Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/mason-to-start-for-jets-against-blues- 464624863.html

Mason to start for Jets against Blues

By: Jeff Hamilton

ST. LOUIS – The Jets find themselves mired in rare slump in what’s been an otherwise successful 2017-18 NHL season so far. The Jets (18-9-5) have dropped four of their last five games and, along the way, have fallen from first place in the Western Conference earlier this month – and a share of the league-lead in points – to third in the Central Division.

The good news is Winnipeg has the chance the chance to break out of their current slump in a major way in the next week, beginning with a home-and-home series with the St. Louis Blues that begins tonight at Scottrade Center before wrapping up Sunday afternoon at Bell MTS Place.

The Blues (21-10-2) have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL this year. With 44 points, they hold a share of top spot in the Western Conference and the Central Division with the , who have two games in hand. They’re led by off-season acquisition, centreman Brayden Schenn, who has a team-best 37 points in 32 games, including 16 goals.

Even with a of key players out of the lineup, including forward and Alex Pietrangelo, the Blues are still a solid team and one that has proven already this year they have the depth to compete with anyone. St. Louis opened the season without forwards , Patrik Berglund and Robby Fabbri, as well as defencemen . Fabbri and Bouwmeester have yet to return.

As for the Jets, they’ll once again be without defencemen and Toby Enstrom.

"They had some big injuries right at the start and the question was how were they going to get out of the gate and they answered that," said Jets . "They’ve done a marvellous job of surviving some important people out of their lineup because they’ve got some real good depth here. We feel we’ve developed some depth on our group so…we miss Buff and Toby, for sure, the minutes and the situations they play in. Everybody has to go through it and to do well you have to flourish in those times as well."

St. Louis finishes up a four-game home stand tonight – one that started off with a promising 3-2 win over the but has fizzled out following losses to Tampa Bay and, most recently, Anaheim on Thursday. The Blues have been exceptional on the road, collecting points in 12 of 15 games (10-3-2) this year. That hasn’t translated on home ice, where with the recent pair of losses St. Louis is a respectable 11-7.

The Jets have been on a much different path, with most of their success coming on home turf. While the Jets are 11-3-1 at Bell MTS Place, they’ve struggled at times on enemy territory, where they boast a 7-6-4 mark. Winnipeg has dropped their last five road games, including a three-game stretch through , Sunrise, Fla., and Tampa Bay earlier this month.

Fresh off one of their worst efforts of the season – a 5-1 loss to the Thursday at home – concern has started to creep in over all aspects of the Jets’ game. Specifically, though, there is alarm over the defensive-zone play and in net. The Jets have surrendered five or more goals in three of the last five games.

Against Chicago, Maurice, hoping to create a spark for his team, shuffled his forward lines. He moved to the top line with and Mark Schiefele, who has just one assist in his last five games. , who started the game on the fourth line, then took over for Ehlers on the No. 2 unit, alongside and .

Maurice won’t continue with the experiment, though, returning to the familiar lineup against the Blues. Defencemen Toby Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien will also be out of the lineup for another match, with Byfuglien out at least until after Christmas and Enstrom even further away from full health.

Connor Hellebuyck has enjoyed his best start as a professional, boasting a 16-4-4 record, 2.55 goals against average and .917 save percentage. But in six of his last eight games Hellebuyck has finished with a below-.900 save percentage, with the Jets earning just two wins during that stretch.

In order to give Hellebuyck some rest, Maurice has decided to go with backup against the Blues. Mason is in need to get back into a rhythm after missing nine games with a concussion he suffered in the first period of a 4-0 loss to the Nov. 25.

"It’s the kind of game I think he could excel at; they put a lot of pucks to the net through traffic," said Maurice, noting he liked Mason’s last full road game, which was 2-1 win over the Nov. 22. "Steve would have played a bunch of games in this block if it wasn’t due to injury. And it’s different for a goalie that runs a month that when you don’t play but you’re healthy your mind can play tricks on you. When you’re coming off an injury you’re focused on getting healthy, feeling good so he’s actually in a real positive place to go in tonight."

Mason has backed up Hellebuyck the last two games but with the Jets set to play five games in the next eight nights, some kind of rotation in net will be necessary. Mason is 2-4-1 in seven starts, with a 3.45 GAA and .904 save percentage.

