The Jets had a hard time winning one goal games for the majority of the season, but they have won two of those already on this homestand, overtime wins over Chicago and Vancouver.
“It’s hard to say. Maybe during that stretch where we weren’t winning, we were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot. Maybe we’ve just been staying with our game a little bit and executing at the right time,” said DeMelo.
“It’s hard to say to really pinpoint one thing. But it just feels like we’ve been on our toes, assertive. We haven’t sat back, just going at teams. And maybe that’s a reflection of why we’re winning those one, two-goal games.”
The winning goal in the game against the Canucks came from DeMelo’s defence partner Josh Morrissey, who not only played his first game in almost a month but became the Jets all-time defenceman scoring leader passing Dustin Byfuglien.
“Not surprised at all. He does that on a nightly basis for us and on a year-to-year basis. We definitely missed him. A lot of guys had to step up to fill that void, and even then, I don’t think we can fully fill it, for the impact he does for our team and in our room,” said DeMelo.
“So, it was really nice to have him back and definitely made a lot of guys’ jobs easier out there. And to see him get rewarded with the franchise record, I think that’s an amazing accomplishment. I don’t know if that’s going to get touched.”
The win over Vancouver also marked the 719th game of Morrissey’s career, tying Toby Enstrom for the most games played by a defenceman in franchise history. Morrissey is now set to become both the franchise’s all-time defenceman points and games played leader in consecutive games when he plays in his 720th career game on Tuesday night.
On Monday, it was announced that Mark Scheifele was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week. Last week, Scheifele recorded three goals and five assists in three games, including two game-winning goals… Scheifele is on pace to set new career-highs this season in both assists (50) and points (87), sitting only two assists shy of tying the former. With the honour, Scheifele became the first Jet to be named one of the NHL’s Stars of the Week this season.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 CT.
