JGD 37: Jets Spend New Year’s Eve in the Desert

The Winnipeg Jets travel to Arizona tonight to take on the Coyotes in the 2015 finale. 

The Jets are looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season. The Jets blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 on Sunday, then followed that up with a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings two nights later. 

The Jets are also looking to end a streak. They’ve lost five straight games on the road, their last win being on Nov. 27 in Minnesota. They’ve lost 11 of their last 12 road games and are 6-12-1 overall on the road this season. 

They’ll have a chance to improve their road record, as tonight begins a five-game road trip for the Jets.

Mark Scheifele (concussion) has traveled with the team and has resumed skating with the team in a non-contact jersey, but remains out tonight. 

Like the Jets, the Coyotes have been very up and down lately as well. They’ve gone 4-2-2 in their last eight games, with seven of those eight games being at home. The Coyotes are coming off a crazy 7-5 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at home. 

The Coyotes are 9-6-2 overall at home this season. 

The Jets are 1-0 against the Coyotes this season. They last met on November 21 when Chris Thorburn scored short-handed late in the third period to give the Jets a 3-2 lead at MTS Centre. You may also remember that game as the game Shane Doan murdered Ondrej Pavalec, so look out for some payback on the Arizona captain tonight. 

The Jets have won their last two games since shaking up the lines, so no reason to mess with them against just yet. 

Andrew Ladd and Alex Burmistrov (finally) had goals last game against Detroit. 

Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler have been on fire as of late. They both lead the team with 8 points each in the last five games. Little has 4 goals and 4 assists while Wheeler has 8 assists. 

Jacob Trouba had been quiet as of late, but exploded for two goals last game against Detroit. 

Tyler Myers leads all defensemen in points over the last five games with 4 (2 goals, 2 assists). 

12 of Dustin Byfuglien’s 19 points have been scored on the road this eason (5 goals, 7 assists).

Hellebuyck will start his eighth game in the last nine. He recorded his first career shutout Sunday against the Penguins and has been by far the best Jets goaltender this season. He is 7-3-0 with a 2.01 GAA and a .932 save percentage and 1 shutout. 

He’s allowed just one goal in his last two starts. 

Shane Doan is coming off his second career hat-trick in their 7-5 loss to Chicago. He leads the team with five goals in their last five games. 

Doan, along with Boedker and Ekman-Larsson, the lead the team with six points in the last five games. 

Mikkel Boedker continues his career year with 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 36 games this season. 

Watch out for soon-to-be NHL All-Star John Scott. 

It’s no shock that Oliver Ekman-Larsson widely leads all Arizona defensemen in scoring. He has 25 points (9 goals, 16 assists) in 36 games this season. He is 9th in the NHL overall in scoring among defensemen. 

Louis Domingue will get the start tonight for Arizona. 

Domingue replaced Lindback in the game against Chicago after Lindback allowed three goals on five shots. Domingue went on to stop 19 of 22 shots. 

Domingue is 2-2-1 so far this season with a 2.66 GAA and .915 save percentage. It’s a small sample size, but his numbers are significantly better than both Lindback and Mike Smith’s numbers.