"I think the break helped. The guys came out of it feeling good about ourselves playing three tough teams," said Gabriel Bourque.
"That win (in St. Louis) was big for us."
OPPORTUNITY ON HOME ICE
Winnipeg is 11-12-3 at home this season so as this season long six-game home stand begins this afternoon, now is as good a time as ever to turn around their fortunes at Bell MTS Place. The Jets will play against Ottawa, Chicago (twice), Rangers, San Jose and Los Angeles. All six of those games are against opponents who currently reside below the Jets in the standings. But that doesn't mean the Jets will be taking these teams lightly, starting with the Senators today.
"We're not in the playoffs either. So we're like those teams," said Maurice.
"We're going to come to the rink every night with six guys out of our lineup and that's not going to change a whole lot anytime soon. It be foolish to think you can come to any of these games and think because they're not in the playoffs you somehow have an easier night."
REASON TO BE LEARY
Ottawa comes into today's game in the bottom five of the NHL standings - the Jets and Sens will battle twice in the next 12 days. Winnipeg is 4-4-1 against the other four bottom five teams this season. 2-1 vs. Anaheim, 1-0-1 vs. New Jersey, 0-2 vs. Los Angeles and 1-1 vs. Detroit.
PATIENTLY WAITING
Like his teammates, Laurent Brossoit has certainly deserved a better fate especially in his last two starts (4-3 loss at Columbus on Jan. 22, 2-1 loss vs. Boston on Jan. 31). Brossoit is closing in on almost two months since his last victory but has only had four starts since his win on December 10th against the Detroit Red Wings.
"Laurent (Brossoit) and Connor (Hellebuyck) have been exceptional since the break and we need them to be," said Maurice.
GOOD FOR HARKINS
Jansen Harkins became the third member of the Jets to score his first NHL goal when he opened the scoring for Winnipeg in the first period in St. Louis. Harkins joined David Gustafsson and Ville Heinola as Jets rookies to score their first and all three players did so away from Bell MTS Place. Harkins will be looking for his first NHL point on home ice this afternoon with all four of his points coming on the road.