"Just feel the puck early, hopefully. Make a couple of simple saves, get a couple of touches behind the net, make a couple of clean passes and other than that, muscle memory takes over, more or less," said Mason. "This year, in general, has been a test. Most of my starts have been few and far between, so I feel like I’ve been utilizing the practice time to the best of my abilities and trying to stay sharp. I’m going to go out there and try to give the team a chance to win.

"I’m excited. Obviously coming in here, it’s a tough place to come away with two points, so we’ve got our work cut out for us. But it will definitely be a fun game to be a part of."

The Blues will counter with Carter Hutton in net, after starter has lost his last two starts. Hutton is 4-2-0 this season, with a stellar 1.88 GAA and .937 save percentage. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/dubious-all-time-coaching-record-for- maurice-464598883.html

Dubious all-time coaching record for Maurice

By: Jason Bell and Mike Sawatzky

Paul Maurice set an NHL record Thursday night and is now ahead of legendary coaches such as the late , , , , and the late .

It’s not exactly the kind of benchmark a bench boss craves.

The Winnipeg Jets’ 5-1 defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks gave Maurice 578 losses in his head coaching career, vaulting him past Arbour — who coached the to four consecutive championships in the early 1980s — for the most in NHL history.

Asked to comment Friday, Maurice gave a playful first response.

"Who’d I pass?" the 20-year NHL coach wondered, followed by "Not so bad..." when told he’d broken the tie with Arbour.

"Longevity, eventually you’re going to crack that number," he said. "If I’d had a team like (the 2017-18 Jets) for 20 of those seasons I wouldn’t have reached it quite as fast."

In 19 previous seasons, five of the teams he guided qualified for the post-season.

Maurice joined the as an assistant for the 1995-96 season but assumed the head coaching job after just 12 games when the team struggled out of the gate, becoming one of the youngest head coaches in league history at 28. He stayed with the club when it moved to Carolina the following year, leading them to four consecutive winning seasons (1998-2002) and a spot in the Stanley Cup final in ‘02 before losing to the in five games.

A year later, the Hurricanes finished out of the playoffs, and he was fired early into the 2003-04 campaign.

"I haven’t had too many seasons when I’ve walked away and thought a team didn’t at least get real close to its potential. We’ve had a couple of tough years in there, going back the year (2002-03) after we lost in the (Stanley Cup) final. We had a real tough season," he recalled.

Maurice also coached two years in Toronto and parts of four more in Carolina, joining the Jets in 2014 after Claude Noel was fired. He signed a new multi-year deal with Winnipeg in September.

He remains 16th overall in victories with 614, and 10th in games coached with 1,397.

"Survival is not something you want to be the most important thing people say about you, but there’s a quality there — the teams that I’ve coached worked hard. I look back at them and we started every year thinking we had a chance to win," he said.

"I feel the same about this one, but this one’s got a little bit more firepower."

● ● ●

Tucker Poolman’s rookie pro season has involved a lot of waiting and watching, but with injuries to veteran blue-liners Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom he’s played two consecutive games while averaging more than 13 minutes of ice time paired with .

Poolman, 24, played three games with the Jets in October and is now without a pointin five career games. How has he done overall?

"I guess parts of it I’ve been happy with and other parts, not so much I guess — just little things, (like) making passes on the tape. I mean, it’s tough jumping in quick after a few weeks off," he said Friday.

Maurice sees Poolman’s development heading in an upward trajectory.

"Really liked his first game," Maurice said. "Last night (5-1 loss to Chicago), I thought he looked like the rest of the group — so he had lots of friends. I’ve got a lot of time for this guy.

"He’s gonna get better, he skates, he’s a big, strong kid. I like him. I’m not going to weigh these games negatively too heavily if he has an off night."

● ● ●

Shawn Matthias won’t gripe about his lot in life with the Jets.

The veteran has played in just one of Winnipeg’s past 15 games — slotting in Dec. 3 when was injured. Before that, he was a healthy scratch for nine contests, then a spectactor from the press box for five straight since.

The 29-year-old Mississauga, Ont., native, who has 542 games under his belt split between Florida, Vancouver, Toronto, Colorado and Winnipeg, said it’s the most frustrating stretch of his NHL career.

