GAMEDAY: Jets vs Hurricanes

WINNIPEG -A familiar face returns to Winnipeg tonight as the Jets close out a three-game home stand.
Paul Stastny, who played 146 regular season games in a Jets jersey, comes into the Manitoba capital with his new squad - the Carolina Hurricanes - with both teams trying to get back in the win column.
The Hurricanes (10-5-3) got into Winnipeg on Saturday night after a 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota, and held practice on Sunday, offering a chance for former teammates like Nate Schmidt and Blake Wheeler to catch up with the 36-year-old.
"Got him a little bag of puppy chow," said Schmidt with a grin.
That might have made a nice dessert, or late-night snack, after Stastny stopped by the Wheeler household.
"Obviously we've become really close family friends over the last couple years," said Wheeler. "The kids were on FaceTime. It was good to see him."

But all the friendship will be set aside when the puck drops tonight.

The Jets (10-5-1) sit in a tie for second in the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche, and are trying to bounce back from a 3-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday.
"It wasn't our best game," Schmidt said of the setback. "I thought we were in the game the entire way. Just can't get frustrated with what's happening, and that's the way they like to play.
"Stay patient, stay the course, we should have success tonight."
Winnipeg dropped both games against the Carolina last season, and early in the 2022-23 campaign the Hurricanes identity remains consistent - shots, shots, and more shots.
They're fourth in the NHL with 35.7 shots per game and Natural Stat Trick has them as the best in the NHL for shot attempt percentage at five-on-five (62.47 percent).
That makes the Jets net front a critical spot.
"It's just important for us to box out and just know we're going to spend a little time in our zone sometimes," said Wheeler. "It's not always the initial shot that's going to hurt you. They have bodies going to the net. Our play off the puck is important. Just know that the closest guy to it, your guy can be really dangerous if the puck gets in there."

Sunday's practice was optional, as was Monday's morning skate, so the exact line-up will be difficult to project for the Jets.
There are two certainties, however.
The first, is that David Rittich will get his fourth start of the season. He's won each of his last two starts stopping 19 of 21 shots against both Seattle and Arizona.
"We want to try to get him a game a week, at the max 10 days, and he's played well," said head coach Rick Bowness. "He deserves a home start. With every second day now, it's important that he plays. It's not fair to him to let him sit for two or three weeks and 'now you're playing.' That's not fair to him and it's not fair to the team."
The second guarantee is that defenceman Ville Heinola will make his season debut tonight.
"We want to get him into a game and now is a perfect time get him that opportunity," said Bowness. "This will be a really good test for all our D, Ville as well, but this team, you give them a lot of credit. There are four lines, they're big and fast, six big and fast D, as tough a game as it was against Pittsburgh, this will be every bit as tough."

Heinola had seven points in 11 games with the Manitoba Moose at the time of his recall on November 17. In his NHL career, Heinola has one goal and 10 points in 25 games.
"He will be excited, he'll be pretty fired up, rocking and ready to go," Schmidt said of Heinola. "For us D, add another guy that can move and wheel and deal on the back end. After last game, we could use it."
Some of the other roster decisions will be made at game time, with the only other note being that Jansen Harkins - who has sat out the last three games - will come back into the line-up, according to Bowness.
A win tonight would give the Jets seven victories out of their first nine home games, and would give them a winning record on their three-game home stand.
Carolina will be aggressive, the Jets expect that, but they also know they can turn that around on the Hurricanes - and their old teammate, Stastny.
"They play an aggressive style I think we're trying to incorporate into our game, too," Wheeler said. "If we can be aggressive and make them play on our terms, the same goes for them. Hopefully we can get them caught in their zone a little bit and create some things the other way."
Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets play their final seven games on their November calendar in the span of 13 days. After having no games on November 30 and December 1, Winnipeg plays 16 games in 30 days from December 2-31.
The Jets are 20-for-21 (95.2%) on the penalty kill win their past nine games. Winnipeg is third in the NHL this season with a penalty kill clicking at 85%.
The Jets are 6-2-0 at Canada Life Centre to start the season and have won 10 of their past 12 home games dating back to last season.
The Jets have surrendered the first goal in each o their past five games, but are 5-3-0 this season when allowing the game's first goal.
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