JN Flight Plan: Jets Fly Into Pittsburgh Where They’ve Routinely Been Grounded

4 years ago

The Winnipeg Jets do not have a great history when it comes to playing games in Pittsburgh. As you’ll see below in our game notes, the Jets last win in the Steel City came back in 2006 when the club was still known as the Atlanta Thrashers. They haven’t even won a single game in Pittsburgh’s new PPG Paints Arena which was opened in 2010.

With that in mind, the Jets will look to pick up a win there with a group of six defenseman who have a grand total of 350 career NHL games between them with @Ville Heinola playing in just his fourth game while @Anthony Bitetto qualifying as the most experienced with 135 career games.

Winnipeg Jets (1-2-0 / 3rd Central)
@
Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-0 / 4th Metro)

Oct 8, 2019 – Puck drop: 6:00 PM CST
PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PN
TV: TSN 3 – Radio: TSN 1290


4-1 Loss @ NYI	Last Game	7-2 Win vs CBJ
1-2-0 (1 L)	Last 5 Games	1-1-0 (1 W)
@BLAKE WHEELER – 2	Goal Leader	McCann / Hornqvist – 2
@NIKOLAJ EHLERS – 4	Assist Leader	@Sidney Crosby – 3
NIKOLAJ EHLERS – 4	Points Leader	McCann / Crosby – 3
11.11% (23rd)	The Power Play	22.22% (17th)
60.00% (29th)	The Penalty Kill	66.67% (24th)
@CONNOR HELLEBUYCK (0-1-0 / .839 SV%)	Starting Goalie	@MATT MURRAY (1-1-0/ .930 SV%)
L @ NYR (26-31 / .839 SV%)	Last Goalie Start	W VS CBJ (28-30 / .933 SV%)
1-2-0 ON ROAD	Road v Home Record	1-1-0 AT HOME

Last Penguins Game

A five goal second period after a very quiet first period against Columbus helped lift the Penguins to their first win of the season. @Jarred McCann had a three point night – a career high – with two goals and an assist while @Patrik Hornqvist also added a pair of goals.

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Fun Penguins Fact…

Crosby is one point from passing Jean Beliveau for sole possession of 41st on the NHL’s all-time points list with 1,220. He has three assists in two games this season.
Pittsburgh has won 18-consecutive home games against the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise dating back to March 24, 2007. The team’s last loss to Winnipeg (Atlanta) at home came on December 27, 2006.
The Penguins recalled forwards @Andrew Agozzino and @Sam Lafferty on an emergency basis yesterday from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) following the announcement that @Nick Bjugstad and @Evgeni Malkin will be out longer-term with lower-body injuries.
Penguins goaltender @Matt Murray, who currently sits at 98 career wins, is looking to join @Marc-Andre Fleury (375), Tom Barrasso (226) and Ken Wregget (104) as the only netminders in Penguins history to win 100 games with the team.

What They’re Saying…

“He’s been great. He’s everything we expected we would get when we signed him. He brings a ton of speed. He brings a lot of energy. He’s a physical presence. He’s a good penalty killer. He’s done a real good job for us.”

Tanev Likes Facing Old Team But Happy To Be With Penguins – PittsburghHockeyNow.com

Though McCann has mostly played wing with the Penguins since they acquired him from Florida in February of last season, he’s a natural center who grew up playing that position.
“It should be easy,” McCann said of making the transition. “If they call on me to be that kind of guy, I’ll be ready for it.”

McCann ready to seize opportunity – NHL.com

Last Jets Game

A three goal second period after a very quiet first period against Winnipeg helped lift the Islanders to a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets did everything they could to just hang on in a game where their defensive unit was thin and very inexperienced.

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Fun Jets Facts…

The Jets have allowed three in goals in a period in each of their first three games… Last season the Jets allowed three goals or more in a period 11 times, which was second fewest in the NHL behind the New York Islanders’ 10 occurrences
@Patrik Laine scored his first goal of the season on Sunday against the Islanders, leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets as the only team he hasn’t scored against in his career.
@Ville Heinola has gone from 18:24 to 21:10 to 23:01 of ice time in his first three career games. He’s also averaging 1:42 of power play time per game, which is third most by a rookie defenceman in franchise history behind Toby Enstrom (5:44 in 2007-08) and @Jacob Trouba (1:58 in 2013-14)
MILESTONE WATCH: @Mathieu Perreault needs two points to reach 200 as a member of the Jets. @Blake Wheeler needs one point to reach 700 for his NHL career.

What We’re Saying…

It’s been a great start for the high-end talent of the Jets. Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Patrik Laine all have at least three points through the first three games. The notable name not on that list is Kyle Connor who only has one goal through the first week of the season. That shouldn’t last long given the sheer amount of scoring chances Connor has had so far.

What To Watch For: New Look Jets Defense Takes On Penguins

Be sure to check out our Twitter feed for any late updates to the game lineups!
You can also get up to the minute lineup combos for the Jets
including power play and penalty kill lines by checking out our line combo page.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
JAKE GUENTZEL Rating: 77.5#15 LW	SIDNEY CROSBY Rating: 80.6#7 C	DOMINIK SIMON Rating: 71.3#126 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 76.45#19 FL1
ALEX GALCHENYUK Rating: 74.2#38 LW	JARED MCCANN Rating: 74.2#51 C	BRANDON TANEV Rating: 71.6#72 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 73.30#18 FL2
ZACH ASTON-REESE Rating: 70.6#147 LW	TEDDY BLUEGER	PATRIC HORNQVIST Rating: 73.6#39 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 72.09#16 FL3
SAM LAFFERTY	ANDREW AGOZZINO Rating: 72.8#69 C	DOMINIK KAHUN Rating: 71.6#121 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 72.20#3 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
BRIAN DUMOULIN Rating: 74.1#41 LD	KRIS LETANG Rating: 78.8#3 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 76.43#6 DL1
JUSTIN SCHULTZ Rating: 74.6#27 LD	MARCUS PETTERSSON Rating: 73.6#56 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 74.09#13 DL2
JACK JOHNSON Rating: 70.7#116 LD	ERIK GUDBRANSON Rating: 71.6#82 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.16#27 DL3

GOALIES
MATT MURRAY Rating: 70.5#20 G1	TRISTAN JARRY Rating: 70.9#17 G2

Winnipeg Jets Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
PATRIK LAINE Rating: 73.1#49 LW	MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 78.7#13 C	BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 76.1#19 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 75.96#20 FL1
KYLE CONNOR Rating: 77.2#17 LW	ANDREW COPP Rating: 71.7#116 C	NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 75.2#24 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.68#12 FL2
GABRIEL BOURQUE Rating: 68.5#141 LW	ADAM LOWRY Rating: 70.8#144 C	MARK LETESTU Rating: 68.4#109 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 69.22#31 FL3
MATHIEU PERREAULT Rating: 71.3#104 LW	JACK ROSLOVIC Rating: 71.1#130 C	MASON APPLETON Rating: 71.1#82 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 71.18#16 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
VILLE HEINOLA Rating: 73.8#5 LD	NEAL PIONK Rating: 71.4#87 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 72.58#29 DL1
ANTHONY BITETTO Rating: 69.6#124 LD	TUCKER POOLMAN Rating: 72.9#54 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 71.23#31 DL2
CARL DAHLSTROM Rating: 71.5#101 LD	SAMI NIKU Rating: 71.5#105 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.50#23 DL3