But he’s trying to stay positive and aid the Central Division club in less-obvious ways.

"It it what it is. You have to be a good teammate. You have to be a good person, a professional," Matthias said. "You have to think about the team, and the team’s doing well. You have to do your part and that’s keeping the goalies sharp in practice, skating when guys are banged up so practice goes smoothly.

"It’s definitely different. It’s the first time."

Matthias played 17 straight to start the year but managed just two assists, both coming in Winnipeg’s 7-1 rout of the Penguins on Oct. 29.

In the final year of a two-year, US$4.25-million contract, Matthias hasn’t been showcasing himself to earn another multi-year deal with the Jets or someone else.

But that’s not his primary focus.

"I’m not thinking about it, to be honest. (The contract issue) is far away right now. There’s more to think about now, like staying in shape, doing the little things to stay ready.

"There’s two ways to go about it. You can think about yourself and those guys aren’t good teammates, those aren’t guys that you want around," he said. "I think I’ve done a good job of staying positive, staying ready and working hard and helping out.

"I’m in a fortunate position. I play in the best league in the world, and I get paid a lot to do this. So, I’ve been lucky in my life." https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/hellebuyck-aims-to-fix-his-game- 464548373.html

Hellebuyck aims to fix his game Jet enjoyed blistering start, but team and goalie have fallen off

By: Mike Sawatzky

Top-flight goaltending from helped to power the Winnipeg Jets to the top of the NHL’s Western Conference earlier this month.

Winnipeg’s pace has slowed lately, enough to drop the 18-9-5 Jets into fifth spot entering Friday’s action. It’s no surprise that Hellebuyck hasn’t been as good, either.

The latest hiccup, a 5-1 loss to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night, was due, Hellebuyck asserted, to some bad luck all around.

"I still like my game," said Hellebuyck, who finished the game with 25 saves. "I think I’m moving well and I’m seeing pucks well and I’m patient on the pucks. A little bit of a tough-luck situation for me in the last couple of games. Pucks have been bouncing and that happens during the season... It’s nice to have a practice day here and there and work on some things, too."

The Jets are in St. Louis tonight for a matchup with the 21-10-2 Blues. The teams play a return engagement in Winnipeg Sunday night and Jets head coach Paul Maurice said No. 2 Steve Mason will make his first start since Nov. 25 in one of the weekend games.

Hellebuyck is focused on reversing his fortunes.

He still owns a sparkling 16-4-4 record, 2.55 goals-against average and .917 save percentage, but in six of his past eight games he’s had a sub-.900 save percentage, with the high-scoring Jets winning only two of those games.

The 24-year-old Commerce, Mich., native was happy to finish the game after the Blackhawks took a 4-0 lead on 23 shots heading into the third period.

"I felt really good in the game," Hellebuyck said. "I thought I was moving well and I was seeing the pucks well. So the fact I played the whole game helps my stats and that’s personal. It doesn’t only help me but it helps the team believe in me — that I’m going to battle no matter what happens."

Maurice knows Hellebuyck is determined to ride it out, even when games appear out of reach.

"You know what, I’ve done that (pulled him) to him in the past," Maurice said. "And we talked about it. He wants the chance to fight through it. The first one he can stop, but I don’t expect him to, it’s a one-time, two-on-one. The next couple he doesn’t see, I don’t think he’s got a chance. But he’s earned the right to stay in the fight and see if we can get things going again. So I didn’t want to pull him or hang it on him."

Mason, for his part, is itching for his first action since suffering a concussion in San Jose nine games ago. The Jets play five games in the next eight days and so he knows he will get the call.

"It’s more or less the way the whole year has gone," Mason said. "I’m kinda used to it... I’ve always played the majority of the team’s games, so this year has been an entirely new experience. I think I’ve handled it well. But you just have to make sure that you’re utilizing the practice time to be the best that you can and make sure you’re giving yourself the best chance to succeed when game time comes around.

"We’re so busy. I’ll be getting some games and trying to be ready for them."

In eight games, the 29-year-old Mason is 2-4-1 with a 3.45 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.

