A season-long six-game losing streak brings the Chicago Blackhawks (8th in Central Division) to a domestic contest against the Winnipeg Jets (2nd in Central), who have won two of their past three matchups.
The Winnipeg Jets (12-6-1) earned their second victory in the past three outings (2-1-0) after going 1-1-0 on their current three-date road trek following a 5-4 overtime triumph against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Friday. The Jets were leading 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 throughout the contest before the hosts forced the extra session with a couple of late snipes, including the 4-4 equalizer with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, only for Josh Morrissey (4 goals, 20 points this year) to give Winnipeg the win on a breakaway 34 seconds into the bonus period. With that, the Jets improved to a 4-2-1 record on their most recent seven travels.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 37 shots on Friday and has now gone 9-5-1 for the ongoing campaign with a 2.46 GAA and a .926 save percentage. He has registered a 13-7-0 career tal ly against the Chicago Blackhawks with a 2.41 GAA and a .921 save percentage. The Jets, meanwhile, are scoring the 12th lowest number of goals per game this season (2.95), while giving up the 7th lowest quantity on the defensive end (2.68). They are 25th in power play with an 18.0% conversion rate (11-for-61) and 4th best in penalty kill with 82.4% efficiency (42-for-51).