GAMEDAY: Panthers at Jets

The Winnipeg Jets will look to get back into the win column as they play the back half of a home-and-home set versus the Florida Panthers. Florida shut out the Jets 5-0 Saturday night as Winnipeg lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

The defending champions did a great job of slowing the Jets down in the neutral zone on the weekend, something Winnipeg is hoping to change tonight.

“They executed really well between those lines, and we didn't, we didn't get pucks deep. We didn't make it hard on them at all. And they were fast,” said Scheifele.

“They played well. So, you got to tip your cap to them. They played us well. They played hard. And excited to have another crack at them.”

The Jets still remain the number one team in the National Hockey League despite dropping their last two games and being outscored 9-1. They had a long practice on Monday, something they haven’t had in quite some time because of their hectic schedule as of late.

“We haven't had a lot of opportunities to do some line rushes, do some five-on-five sorts, and some ozone play and things like that. I think it kind of leads itself into the game. It helps the sharpness, the execution,” said Adam Lowry.

“The things we expect out everyone in this room. And it's nice to get out there handle the puck a little more than you do in a game. So, we look at the last couple of games and where our level has been in the areas we want to improve upon, and going out and being able to work on it gives you a better feeling than kind of having to sit on it.”

Here are the line rushes and D pairings from the morning skate, Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal.

Scott Arniel and the rest of the coaching staff also placed importance on the practice that the Jets had on Monday putting drills in that focused on puck battles. That clearly was a place where the defending champs and the Lightning had an advantage over Winnipeg last week.

But the one thing you could really see about, obviously Tampa being a Stanley Cup champion and Florida being a champion, there is compete there. Those guys know how to compete, and not saying we don't. We've done a fantastic job this year,” said Arniel.

“But sometimes (the reason) you just do a drill like that is to two-fold. One is to compete. The second part of scoring goals. We only got one in our last two games. So, it means that it's kind of those under pressure duress rebounds, kind of scramble moments that, you know, the greasy goals that you got to score.”

They haven’t been home a lot this month but when they have been at Canada Life Centre, the Jets have taken advantage of the home crowd. The Jets have posted a league best .889-win percentage at home (8-1-0). It’s the best start through nine games at home in franchise history. The 2017-18 and 2022-23 Jets were the fastest teams in franchise history to reach double-digit wins at 13 games. Winnipeg has potted 37 goals through the first nine home games this season, it’s tied for fourth in the NHL and the most in franchise history in that span.

“It's focus on the game at hand and know that, obviously we're playing a team that we just played the other day, so we know what they did against us, what they did well and what we didn't do well,” said Scheifele.

“So, it’s a matter of just adjusting. Obviously excited to play at home again, be in your own bed, and just get back to our game. I think that's the biggest thing just looking at one game at a time.”