"We haven’t really practised, it’s been pre-game skates," Mason said. "I’ve been trying to work hard and try and stay sharp but games are different. I’m confident the work I put in will help me." https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/cmon-in-off-the-freezing-window-ledge- jets-fans-they-stunk-but-they-dont-stink-464459613.html

C'mon in off the freezing window ledge, Jets fans; they stunk, but they don't stink

By: Paul Wiecek

No, the sky is not falling.

That white stuff fluttering to the ground Friday morning was just snow, not the heavens descending upon us after a long and ugly Thursday night at Bell MTS Place.

Keep calm and carry on, people. There was nothing falling Friday morning that cannot be scraped up with a shovel.

Look, I’m not going to try to sugar-coat this: there was very little to like in a 5-1 Winnipeg Jets loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Jets stunk from the opening faceoff and they were positively fetid by the final horn.

A high-flying Jets team that was the toast of the league at the start of the month has hit some turbulence the past two weeks, taking the loss in four of their last five games.

And the loss to the Blackhawks wasn’t the only ugly one. A team that had been so good at keeping the puck out of its own net has suddenly found itself on the wrong side of some very crooked scores.

Five goals to the 'Hawks. Four to the Lightning. Six to the Panthers. Five to the Red Wings.

With the exception of a merciful visit from the struggling in the middle of it all — and a lopsided 5-1 Jets win — the recent news out of Jetsland has been troubling.

But four losses is not Four Horsemen and no, this is not a Jets-ocalypse, although it was sure playing like that among the faithful on Twitter and reader comment boards Friday morning.

We’re like a cowed dog here in Winnipeg. We’ve been kicked around and abused so long that we’re already ducking for cover before anyone even raises a hand. So, when someone actually does pick up a rolled newspaper, we’re turning tail and heading for the door.

Judging by the angst in Jets Nation right now, it seems like there’s a sizable number of fans who’ve had a sneaking suspicion all along that the team's success was too good to be true.

And so now that things have gotten bumpy, it’s like our worst fears have been realized. This is why we can't have any nice things.

You know you’re in trouble when I’m the voice of optimism and, yet, here we are.

Folks, there is a lot more right than wrong with the Jets right now.

Subtract two of a team’s top four defencemen from any club in the league and they’re going to have trouble keeping pucks out of their net and putting wins up on the board.

I know there are a lot of Toby Enstrom haters out there and Dustin Byfuglien’s erratic play drives me as crazy as he does you, but those are two very big pieces of the lineup that are out with injuries.

And most of the rest of this team’s problems the last little while can be attributed, I think, to nothing more than youth.

You ever raise teenagers? They’re a bit erratic, right? Self-destructive, too. And all over the map, bringing home A’s one minute and wrapping the family car around a streetlight the next.

They are the source of our greatest peaks and deepest, darkest valleys. Ladies and gentlemen: your 2017-18 Winnipeg Jets.

Indeed, I’d argue the most surprising thing isn’t that this team of snot-nosed youngsters has hit a skid, but that it didn’t happen a long time ago.

The kids had been very well-behaved for a very long time; they were overdue to break something and, well... they finally have.

The question now is whether they can pick up the pieces before they do permanent damage to their playoff chances. And at the risk of being exactly the kind of alarmist I’ve been railing about, it’s not hard to see how this thing could go seriously off the rails with a schedule leading into Christmas that will see the Jets play a home-and-home with a very good St. Louis team, followed by singles against a Nashville squad that’s been beaten in regulation just once in their last 10; the resurgent ; and the New York Islanders, who've gone 9-2-2 in Brooklyn so far.

You want a road map to disaster? It would look a bit like that: a slumping team, injury-depleted lineup, four of their next five on the road and some very tough opponents.

But if past performance is a reliable predictor of future performance, you have to like the Jets chances of catching themselves before they fall too far. That three-game losing skid this month was the longest of the season for a team that has shown itself to be remarkably adept — particularly given its youth — at responding to adversity.

Whether it’s been the occasional stinker of a game or just a bad period, if there’s a defining characteristic of this crew it’s been their ability to dig deep when the going got tough.

Indeed, I’d argue the Jets have been at their very best this year at precisely those moments when you couldn’t help but wonder if the whole operation was in danger of crashing down again.

