GAMEDAY: Utah Hockey Club at Jets

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets started a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon with a 7-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. They will look to continue their impressive start to the season as Utah comes to town Tuesday night for the first of three straight Central Division matchups. It will be the first ever matchup between the two teams after Utah moved from Arizona this offseason.

While the name has changed, the faces have not with Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz on the other side of the ice tonight,

"Obviously a lot of the same players. But the big thing in terms of watching them play and looking at their stats and analytics, the defensive part of the game is real good. It's been a lot better and it's an area that they don't give you a whole lot, so you've got to work for it,” said Scott Arniel.

“Obviously, they’ve taken some time and done a lot of work with it. It’s going to mean that we have to work to get our space and get inside ice. It's not going to be easy once we get in."

There will be no changes to the lineup that beat Tampa 7-4 on Sunday. There were some concerns that Kyle Connor was hit on the blindside by Nikita Kucherov and then bounced off Erik Cernak but the Jets leading scorer is good to go.

“Just kind of an unfortunate hit. They pulled me off right away for the concussion protocol. Obviously, every player doesn’t want to miss any time. But I’m glad to have a protocol like that, someone up top looking out for us even when I’m pissed off,” said Connor.

“I’m sure I’ll look back on that and be thankful. There are scenarios where guys get pulled off and down the road, they’re thankful to do it. Everything checked out, I felt good.”

Connor has a team-leading 9-10—19 (12 GP) and has helped the Jets (11-1-0, 22 points) soar to the top of the NHL standings through the first month of the season while notching a point in each of Winnipeg’s games. Should Connor extend his season-opening point streak to 13 contests against Utah, he would match Kevin Stevens (13 GP in 1992-93 w/ PIT) for the longest run in NHL history by a U.S.-born player.

“That’s exactly what I’ve been doing – not focusing on it at all. Just focus on what I can control, the details, how I arrive to the rink. Just trying to be the best teammate I can be for the guys here and what I can do to help the team win,” said Connor.

“Obviously that’s play to all my strengths and use my speed. All that stuff, obviously it’s been a pretty good start to the year for the team and me personally, but I think it all takes care of itself if you pay attention to details and play the right way.”

Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal for the Jets with an 8-1-0 record, 2.33 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. The Vezina Trophy winner sure likes all the goal support he has been getting this season.

“There are sometimes where I’m needed more than others. This good stretch that we’ve been on, I’ve felt like I’ve had just a front row seat to everything that’s been going on. I’ve just got to make sure that you don’t let anything easy go in and you don’t let the game get out of hand around you,” said Hellebuyck.

“You control your rebounds and make sure there is no extra scrambling going around. That being said, the guys have been playing so good in front of me and I’m able to see everything and control everything. We’re not even giving up a whole lot of zone time right now."

Winnipeg fell behind 2-0 in the first period on Sunday afternoon but fought back with three unanswered goals on route to a 7-4 victory.

“Oh, absolutely. It shows a ton of character in the room. When guys are feeling as good as they are and playing as good as they are, when we get down two (goals) quick, that can affect the game and that can affect a team,” said Hellebuyck.

“We put our foot down and we stuck to our game. We knew we just got screwed and we just went with it. When a team can battle back from that, that’s (a sign) of good things to come.”