GAMEDAY: Jets vs Avalanche

WINNIPEG -Two of the hottest teams in the Central Division face off tonight at Canada Life Centre, as the Winnipeg Jets welcome the Colorado Avalanche.
Winnipeg's seven wins in their last 10 games is tied for the second most in the division, and is bested by just one team - the Avalanche - who are 8-2-0 in that same span.
"We still know we've got another level," said defenceman Brenden Dillon. "We know our identity and it's been a nice and positive thing to see, that when we're playing defensive hockey and we're not turning pucks over - all the things the coaches tell us not to do - we're still scoring goals. We're still creating that offence, we're getting our chances on the power play, that makes it more beneficial to see that when we're playing the right way, we're going to get rewarded for it."
At 13-6-1, the Jets are returning home to begin a four-game home stand. Tonight's tilt against the Avalanche is the fourth straight meeting with a divisional opponent, a stretch that goes back to a 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on November 23.
The Jets bounced back from that setback, winning a 5-4 overtime decision in Dallas two nights later and wrapped up the road trip with a dominant 7-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

"It's exciting to see a lot of the things we've changed in the off-season, systems we've changed and adjusted, coming to fruition," said Josh Morrissey. "There are nights when we're getting rewarded for playing the way we want to play. The year only gets harder as you go along. The quality of the game, the quality of play, just keeps increasing and the intensity ramps up."

The first meeting of the season between the Jets and Avalanche (12-6-1) took overtime, as the Jets collected their first of six overtime victories so far this season with Neal Pionk's blast from the right wing.
"We won the game but we want to play better than we did in Colorado," said head coach Rick Bowness. "We don't want to rely on our goaltender to make the difference in the game. We want a team game. Our team game has to be better tonight. We won in overtime, but our team game has to be better than the game we won in there. We're counting on that."
The line-ups for both clubs tonight are a little bit different than they were that evening. One of the players on the ice in that overtime period - actually the one that forced the turnover to send Pionk on the rush - Mason Appleton, is one of a number of Jets dealing with injuries.
Appleton is still recovering from wrist surgery, while Logan Stanley (fractured foot) and Nikolaj Ehlers (sports hernia surgery) remain on the sidelines as well.

Still, the Jets are getting contributions from everyone, and the win over Chicago two nights ago is a prime example. There were five multi-point performances, 11 of 12 forwards registered a point, and a total of 13 skaters found the scoresheet.
The line toggling head coach Rick Bowness made prior to the game seemed to act as a spark, but that's not stopping him from making more adjustments for tonight.
One reason for those adjustments? David Gustafsson coming back into the line-up after missing one game with an upper-body injury.
Morgan Barron - who had one assist in his return to the line-up in Chicago - will also get a look with Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois.

"He's played there with Duby a little bit last year. He's reliable in both ends of the ice," Bowness said of Barron. "He's reliable on both sides of the boards. He got caught out there a couple times in Chicago and made some great plays off the boards. That's where he belongs in that top six."
The full line rushes looked like this:
Connor-Dubois-Barron
Perfetti-Scheifele-Wheeler
Jonsson-Fjallby-Lowry-Maenalanen
Harkins-Gustafsson-Eyssimont
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
The changes in the Avalanche line-up also takes out a key contributor from the first meeting of the season between the two clubs. Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist in October's meeting with the Jets, but he's been out since October 28 with an ankle injury.
Gabriel Landeskog, Evan Rodrigues, and Bowen Byram are also out with injuries, but the Jets know that injuries haven't derailed the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The power play has been a big part of Colorado's success. It's the best in the NHL at 33.8 percent, and Mikko Rantanen leads the way with 14 power play points.
"He's an elite player. You have to respect when he's on the ice. His confidence has grown over the years," said Bowness. "He's a very difficult guy to play against because of his size, his skating, his strength, and the hockey IQ. Give him full marks, he's come a long way from when he first came into the league to now being an elite winger in this league."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets are 8-3-0 in 11 games in November for a 0.727 points percentage, which is tied for sixth in the NHL.
The Jets have tied their best mark through the first 20 games of a season with a 13-6-1 record. Winnipeg started the season with the same record in 2020-21.
Josh Morrissey was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday. He tallied seven points (3G, 4A) in four games, including a pair of overtime game-winning goals.
The Jets are 7-2-0 at Canada Life Centre to start the season and have won 11 of their past 13 home games dating back to last season.
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