Neal Pionk marking game 500 as the Jets travel south to face the Sharks

The Winnipeg Jets are soaking up the sun down south as they have a quick two-game trip in California.

First on the schedule is the San Jose Sharks. They are one of the bottom feeders in the league, but have been seeing some recent success thanks to some of their young stars.

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These two teams met early in the season with the Jets dominating the Sharks on the way to an 8-3 win.

Head Coach Scott Arniel knows they will be a tougher out this time around.

“I know they struggled early, but they’ve really become a competitive team, and watching the last few games, they’re not going to give you anything. You have to go and take the game from them,” said Arniel.

“If we play our game, our structure, you want to make sure that we’re doing that well; we need to go and take it from them. It’ll be a good match.”

Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo noted the Sharks young skill leads to a lot of speed on the ice, meaning they have to be ready to play their best game.

“We've got our work cut out for us tonight. This is going to be a tough matchup in this building, and we’re going to have to be really detailed and really strong with our team game in order to prevail tonight,” said DeMelo.

It’s also a milestone night for Neal Pionk, who will be skating in regular season game number 500.

The majority of those games have been in a Winnipeg Jets uniform—398—and to date, he has tallied 38 goals, 203 assists, and racked up 276 penalty minutes.

He’s also made 22 playoff appearances, grabbing 14 assists in that time.

Pionk said it’s a pretty cool milestone, but it’s even cooler considering his mom is on the road trip.

“She was there from day one and brought me to a lot of practices. I’m sure (she) tied my skates a few times. So pretty special to have her here,” said Pionk.

DeMelo said it’s amazing to see him reach this point in his career, especially considering he went undrafted.

“He’s had to work hard to kind of get himself into the position he’s in. He’s an amazing teammate and an amazing player for our group and does a lot for us on both ends of the ice. He’s having a great season so far. It’s great to see him reach that milestone,” said DeMelo.

Connor Hellebuyck will be between the pipes for Winnipeg. Puck drop is a late one at 9:30 p.m.