Jets at Sharks
The Winnipeg Jets look to pick up where they left off in their season opener when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Winnipeg put forth a tremendous offensive effort at Arizona on Thursday, scoring five consecutive goals after the Coyotes forged a tie to post a 6-2 victory. Blake Wheeler tallied twice in a 15-second span and added an assist while Bryan Little netted a pair of goals as the Jets extended their winning streak against Arizona to five games.
The victory came at a price, as Evander Kane suffered a right knee injury in a collision with teammate Mark Scheifele early in the contest and is expected to miss both of Winnipeg's games this weekend. "I would not list him as day-to-day right now," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. San Jose put a damper on Los Angeles' Stanley Cup championship banner-raising ceremony on Wednesday as Tommy Wingels scored twice and Antti Niemi registered his 28th career shutout in a 4-0 triumph.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, RSN360 (Winnipeg), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE JETS (1-0-0): Wheeler capped a spurt of four overall goals - three by Winnipeg - in a 1:48 span of the first period Thursday, setting the franchise record for the fastest two tallies by one player. "He gets up and down that ice with so much speed," Maurice said. "I think he's started to really settle into his game. Going back to last year, he has a really good understanding of what makes him good, and he just does that."
ABOUT THE SHARKS (1-0-0): Patrick Marleau has now scored a goal in three consecutive season openers. His tally on Wednesday was the 438th of his career, tying him with Gary Roberts for 64th place on the all-time list. Niemi owns a 3.13 goals-against average against the Jets, his worst mark versus any team he has faced at least five times.
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg concludes its season-opening three-game road trip Sunday in Los Angeles before beginning a five-game homestand Friday against Nashville.
2. San Jose hopes to continue its trend of season-opening winning streaks, as it began 2012-13 with seven straight victories before opening last campaign with six in a row.
3. The Sharks are 11-2-2 with two ties in the all-time series against the Jets franchise.