GAMEDAY: Jets at Maple Leafs

TORONTO - The Winnipeg Jets finish a three-game road trip on Wednesday night when the make their lone visit to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs this season.

The Jets are coming off a 4-1 loss in Boston to the Bruins which saw their streak of 34 consecutive games of allowing three goals or less come to an end.

Mark Scheifele skated this morning but will not play against the Leafs tonight. Neither will Gabe Vilardi who didn’t take the morning skate, both players remain day-to-day.

Clearly the Jets did not like how they played in the first two periods in Boston on Monday night, they ramped things up in the third and are hoping for more of the same to start in Toronto.

“I think we played on our toes a lot more. We played more aggressive. We felt in the first two periods maybe we played a little safe,” said Josh Morrissey.

“We’re an aggressive team. I think when we are playing on our toes and trying to take it to the other team, that’s when we’re at our best. The structure is there but we’re playing with confidence and trying to take it to the opposition.”

Part of the resurgence of the Jets in Boston was when Rick Bowness made some changes to his forward group. In particular, slotting Vladislav Namestnikov between Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers plus moving Adam Lowry back with Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter.

“Well, they were a dominant line for a long time but injuries kind of force you to shuffle things around a bit. Then when you don't see what you want to see, let's put them back together,” said Rick Bowness.

“Let's have a dominant line like they were. We know exactly what we're going to get when they're on the ice and just hope they can get back on track now that they're back together and play like they were for a long time.”

Laurent Brossoit gets tonight’s starting assignment against the Leafs putting his personal four game win streak on the line. Brossoit hasn’t allowed more than two goals in game since November 26 against Nashville, a streak of six starts.

Once again, the Jets will be without Scheifele and Vilardi on their top power play unit. Bowness has moved some players around in search of some goals, one of those moves has Neal Pionk joining Josh Morrissey.

“He's got a good one timer. We need to put more pucks on net, it's as simple as that. We got to try things out. Listen, we're not going into this game and there's a number one and a number two, we're looking for a number one,” said Bowness.

“So whatever unit is going to go out there and make it happen that will be the number one unit.”

Finally, the Jets and Leafs have played some entertaining affairs over the years and will face one another again this weekend. But Jets captain Adam Lowry feels this is just another game on the schedule.

“I think maybe there is a little more media coverage and the storylines kind of get portrayed a little larger than they really are,” said Lowry.

“It’s always fun playing in Toronto. We have a lot of people with family and friends here so it’s always exciting playing in front of family and friends. The Leafs get a lot of coverage, so you obviously want to put your best foot forward and look good on the national stage.”