It’s how they started this remarkable season, losing their first two games and then — just when it seemed like, "here we go again" — going on a tear that saw them win four of their next five and set the tone for everything that was to come.

There’s a moment in the film Apollo 13 right after the explosion on the ship in which everyone at mission control is panicking and head guy Ed Harris tells everyone to work the problem, beginning with: "What do we have on the spacecraft that is good?"

Quite a bit, actually. The Jets are third in their division, fifth in their conference and for all their problems lately, they’re still playing .500 hockey over their last 10 at 4-4-2.

They’ve got the third-best home record in the conference at 11-3-1, the 10th-best road record in the league at 7-6-4 and their power-play is third-best in the league overall and tops at home.

They’ve got two of the top-15 scoring leaders (Blake Wheeler and ); the third- best in assists (Wheeler); the second-best in the league in power-play goals (Patrik Laine); and the second-best in shooting percentage (Mathieu Perreault).

Now, I suppose the wheels on all of that could suddenly come off. I suppose it could even happen over the next 10 days.

Or, maybe... just maybe, this team is made of something a little more than that.

We’ll find out soon enough.

In the meantime, where’s my shovel?

Winnipeg Sun http://winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/winnipeg-jets/five-keys-to-jets-vs-blues

Five keys to Jets vs Blues

By Ken Wiebe

Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues

6 pm CT, Scottrade Center, TV: CITY. Radio: TSN 1290

THE BIG MATCHUP Connor Hellebyck vs Jake Allen Hellebuyck has allowed five goals in six of his past 15 starts, but his numbers remain above average — including 16 wins, a 2.55 -against average and .917 save % — so he’ll be looking to get back on track. Allen is off to a strong start to the season as well, piling up 17 wins in 27 starts while producing a 2.54 goals-against average and .911 save % but has lost consecutive starts.

KEYS TO THE GAME Turning the corner By collecting points in just two of the past five games (1-3-1), the Jets have seen things tighten up in the Central Division standings. And while they remain above the playoff line, a home-and- home series with the Blues will be another stiff test. The Jets didn’t have their skating legs against the Chicago Blackhawks and they’ll look to find them against a Blues team that has lost two consecutive home games. The Jets swept the season series against the Blues last season while outscoring them 21-10.

Heating up Jets defenceman is rounding into to form when it comes to picking up points. With two goals and five points during the past seven games, Myers has helped give the Jets second power-play unit a spark while watching his ice time increase after the loss of Dustin Byfuglien to a lower-body injury.

Back on board Although he’s having an excellent season, Jets Mark Scheifele has been a bit quiet of late when it comes to point production. With only one assist during the past five games, Scheifele will be looking to get back to the more than a point-per-game pace he was operating at before the recent stretch.

Schenn-sational Former star Brayden Schenn is off to the best start of his NHL career, piling up 16 goals (including six game-winners) and 37 points in 32 games to lead the Blues in scoring. Schenn is also averaging 19:24 of ice time, which is nearly three minutes above his career average. Schenn has six goals and 10 points in 14 career games against the Jets.

Armed and dangerous Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko sits third on his team in scoring and is tied for second in goals with injured winger Jaden Schwartz, but he leads his team in shots on goal (140) and is only converting at a 10.0% rate – which means he’s likely to bust out at some point. http://winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/winnipeg-jets/maurice-sets-all-time-loss-mark-jets- head-coach-passes-arbour-with-latest-defeat

Maurice sets all-time loss mark: Jets head coach passes Arbour with latest defeat

By Ken Wiebe

ST. LOUIS – Paul Maurice found his way to the top of a list that no coach really strives for.

But after passing legendary New York Islanders bench boss Al Arbour for the most regulation losses in NHL history after, the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets took more of a reflective view when asked about hitting 578 defeats.

“I haven’t had too many seasons when I walked away and thought a team didn’t at least get real close to its potential,” Maurice told reporters in Winnipeg before the Jets departed for Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. “(With) longevity, eventually you’re going to crack that number. If I’d had a team like this for 20 of those seasons, I wouldn’t have reached it quite as fast. Survival is not something you want to be the most important thing people say about you, but there’s a quality there. The teams that I’ve coached worked hard. I look back at them and we start every year thinking we’ve got a chance to win and I feel the same way about this one. But this one has got a little more firepower.”

