIPEG -It's only a brief stop at home for the Winnipeg Jets, but Karson Kuhlman figures there is enough time during these two days to get a couple things done.
"Do your laundry and get right back to it," he laughed. "It's always nice coming back home, seeing the family, and playing in front of our home crowd as well."
Tonight's divisional tilt against the Arizona Coyotes is the lone stop at Canada Life Centre in a nine-game stretch.
The Jets are coming off a three-game trip that finished with victories in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and after tonight's game, they'll hop back on the plane for a five-game road trip.
"It would be nice to get off on the right foot with a home win," Jets head coach Rick Bowness said. "You just take it one game at a time, like we did last game."

The friendly confines of Canada Life Centre have been an advantage for the home side so far this season. Winnipeg's 16-6-0 record on home ice is the best in the Western Conference, but a 17th victory in downtown won't come easy, even with Arizona on the back half of a back-to-back.
"Bottom line is this team we're playing gave Minnesota all they could handle last night. I watched the game," said Bowness. "Minnesota found a way to win, but for the most part Minnesota was hanging on."
The road trip the Jets are returning from saw a little bit of everything.

They out-chanced Detroit and, according to Bowness, had over nine minutes of offensive zone possession time in that game and came up on the wrong side of it. By contrast, the Jets didn't like their game in Buffalo and came out on top of a 4-2 score.
"That evened out," said Bowness. "We just loved the Pittsburgh game. That's more how we want to play - the chances against were down under 10, not a lot of time in our zone."
So that Pittsburgh game becomes the most recent template for the Jets to work off of. Kuhlman, who notched his first goal as Jet to seal the win in Buffalo, believes it's a standard the Jets expect out of themselves on a nightly basis.
"The 60-minute game is something we want to keep building toward," he said. "Playing every minute, helping the guys out around you, doing your job every shift. Those things are important. We want to bring that tonight."
The projected line-up is difficult to predict, as the Jets held an optional morning skate on Sunday.
Morgan Barron is expected to return after missing two games due to illness, but the word on who comes out likely won't come until warm-up.
Saku Maenalanen, who stepped right back into the line-up in the back-to-back games in Buffalo and Pittsburgh (due to Barron being unavailable) played 12:43 and 15:52 in his first action since December 8.

The one certainty is that Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal, and a win tonight would pull him behind only Boston's Linus Ulllmark for the most wins in the NHL by a goaltender.
In the other net will be Karel Vejmelka, who has faced the second-most shots this season (1,036) and is winless in his last six starts.
"Going into every night we want to play the way we know we can, and that we're capable of," said Kuhlman. "Play to our strengths and good things have happened this year so far. Hopefully they continue."
It can be tough to come off the road, play the third game in four nights, while also pack up for another five-game trip. Add in the fact the Coyotes are seventh in the Central and are on a seven-game losing skid, and this contest might have the makings of a trap game for the Jets.
Bowness isn't having any of it.
"Every game is the same. It's an important game for us in the standings clearly. We're going on a five-game road trip. Let's not get wrapped up in the trap game stuff," he said.
"This is another example of a better team than its record, but more importantly it's about us. We're going on a five-game road trip. We've been on the road. It's one home game, we have to take advantage of it."
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets are 11-3-0 against their Central Division counterparts this season, with two of the three losses coming on the road. Winnipeg has won six of their past seven games against Central Division teams.
The Jets are 16-6-0 at Canada Life Centre this season, which is tied for second in the NHL and first in the Western Conference. Kyle Connor (14G, 19A) leads the team with 33 points in 22 home games.
Cole Perfetti registered his second three-assist game of the season on Friday. He's the first player in franchise history to have two three-assist games as a rookie and the only NHL rookie to have multiple three-assist games this season.
Jets defencemen have combined for 112 points this season, which is second in the NHL. Thursday's game against Buffalo marked the ninth time this season that four or more defencemen had a point for the Jets in the same game.
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