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Spellman: Jets looking for 3rd road win over Hawks

When Winnipeg visited the United Center in early November and beat the Blackhawks 1-0, some justified it by pointing out that the Hawks were just going through a tough phase in the scoring department.

But after the Jets returned just before the Christmas break and absolutely thumped the Hawks 5-1, you better believe people stood up took notice.

People like Hawks coach Joel Quenneville, who's hoping the third time won't be the charm for the Jets when they invade the UC tonight.

"We've got a team that's had some success against us here twice already earlier on and we can't let that happen," Quenneville said after practice Thursday.

"They've beaten us twice, and you can't be happy with that," Patrick Sharp echoed.

While the first-place Predators can be labeled a surprise in the uber-tough Central, Winnipeg's play in the first half has to rank right up there as well.

The Jets came into the season as a solid, up-and-coming team fresh off an 84-point finish a year ago, but few expected them to take the leap they have this season - currently sitting fifth overall in the Western Conference and on pace for perhaps a 100-point season.

"They play the right way and they're a better team in a lot of ways that we saw last year," Quenneville said.

But why is that, and why has it happened seemingly overnight?

"Good question," Sharp said. "Another year with their coaching staff, the team's been together for a couple of years now.

"They've got some good players that don't get headlines across the NHL. Sometimes teams like that get overlooked, but in our locker room they don't get overlooked at all."

The Jets are big, they play tough defensively, have a good young goalie in Michael Hutchinson, and on offense, they have five players with double-digit goals, including former Hawks Andrew Ladd (16) and Dustin Byfuglien (11), who scored twice in Tuesday's win over Florida.

In that same game, Mathieu Perreault scored a career-high 4 goals.

"They're an entirely different team," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "You've got guys that can score, big Buff is flying around, hitting people and playing the way he can ... so you've got to look out for him.

"They're a good team. It just goes to show that there's no easy nights, especially in our division, and I think they realize that too, and they're not making things easy on anybody."

And depending how things end up, they might just end up being a playoff opponent for the Hawks come spring.

"I don't think you can forecast those type of potentialities, but they've definitely got a better team this year," Quenneville said. "We've got to take care of our own business and we want to make sure they don't come in here and beat us all three times, because that's not a good message to be receiving and it would definitely get them excited if that were ever to happen."

The good news for the Hawks is that after a couple of days away from the rink, they returned with a pep in their collective step heading into tonight's game.

"I think you get two days away, you get re-energized, I think you get some pace back to your game," Quenneville said. "We had two real good practices here and now they want to play. They're excited about going into the game."

Few more so than Winnipeg native Toews.

"Well, a lot of my close friends are pulling for the Hawks, and they took a lot of heat when we got stomped by the Jets there," the captain said of the 5-1 loss.

"That wasn't a good one, but hopefully we'll keep taking it to 'em the way we have in the last couple years and just kind of turn the tables a little bit."

Follow Mike on Twitter @dhspellman

Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar, right, takes a hit by Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien during their game earlier this week. Byfuglien has 11 goals for the surging Jets. Associated Press
Mathieu Perreault celebrates his fourth goal of the night against Florida on Tuesday. Associated Press
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