One of the teams Maurice felt underachieved was the 2002-03 , who stumbled to a record of 22-43-11-6 after reaching the Stanley Cup final and losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2002 playoffs.

Now in his 20th NHL season, Maurice has amassed a record of 618-578-99-106.

Through 32 games of the 2017-18 season, Maurice has the Jets sitting in third place in the Central Division at 18-9-5. http://winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/winnipeg-jets/tough-schedule-ahead-for-jets-team- looking-to-rebound

Tough schedule ahead for Jets team looking to rebound

By Taylor Allen

The Winnipeg Jets haven’t been playing their best hockey lately, but they better start if they want to make it through their upcoming stretch of games.

The Jets are 1-3-1 in their past five games, including a tough 5-1 loss at home to Chicago last night. It was their first regulation loss at home since Oct. 17.

“We’ve been playing really well at home,” said Jets forward Bryan Little. “We’ve had some games at home where we’ve had some goals come pretty easy. It’s tough to put your finger on one thing last night, but we didn’t quite have it.”

Jets starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who allowed five goals on 20 shots last night, said he isn’t sure what wrong against Chicago, either, but he feels luck wasn’t on the Jets’ side.

“They got five goals and I’d call them all lucky goals. With that being said, I’d like to have them, I’d like to have a lot of those. But they’re still bad luck, bouncing off sticks and getting an inch behind you,” Hellebuyck said.

The team will look to regroup this weekend as they have back-to-back games against the St. Louis Blues, who are tied with the Nashville Predators for the top spot in the Central Division. They will play in St. Louis on Saturday before returning to Winnipeg on Sunday to play the Blues again.

“It’s a weird schedule going back to back with the same team but it reminds me of my good ol’ college days,” said Hellebuyck, who played college hockey at UMass Lowell. “It’s going to be fun and it’s going to be a grind. They’re a good team over there and they’re looking at us and thinking they got to get ahead of the curve too so this weekend is going to be very big for us.”

The Jets are hoping for similar results from last year when they take on the Blues this weekend. The Jets swept the season series against St. Louis last season, winning all five of their meetings.

“They’re one of those teams that bring out our best,” said Little on St. Louis. “It seems like we’re always ready to play against them. I think it’s mentally we’re prepared for a really hard, physical game. At the same time, they’re far from easy games.”

The Blues will also be looking to turn things around, as they’ve lost back-to-back games and have only scored one goal in their past 120 minutes of hockey. They lost 3-1 to Anaheim on Thursday and fell 3-0 to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. They will have to do it without their captain Alex Pietrangelo on Saturday, but he is eligible to come off the IR and play Sunday in Winnipeg. Despite being down their captain and unable to beat the Jets last season, Little knows it’s going to be a tough weekend.

“Even though we won those games last year, for the most part, they were really tight,” Little said. “They were hard games. They’re playing well this year. We haven’t seen them yet but we know they’re playing well and up there in the standings.”

The Jets are entering an important stretch of games before they have a couple days off for the Christmas break. After their weekend with the Blues, they travel to Nashville to take on the Central Division leading Predators on Monday. They also have road dates with the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins next week before having three days to recoup during Christmas.

“We looked at this as the finishing leg of a grinder,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who’s team has played six games this month already. “It’s good to be playing against the teams you’re fighting with. Everybody’s going through the same thing. Some guys schedules are a little easier than others, but it doesn’t really matter.”

The Jets practiced on Friday afternoon before they hopped on a plane to St. Louis. After practice, Maurice confirmed that goalie Steve Mason will be playing this weekend for the first time in a month, but he wouldn’t confirm which game it will be. Maurice said he will announce it on Saturday morning.

Heading into the weekend, St. Louis has a three-point lead over Winnipeg in the standings.

