It’s an interconference battle on the ice as a pair of teams close out their pre-holiday slate in the nation’s capital. The Winnipeg Jets are on the road as they make the trip to face the Washington Capitals Friday night. Winnipeg was in action on Thursday night as they faced the Bruins in Boston in the front game of a back-to-back set. The Jets beat the Senators 5-1 Tuesday night at home in their previous contest. Washington was on the road at Ottawa Thursday night in the front half of their back-to-back set that concludes here. The Capitals edged the Red Wings 4-3 at home in overtime Monday night. In the last 10 meetings, the Capitals own a 7-2-1 advantage and have won the last three meetings. That includes a 5-2 road win in the first meeting this season on December 11.
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Winnipeg was in action against Boston Thursday night so they play their third game in four nights here. The Jets entered Thursday 21-10-1 and stood second in the Central Division, one point behind the Stars for the top spot. Winnipeg enters this one 9th in the league in goals for as they average 3.38 goals a night. The Jets are tied for 4th in goals against as they allow 2.53 goals per contest. Winnipeg is 11th on the power play by cashing in on 24% of the chances with the man advantage this season. The Jets are 5th in the league in penalty killing as they successfully navigate 81.4% of their shorthanded situations.
Against Ottawa in their previous game Tuesday night, Winnipeg got their offense going early and cruised to a victory at home. The Jets were outshot 16-10 in the opening period but took a 3-1 lead to the dressing room after 20 minutes of play. K evin Stenlund opened the scoring with his first goal of the season at 1:58 off assists from David Gustafsson and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby. Josh Morrissey made it a 2-0 game with his sixth of the year at 6:58 with assists going to Dylan DeMelo and Kyle Connor. After Ottawa cut the deficit in half, Sam Gagner made it 3-1 with his sixth of the year at 19:47 off assists from Brenden Dillon and Pierre-Luc Dubois. The second period saw the Jets with a 9-7 shot advantage and a 2-0 edge on the scoreboard to take a 5-1 lead after 40 minutes. Connor made it 4-1 with his 14th goal of the season at 1:02 off assists from Morrissey and DeMelo. Later in the period, Connor tallied his second goal of the game and 15th of the year at 14:23 with Dubois and Jonsson-Fjallby drawing the assists on the marker. In the third period, Winnipeg was outshot 13-5 with neither team lighting the lamp, securing the win for the hosts. David Rittich made 35 saves for the Jets, who were outshot 36-24 , in the victory. With Connor Hellebuyck slated to get the start in goal Thursday against Boston, we could well see Big Game Dave in net again here.