Jets at Senators
The Winnipeg Jets continue to add to their franchise-record point total and look to keep the momentum going when they visit the struggling Ottawa Senators on Monday. The Jets have won seven of their last eight games to push their total to 106 points, seven behind Central Division leader Nashville with four games remaining - all against teams that won’t be in the playoffs.
“You take every win as a positive - you have to do a lot of good things in this league to win games, no matter who you are playing,” Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler told reporters after Saturday's 3-1 win at Toronto. “We came in respecting the way they play the game and just wanted to be all over them, so I thought that was a real positive for us.” The Jets have earned points in 26 of their 39 road games (18-13-8) as they prepare to take on the Senators, who are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings after getting within a goal of the Stanley Cup Final last season. Ottawa has scored a total of 14 goals while dropping seven of its last eight contests after suffering a 2-0 loss at Detroit on Saturday and plays its final home game of the season Monday. “Our team hasn’t quit by any means, but we’ve got a lot of young guys who are making the kind of mistakes that they are going to make when they get to this league,” Senators coach Guy Boucher told reporters. “Hopefully, we can get a couple more wins and give our fans a nice finish.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE JETS (48-20-10): Wheeler continues to add to his career-high and team-leading point totals, recording 11 of his 87 in the last nine games after registering an assist in Saturday’s victory. Patrik Laine (43 goals) is mired in a six-game point drought but is just two goals behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin (45) for the league lead. Veteran Paul Stastny set up a goal on Saturday, giving him 11 points in 15 games since being acquired from St. Louis, while Mark Scheifele has notched seven points in his last seven contests.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (27-40-11): Two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson came up empty despite registering six shots on Saturday and remains one shy of his fifth consecutive 60-point season. Mike Hoffman and Ryan Dzingel both are mired in eight-game goal-scoring droughts while Ottawa’s power play, which ranks 26th in the league (16.6 percent), is 2-for-19 over the last eight contests. Matt Duchene, who was acquired from Colorado in a blockbuster trade early in the season, is one of four players on the team to score 20 goals and is two shy of 200 for his career.
OVERTIME
1. The Jets had a 49-21 advantage in shots during the only other meeting this season on Dec. 3 and Wheeler recorded four points in the 5-0 victory.
2. Winnipeg D Jacob Trouba returned to the lineup Saturday after missing five contests with a concussion.
3. Ottawa LW Tom Pyatt has registered just two points over his last nine games and remains one shy of 100 for his career.