TSN 1290 (AUDIO LINKS) https://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/morrissey-blues-back-to-back-will-be-playoff- atmosphere-1.944969

Morrissey: Blues back-to-back will be playoff atmosphere

Winnipeg Jets d-man joined the Big Show following the team's 5-1 loss to Chicago to discuss how players come out flat in games as well as the magnitude of the team's upcoming home and home set with the St. Louis Blues. www.winnipegjets.com https://www.nhl.com/jets/news/jets-fall-to-blackhawks-to-begin-four-game-stretch-against- central/c-294034022 (INTERVIEWS INCLUDED)

Jets focus on team speed ahead of home-and-home with Blues Schedule has Jets on the road for four of final five games before Christmas break by Mitchell Clinton @MitchellClinton / WinnipegJets.com

WINNIPEG - The prevailing theme from last night's 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks was that the Winnipeg Jets weren't quick enough.

Head coach Paul Maurice compared it to the 5-2 defeat the Jets suffered at the hands of the back on Oct. 17 at Bell MTS Place, the last loss in regulation before the 10-0-1 streak on home ice began.

During today's 30-minute skate at Bell MTS Iceplex, the team focused on getting that speed back in their game.

"(In an) 82-game schedule, everyone is getting one of those in there," said Maurice. "It's all about what your next one looks like. We've handled it pretty well so far. The importance of the games means you can't spend a whole lot of time (on it). But we dealt with it today."

Maurice shuffled the lines late in the first period last night, putting Nikolaj Ehlers with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, while Kyle Connor skated with and . Mathieu Perreault slid to the left wing with Bryan Little and Patrik Laine.

"I don't think any of the players I rotated around, I didn't move them because I felt anybody really fell off," said Maurice.

"You're looking for certain signs if they're not going, that the chance will be there that they will get going. I usually wait a period, give them enough rotations through to find their game a little bit. If not, you get a feel and you try to make some adjustments with the match-up maybe first - get them away from the guys they're playing against."

Today though, the lines were back to how they were to start the game against Chicago, with filling in for Tyler Myers, who didn't skate Friday:

At 5-2-1 against divisional opponents, the Jets have a chance to improve on that record, and gain ground on the St. Louis Blues - who are tied for the Central Division lead with the Nashville Predators. The two teams play a home-and-home beginning tomorrow night at Scottrade Center, before wrapping up the two-game set at Bell MTS Place on Sunday.

"Weird schedule going back-to-back with the same team, but it reminds me of my good old college days," Connor Hellebuyck said with a grin.

"It's going to be fun, it's going to be a grind. You know they're a good team over there, and you know they're looking at us saying 'they've need to get ahead of the curve too.' I think this weekend is going to be big for us."

Maurice indicated after practice that Steve Mason will play in one of those two games, which will be his first start since coming off injured reserve on Dec. 11.

Hellebuyck is 16-4-4 this season with a 0.917 save percentage, and appreciated that Maurice left him in goal for the third period last night despite the Jets being down 4-0.

"It helps the team believe in me, knowing that I'm going to battle no matter what happens. It allows me to show that I have the mental side too," said Hellebuyck, who wants to help the team out of a 1-3-1 stretch.

"Maybe we finally had a chance to catch a breath and we relaxed a little too much. It's hard to say. We're a good hockey team in here…. and we know that."

The best way to prove that comes in the final five games before the three-day Christmas break. Along with the home-and-home against St. Louis, the Jets will travel to Nashville, Boston, and New York.

"We looked at this as the finishing leg of a grinder. It's good to be playing the teams you're fighting with," said Maurice. "Everybody is going through the same thing, some (team's) schedules are a little lighter than others. But it doesn't really matter.

"Christmas is coming, so the team that can keep their focus can pick up some points. We have to make sure we get our game back up to where we like it." https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/pregame--paul-maurice/t-277437442/c-55778103

PREGAME | Paul Maurice

Head Coach Paul Maurice on tonight's game, Steve Mason and playing in a back-to- back/home-and-home https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/pregame--steve-mason/t-277437442/c-55778003

PREGAME | Steve Mason

Steve Mason spoke following morning skate as he'll get the start in St. Louis - his first since sustaining a concussion on Nov. 25 https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/pregame--nikolaj-ehlers/t-277437442/c-55777903

PREGAME | Nikolaj Ehlers

Nikolaj Ehlers spoke to the media after morning skate in St. Louis https://www.nhl.com/jets/video/pregame--kyle-connor/t-277437442/c-55777803

PREGAME | Kyle Connor

Jets forward Kyle Connor following morning skate in St. Louis