Jets at Flyers
The Winnipeg Jets are soaring on the strength of a 4-0-1 run, while the Philadelphia Flyers have been grounded with losses in four of their last five games. The Flyers, who host the Jets on Thursday, haven't done themselves any favors by squandering third-period leads in two of their last three contests, with Steve Mason finding himself out of position on a late goal in regulation before the team dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to Ottawa on Tuesday.
"We let three points slip away," Mason told Philly.com of the Flyers' recent failings. "In order to become a good team on a consistent basis, in tight hockey games we have to find ways to put games away. We have to get that third goal, we can't let up that second goal." Winnipeg has had no such problem this season, sporting a perfect 6-0-0 record when leading after two periods. Rookie Patrik Laine scored his NHL-best 12th goal and Mark Scheifele notched his league high-tying 21st point with an assist in Tuesday's 4-0 rout of Central Division-rival Chicago. Ten of the 18-year-old Laine's goals have been scored on home ice for the Jets, who begin a five-game road trip on Thursday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE JETS (9-7-2): After turning aside 27 shots for his first shutout of the season, Connor Hellebuyck was quick to deflect any individual praise in favor of his shot-blocking defensemen and forwards. "We had a lot of huge blocked shots, not just little ones. That really lifts everyone on the bench," the 23-year-old goaltender told the Winnipeg Sun. Hellebuyck, who will make his first career start versus Philadelphia on Thursday, has won four in a row overall and five of six.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (7-7-3): Philadelphia's potent power play was held in check by the Senators, following up a 6-for-17 stretch in the previous five games to go 0-for-4 on Tuesday and drop to second in the league at 27.4 percent. Captain Claude Giroux has recorded 10 (three goals, seven assists) of his 16 points with the man advantage, while five of Wayne Simmonds' team-high eight tallies have come on the power play. Giroux and Simmonds each scored in their last encounter with the Jets, with the former collecting 22 career points (seven goals, 15 assists) against the franchise.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia RW Jakub Voracek, who sat out Wednesday's practice with a maintenance day, has recorded three multi-point performances in his last five games.
2. Winnipeg LW Nikolaj Ehlers, who has notched a team-leading 12 assists, has recorded 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his last seven contests.
3. Flyers rookie D Ivan Provorov logged a team-high 22 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time on Tuesday.