FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: Kyle Connor hasn’t just improved his play on the ice, as evidenced by his torrid start to the year with points in all 12 games (19 total to lead the team). There has also been notable growth and maturity off the ice when it comes to things like leadership and how we deal with ourselves in the media.

Take, for example, this very thoughtful response he gave this morning when I asked him how his club seemed to have truly adopted the “good defense can lead to good offense” mentality that every team wants in theory but few of them actually do with real consistency. .

“It’s not something that happened overnight. This is something we’ve been working on for years now,” Connor began, before really pulling back the curtain.

“You can tell this core that is together, every year we meet with management, we meet. How can we improve? This has been the main objective. How can we improve as a group and improve ourselves? It’s in this group, we know that we have a champion team in this group. It’s not always a straight line to the top. You have to learn, you have to develop. You kind of see that here. It’s a pretty motivated group. I think Arnie does a good job of not leaving us satisfied with where we are.

I’m not a big fan of cliché type athlete quotes. It definitely wasn’t one of them.

Connor, by the way, sported a glow under his right eye, thanks to the unpenalized hit Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov gave him late in Sunday’s game that slammed his face into the Lightning defenseman. Erik Cernakthe helmet. I couldn’t believe this hadn’t been announced, but then again the men in pinstripes had a terrible afternoon. Connor, thankfully, was cleared by concussion observers – and he wasn’t as forthcoming with his soundbites when asked what he thought of the play.

“I don’t want to think about whether it was dirty or not,” he said. “I’ve watched it several times but you can have your interpretation on that.”

KEN SAYS: Seven goals from seven different scorers is the latest example of the depth the Jets have shown in rising to the top of the NHL in goals per game (4.92). In exactly half of their games (six of 12), the Jets have scored six or more goals. That total is already crazy — and will be higher than some teams have achieved in an entire season, even with 70 games remaining on the schedule.

By picking up two additional assists on Sunday, Josh Morrissey rose to 15 points on the season, which only leaves him behind Cale Makar among the NHL D-men. Neal Pionk sits in third place as the Jets continue to get offense from the defense corps. Morrissey has recorded at least one point in nine of 12 games and has five multi-point games so far.

We’ve talked a lot about the Jets’ power play and the importance of both units contributing. The numbers confirm that the first unit has eight goals (including four from Connor) and the second unit has seven (including three from Perfetti).

This is our first look at Utah HC. They have had no shortage of offensive talent in recent seasons, and if head coach André Tourigny can help them engage on defense, they should be in the battle for a wild card spot.

The franchise is committed to Dylan Guenther this offseason, giving the talented forward a lucrative extension despite having a limited number of NHL games on his resume. Having had the chance to see him at his best during the Western Hockey League playoffs with the Edmonton Oil Kings in a series against the Winnipeg Ice a few years ago, this is not It’s no surprise to see him take on a leading role. He makes a great shot and is tied for the team lead in goals (six) with Clayton Kellerwho leads Utah HC in points (12 points in 12 games, as he makes an effort to join the American team in the 4 Nations showdown.

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Jets forward Kyle Connor on the Central Division:

“It’s a big divide. You look up and down, you have teams coming up, you have veteran teams like the Stars and Colorado that have been there for several years. We like to think that we are part of this group too. At the same time as you play a team three or four times, you get playoffs, with the way our playoff structure is set up, you’re going to have rivalries and trades. I think it’s just the nature of the beast.

WHAT WE WORK ON

Mike has a Jets notebook coming today that focuses on a number of items, including Connor talking about Nikita KoucherovPerfetti’s hitting is reliable in late-game situations, inside power play contests, injury updates and more. Ken will have game analysis from the downtown rink tonight. You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com and in Wednesday’s print edition.