GAMEDAY: Jets vs Wild

WINNIPEG -Three days away from the rink were enough to get some rest, but not enough to see any of the injured bodies return to the Winnipeg Jets line-up as they get set to host the Minnesota Wild tonight.
The six players dealing with injury - Nikolaj Ehlers, Saku Maenalanen, Mason Appleton, Nate Schmidt, Blake Wheeler, and Logan Stanley - all remain out. In addition, Cole Perfetti is out a week to 10 days.
"I'd say the closest guy we have to coming back is Saku (Maenlalanen) and he's probably a week," said head coach Rick Bowness. "Everyone else is two-plus."
So while the Jets won't get any of those injured players back, they did get three days of rest. That might have been just as valuable after playing 13 games in 22 days, including five in seven covering both the west and east coasts.
"I think it was much needed for pretty much everyone in the room, coaching staff," Morgan Barron said of the break. "It's going to big for us to here to kind of build a little momentum and go on a streak here coming out of the break."

The Jets (21-12-1) went into the break with consecutive losses (to Boston and then Washington), marking just the third time this season that Winnipeg has lost two straight games.
They've never lost three in a row, one of 10 teams in the league to have accomplished that feat so far, but they'll have to be at their best against Minnesota - winners of four of their last five.

There is reason for confidence, as the Jets have handled divisional opponents quite well this season. Winnipeg is 11-2-0 against the Central, but one of those losses did come at the hands off the Wild - a 6-1 setback on November 23.
The Jets handled that adversity well. They earned wins in seven of the next eight games they played after that loss. Now is their first chance to avenge that American Thanksgiving weekend defeat.
"It's a huge game," said Barron. "We kind of feel like they embarrassed us a bit last time in their building. We have to do a job tonight. It's a huge game for us. We're looking forward and hopefully we can string together some wins. This is a big game for us."
The first game after the holiday break is always difficult to predict, as both teams haven't practiced in three straight days and the visiting team travels into the host city the morning of the game.

Tonight marks the first time since December 2019 that Winnipeg has played on December 27. The pause due to the pandemic kept the Jets out of action from December 20, 2021 until January 2, 2022 last season. In addition, the 2020-21 season didn't start until January, which was the year Winnipeg spent in the Scotia North Division.
"Every team coming back from the break, there are few minutes where maybe not everything is at 100 percent," said Dubois. "But our concentration level, our attention to detail, and our intensity, those are all things we can control."
Connor Hellebuyck is expected to get the start for the Jets. He looks to build on the strong first half to his season, which has third in wins (16) and second in save percentage (0.928) among the league's goaltenders.
In front of him, the Jets are projected to look like this:
Connor-Dubois-Scheifele
Barron-Lowry-Harkins
Jonsson-Fjallby-Stenlund-Kuhlman
Eyssimont-Gustafsson-Gagner
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Capobianco
The trio of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Pierre-Luc Dubois were put together for the final period in Washington. It's a look the Jets have practiced earlier in the season, and at various times this season, Bowness has put that group of forwards out after penalty kill situations.
"Mark has played a little bit of wing, I've talked to them all and they're comfortable with it," Bowness said. "They still have to be responsible defensively without the puck. I don't have an answer to that until we see if it works."
In their small amount of five-on-five ice time together (18:10 according to Natural Stat Trick), that line has controlled play, holding an edge in expected goals (57.08 percent) and high-danger chances (seven for, five against).

Dubois doesn't anticipate any issues with two natural centres - himself and Scheifele - on the same line.
"It's just communication, a little bit of understanding where everyone wants to be," said Dubois. "Especially the two of us, you have a lefty and a righty, so on face-offs I can take them on my strong side and he can take his on the strong side. There are no complications there. I've played right wing before, I like playing right wing. As long as we communicate, as long as we talk on the bench, on the ice, always have our heads up, everything will be fine."
Bowness wants to see his other lines put in work in the offensive zone as well. The more shifts spent forechecking and being physical in the Minnesota zone, the better chance the Jets have at the end of the night of snapping the mini two-game skid.
No matter who is in (or out of) the line-up, the Jets expect everyone to step up.
"You can look at it like pressure. I think a lot of us look at it like opportunity," said Barron. "It's opportunities for guys to step up and fill in those roles. That's what you ask for as a hockey player. Eventually, I think we're almost over this mend and we're going to get some bodies back in the lineup. It's a good opportunity for guys to build confidence."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets have lost consecutive games for just the third time this season, but second time in December. Winnipeg hasn't lost three games in a row since a four-game losing streak from April 15-21, 2022.
The Jets are 11-2-0 against their Central Division counterparts this season, with both losses coming on the road. Winnipeg has won six consecutive games against Central Division teams.
The Jets are 12-5-0 at Canada Life Centre to start the season. Winnipeg has won 16 of their past 21 home games dating back to last season.
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