Jets at Predators
Kyle Connor led all NHL rookies in goals scored a season ago and his sophomore season is off to a great start as the Winnipeg Jets travel to face the Nashville Predators on Thursday, in a matchup of the top two teams in the 2017-18 regular season who later met in a grueling playoff series. Connor has scored a goal in each of the first three games this season, none bigger than his power-play marker that served as the game winner in Tuesday’s 2-1 home victory over Los Angeles.
Connor scored 31 goals a season ago and already has four points this season for the Jets, who rebounded from a subpar performance in Saturday’s 5-1 loss at Dallas by outshooting the Kings 39-17 and getting 16 saves from Connor Hellebuyck. Now Winnipeg heads to Nashville, where it beat the Predators in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals last spring to win a physical series. Nashville looks for a bounce back of its own after suffering its first regular-season shutout loss at home since February 2017 on Tuesday, falling 3-0 to Calgary despite 43 shots on goal. Nashville opened the season with two road victories, getting two goals from Viktor Arvidsson and two assists each from defensemen P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), FS Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE JETS (2-1-0): Connor, Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele have combined for five goals and 10 points through three games, and Connor owns a team-high plus-4 rating. Hellebuyck gave up the five goals in Dallas but has allowed just one in his other two outings, good for a .926 save percentage overall. The Jets played much better on defense Tuesday after allowing 77 shots through two games, winning 63.8 percent of their faceoffs and killing off a late Tyler Myers penalty.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (2-1-0): Goaltender Pekka Rinne, who struggled against the Jets in the playoffs, has given up five goals in two games while starting the season 1-1. One area of concern is Nashville’s special teams, which finished 0-for-4 on the power play Tuesday and is scoreless in six opportunities, while the penalty kill has allowed three goals. Subban and Ekholm each have three points, while Colton Sissons leads the team at plus-3.
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg, which finished 32-7-2 at home in 2017-18, opens a six-game homestand Sunday against Carolina.
2. Jets F Nikolaj Ehlers, a 29-goal scorer last season, has not scored since April 3 - a span of 20 games (including 15 playoff contests).
3. Nashville won three of five meetings in the regular season in 2017-18, but the Jets scored four goals or more five times against the Predators in the playoffs.