Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers

Note:  The Jets had quite a contest which saw Connor Hellebuyck stand on his head to keep his team in this game long enough to allow Patrik Laine’s point streak to hit 12 games (16 goals and six assists) with his 41st goal of the season which tied the game and sent it to OT.  While the Jets ultimately lost in extra time (now 2/8 in overtime this season) they are 3-1-1 and will close out the road trip in Nashville tonight.  A question mark ahead of this game is the status of Matt Hendricks who is likely not playing although coach Maurice left open his status.  With the Jets having played last night they won’t be skating today ahead of today’s 7 pm puck drop.  Stay tuned to the Jets pre-game report throughout the day for any and all Jets news and updates via Twitter | Facebook | Instagram.

Note II:  The Moose are in Texas and will practice today in Austin as they prepare for a game against the Stars tomorrow night during this seven-game road trip.

Note III:  There was some Jets updates following yesterday’s morning skate starting with the fact that goalie Steve Mason had a scope on his knee yesterday and is out 2-3 weeks.  Also includes news on Dmitry Kulikov, Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry, Jacob Trouba, Tobias Enstrom and Shawn Matthias.  For the full update click here.

Jets news:

NHL.com:  Laine’s scoring surge impresses Carson.  While the Jets sophomore sniper has been lights out this season it will be difficult to overtake Carson but not outside the realm of possibility the way that Laine is playing.  Lisa caught up with the top scoring teenager in NHL history to get his thoughts on what Laine has accomplished.

Winnipeg Sun:  Five keys to Jets and Predators.  Ken’s big matchup is Blake Wheeler vs Roman Josi. His keys to the game include: 1) Tighten things up. 2) Four lines required. 3) What’s next for Hutchinson? 4) Pay close attention. 5) Stastny cruising.

Winnipeg Sun:  Scheifele back on ice Jets top centre progressing, but caution prevails.  There is absolutely no reason to rush him back into the lineup and take a chance that he gets injured again.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets fall to Caps 3-2 in OT on historic night for Ovechkin, Laine.  (Paywall).  It was quite the see-saw battle in D.C. last night and Mike recaps the action from Verizon Center.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Similarities between snipers Laine, Ovechkin striking.  (Paywall).   Jets fans won’t be too upset if their sniper is approaching the sort of lofty numbers that Ovechkin has been able to put up during his career.

Washington Post:  Alex Ovechkin scores 600th career goal, marking his latest night of history.  Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck handled giving up the big goal to Ovechkin with some dry humour “I seem to be on the wrong end of all of these milestones….I’m definitely gonna be in some historical film.”  Read about this big achievement and the game from a beat writer that covers the Capitals.

ESPN:  Which team will go further in the playoffs, the Capitals or Jets?  Washington and Winnipeg are in different places in their life spans as championship contenders. The Jets are building toward a title with a young core, while Alex Ovechkin and Co. are using an industrial-strength tire jack to keep their Cup window open.

Illegal Curve:  Ovechkin and Laine make their presence felt in battle of the NHL goal scoring leaders.  Our post-game report includes some of the notable events from the game, a look at the numbers and audio from Connor Hellebuyck, Patrik Laine, coach Maurice as well as a small update (of sorts) about Matt Hendricks.

Illegal Curve:  Patrik Laine named NHL First Star of the Week.  After winning the Second Star of the Week last week and saying “I’m not satisfied with the second place, I wanted to be first” the Finnish sniper got his wish.

Jets video:

TSN:  Ovechkin and Laine masters at finding space to score.  Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine are tied for the goal-scoring lead with 40 apiece and with 14 games remaining for both players, TSN Hockey analyst Mike Johnson describes their similarities and dissects where each of them get their goals from.

Jets audio:

TSN 1040 Vancouver:  Winnipeg an easy team to like.  Pierre Lebrun suggests Winnipeg may be everyone’s second-favourite team, as the club has slowly built from scratch after the move from Atlanta.