GAMEDAY: Blue Jackets at Jets

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets went 2-0-0 on their two-game road trip with a 3-2 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres and a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday. The Jets will travel back to Canada Life Centre for a four-game homestand starting with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night which will be the back half of the back-to-back.

The Jets are 9-2-0 at Canada Life Centre this season. They lost their previous meeting at home 4-1 against St. Louis on Dec. 3, but have yet to lose consecutive games at home this season. With a win on Sunday night they can become the sixth team to reach double digit home wins this season despite playing the fewest games at home this season (11GP).

"It’s definitely huge. Obviously, we've been on the go non-stop," said Nino Niederreiter.

"But I mean, every team’s gonna go through those situations, and we just did that now, it's nice to go home and do the work."

It's no coincidence that the Jets have returned to their winning ways at the same time that their top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi are back on track. Scheifele has been back at his usual centre position for the two games, Vilardi had a goal in both Buffalo and Chicago and Connor has three points (1G, 2A) in his last two games.

"Like the other night in Buffalo, Gabe (Vilardi) getting close to the net. I think it's made a big difference now that Scheifs back in the middle. It allows him to go play his game," said Scott Arniel.

"That faceoff goal, we've talked a lot about attacking the net. KC fires one from the bad angle. Now it becomes a scramble. Nobody knows where the puck is and Scheif did a good job of getting there. Yeah, you need your games like this when they're tight. You need your top people to score goals."

Winnipeg is tied for second in the league with 102 goals which is the most in the first 28 games of a season in franchise history. They became the fastest team in franchise history to reach 100 goals (28GP). The Jets have four players with double digit goals: Kyle Connor (14), Mark Scheifele (13), Gabriel Vilardi (10) and Nino Niederreiter (10). Niederreiter has scored 20 or more goals nine times over his career and is on pace for 30 this season.

"I mean, it definitely feels great. But like, I mean at the end of day, it's all about winning hockey games, and I think that's the most important thing," said Niederreiter.

"Obviously, it's great to contribute and get some goals, but in the end, nothing is more fun than winning hockey games."

The Jets are 4-1-0 in the past five games against Columbus at home. They scored four or more goals in four of those five games. Their power play is on a current three-game goal streak against Columbus at home (3-for-10).