DETROIT - The one visit that the Winnipeg Jets make to Detroit every season is always special for the Michigan products on the team’s roster, but it could be even more so for Kyle Connor tonight.
The speedy forward is riding a nine-game point streak to open the season – already a franchise record – and should he extend that to 10, he’d hit 500 career points.
He’d have quite the audience to see him do it, too.
“Family, friends, brothers, they bring their buddies. t’s just whoever wants to come,” said Connor, who expects to have more than two dozen supporters in the crowd at Little Caesars Arena. “We get them all passes and catch up real quick. Obviously it’s such a whirlwind coming in and out, so you try to say hi to as many people as you can.”
On top of all those people in the stands, he’d hit the milestone in front of old teammates as well. Of course, former Jets Andrew Copp and Ben Chiarot are on that list, but so is old friend Dylan Larkin, and University of Michigan linemates like JT Compher and Tyler Motte.
“That was a big part of my career path, playing with those two at Michigan,” Connor said, reflecting on his 2015-16 campaign that saw him named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top player.
It was such a big opportunity for me to grow and learn from those guys. They were juniors and I was in my freshman year at Michigan. I learned a lot from them and hopefully I showed them something too.
Yes, hitting the milestone would be nice and make for a memorable moment, but Connor would love to see his Jets get back in the win column at the same time.
The Jets (8-1-0) are coming off their first loss of the season, a 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Connor’s teammate – and former Michigan State Spartan – Mason Appleton said the team’s focus is very specific after giving up five goals at even strength.
“I don’t think we defended hard in the right way. Clearing them out in front of our net, really managing the game in our own end will help us create offence,” Appleton said. “Managing the puck through the neutral zone and not turning the puck over, taking what they give us - whether that’s the rush game or if we have to put pucks behind them and go battle them and win races. We have to take what the game gives us, and obviously impose our will as well.”
Jets head coach Scott Arniel mixed up his lines midway through the second period, then again in the third, as the Jets tried to rally from what was a 4-0 deficit just 3:25 into the second period.
But at Wednesday’s morning skate, he went back to the lines that started the night – and helped the Jets earn that season-opening eight-game win streak.
“We did lots of good things prior to the last game,” said Arniel. “I like a lot of what our lines have done. Every line has given us opportunities to win games for us, create or add momentum in games themselves. They’ve all done what they need to do, we just have to get back to it.”
Connor Hellebuyck – another high-profile Michigan product on the Jets roster – is 3-3-0 in Detroit in his career and is expected to get the start in goal.
The projected line-up in front of him looks like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
The Red Wings (4-4-1) are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. It was their second defeat in a row to finish off a stretch of three games in four days.
Despite the defeat to Edmonton, head coach Derek Lalonde felt his team handled the busy stretch well.
“Back-to-backs are challenges,” he said. “Especially three [games] in four [days] and having an opponent like that sitting on us. Pretty impressed with the guys’ effort (Sunday).”
Detroit is averaging 2.78 goals per game this season, putting them in the middle of the pack in the National Hockey League (Winnipeg sits second in that category at 4.44). Arniel also feels that Detroit’s blue line has the ability to join the rush frequently.
“They’re an attack team. They’re going to come on transition,” said Arniel. “That young defence is coming. We have to make sure we're pulling back, protecting the guts of the ice, especially on that entry. Everybody's right in the mix. We have to take them out of the game. We can't allow them to let them go to their game. We talked about it earlier. We've got to go out and take these games from these teams."
Arniel knows he has a veteran group and expects the Jets to respond well following their first defeat. That sentiment is felt in the dressing room as well.
“It’s a fresh mindset,” said Appleton. “Over the course of such a long winning streak, it’s kind of maybe in your head a little bit more as it goes on. Now it’s just another fresh opportunity to start again and get rolling here. We didn’t like how we played last game and it’s a fresh slate now.”
Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm CT.
