GAMEDAY: Blackhawks at Jets

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets open the home portion of their 2024-25 schedule on Friday night when they entertain the Chicago Blackhawks at Canada Life Centre. The Jets started their season with a 6-0 win on the road against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

The win was impressive in many ways with the shutout of the West Champs on the road, as they held Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to a combined two shots on goal. With The Blackhawks providing the opposition on Friday, how do the Jets build off of their effort two nights ago?

“Different opponent, whole different set of circumstances. We gotta come home and build on a lot of the good things that we did obviously. That team game was really good throughout that game, we gotta do it again,” said Scott Arniel.

“You know it’s the home opener, distractions at the beginning and we got to make sure that we are ready to go when that puck drops.”

Here are the Jets line combos and defence pairings from Friday’s morning skate:

Connor Hellebuyck will once again start in goal and is coming off the 38^th shutout of his career. His teammates deserve a lot of credit for the shutout as they blocked 29 shots including Hadyn Fleury taking a puck to the face. The 31-year-old was quick to point out that moment was part of the sacrifice and commitment the team needs.

“You never want to see anyone get hurt. But they're willing to put their body on the line in front of me and do whatever it takes,” said Hellebuyck Wednesday.

“That builds a team and that's what builds chemistry. That was a huge play and huge block tonight, and there's many more to come.”

A primary focus during training camp and the preseason was the Jets special teams, the power play was 22^nd (18.8%) and the penalty kill was 21^st (77.1%). While the sample size is small, the power play went 2-for-3 on Wednesday and the PK was 1-for-1.

“You want to get off to a good start on special teams and not be behind it. I think there’s some new ideas for us here that I think everyone’s buying into. We’ve got a lot of talented players out there,” said Josh Morrissey.

“It’s just about executing, working fast, being on the same page. It was one game, but it should give us confidence here to keep working on it. Just like our team game, like our penalty kill, power play, individual games. A lot of good things but we have to keep building every day.”

FIRST FOR RASMUS

Rasmus Kupari and the fourth line were another part of the Jets win on Wednesday and the Finnish forward had a huge goal in the second period. Kupari took a pass from Morrissey in the second period and scored his first goal as a member of the Jets, squeezing it past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. His first goal since January 3, 2023.

“It gives me confidence. It’s a good thing to build on,” said Kupari.

“Overall, we played great that game, Our line was playing great as well. It’s a long time since I scored a goal in this league, so it feels really good.”