As any player in the National Hockey League will say, the schedule really doesn’t allow much time to get too high or too low.
So when the Winnipeg Jets woke up in Vegas Thursday morning – just hours after putting the finishing touches on a 4-3 overtime win over the defending Stanley Cup champions in Colorado the night before – their focus had already shifted.
It now sits solely on their final opponent on this three-game road trip: the 3-1-0 Vegas Golden Knights.
“You never want to look at standings early, or whatever it is, but you don’t want to dip below 0.500,” said Mason Appleton, who had two assists in the win over Colorado. “To be 2-1-0 heading into Vegas…it’s a good spot.”
This is the first of 12 sets of back-to-backs the Jets will face this season. They were 5-5-2 in the second game of such situations in 2021-22, and look to get this year’s record in back-to-back games off to a strong start.
After playing last night, the Jets won’t hold a morning skate in Vegas, so any line-up decisions won’t be known until warm-up ahead of tonight’s tilt at T-Mobile Arena.
Nikolaj Ehlers Didn’t play in Colorado as he continues to nurse a lower-body injury.
“We’re still trying to figure him out here,” said associate coach Scott Arniel. “It’s been nagging. We’ll just discuss it (Thursday) and see where it goes.”
With Ehlers unavailable last night, Appleton stepped into the speedy forward’s spot alongside Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
Appleton had two assists – including one on the game-winner – marking the third time in his career he picked up two assists in a game. After being reacquired from the Seattle Kraken at last season’s trade deadline, Appleton had two assists in 19 games with the Jets.
He was happy to take advantage of his opportunity in Colorado, adding three shots on goal in 18:43 of ice time along with those assists.
“I played a couple games with Scheif, and KC actually, on different lines. I thought we did a good job early,” said Appleton. “They picked up their game and they had some sustained O-zone time later in the game, but I thought we did some good things. It’s obviously fun playing with two very elite guys.”
Tonight’s game in Vegas could also be the first regular season opener David Rittich as a member of the Jets. In his last outing of the preseason, he shutout the Calgary Flames – an organization he played for from 2019-21.
Rittich made 37 saves in that preseason game, which the Jets won 5-0. If he gets the start tonight, he’ll give the night off Connor Hellebuyck who has put together a tidy 0.922 save percentage in his three starts this season.
As for the Golden Knights, they’ll be a motivated group after suffering their first loss of the season on Tuesday in Calgary.
That night was a battle of two undefeated teams, and two teams expected to battle near the top of the Pacific Division standings all season, with the Flames earning a 3-2 win at Scotiabank Saddledome in the first match-up.
Offensively, the Golden Knights have done things by committee, with six players tied for the team lead in points with three – Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, Chandler Stephenson, and Nicolas Roy.
Finishing the road trip on a winning note would result in the Jets taking four of six possible points to start the road half of their schedule.
That’s helpful, especially given the fact that they’re in a stretch that sees them play six of eight games away from home to close out the month of October.
Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT.
— Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
Neal Pionk scored his second of the game 31 seconds into overtime to lift the Jets past the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Wednesday night. Cole Perfetti (1G, 1A) and Mason Appleton (2A) also contributed two-point nights in the win.
Pionk tallied this first career multi-goal game and overtime game-winning goal on Wednesday against Colorado. Pionk had three goals in each of the previous two seasons. His career high for goals in a season is six, which he did in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
Appleton’s two assists on Wednesday marked the third two-assist game off his career. He had two assists in 19 games with the Jets last season after being reacquired from the Seattle Kraken.
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