The Jets will be facing the Utah Hockey Club for the second time this week when the teams meet on Friday in Winnipeg.
Utah, which posted a 5-2 home win on Monday, will be playing the second of back-to-back games. It recorded a 4-0 victory at the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in the opener of a three-game road trip.
Utah will be looking to match its season-long, four-game winning streak, set from Dec. 12-20.
On Thursday, Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves in his first shutout of the season.
“The boys played really well in front of me and they helped me a lot. It’s a big team win tonight,” Vejmelka said.
“We need to take pride and do it again (on Friday).”
Barrett Hayton scored twice on Thursday to boost his point total to seven (three goals, four assists) in his past four games.
Clayton Keller also tallied versus the Wild to lift his total to 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past five contests.
Hayton collected a goal and two assists and Keller had one of each in Utah’s win on Monday.
Utah trails the Calgary Flames by four points for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
“We’ve been well aware of these games and they’re important games,” Utah’s Lawson Crouse said. “Another one (Friday) night and it’s not gonna be easy. This one feels good but have to reset and get ready for (Friday).”
Winnipeg, which leads the West with 67 points, rebounded from the loss on Monday with a 3-2 overtime win at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. Defenseman Neal Pionk scored 17 seconds into the extra session
“That’s the growth of our team, part of our leadership group, knowing we had to be a lot better,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “Nobody was happy with how we played in Utah. Just to come out like we did and play as strong as we did … keep their offensive chances down and just stick with the game plan. It was a strong effort by everybody.”
Morgan Barron and Gabriel Vilardi also scored, and Vladislav Namestnikov and defenseman Josh Morrissey each had two assists for the Jets, who are 5-4-2 in their past 11 games.
Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves and had the secondary assist on the winning goal.
“When we are on our game, we are aggressive,” Morrissey said. “Each guy is on his toes and playing with pace and competitiveness. That is something we can control every night. And we just didn’t feel like we had it in Utah.”
Hellebuyck (29-7-2) leads the NHL in wins and goals-against average (2.02) and is tied with Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz for the top save percentage (.927) in the league.
Another thing that’s clicking is Winnipeg’s penalty kill. In their past seven games, the Jets have killed off 13 of 14 opponent power plays.
The Jets remain are one of just three teams that have yet to play in a shootout this season, along with the Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.
Winnipeg forward Mason Appleton had one shot on goal Wednesday and played 11:53 after missing the previous 11 games with a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media
