Jets at Rangers preview

JETS (0-0-0) at RANGERS (0-0-0)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN3, NHL.TV

Panarin, a left wing, signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract July 1. Kakko, a right wing, was the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Trouba will be facing his former team. The Rangers acquired the defenseman in a trade with Winnipeg on June 17 that included defenseman Neal Pionk going to the Jets. Trouba had 179 points (42 goals, 137 assists) in 408 games with the Jets from 2013-19.
Jets forwards Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor are expected to play after signing new contracts last week. Winnipeg defenseman Ville Heinola and Rangers defenseman Adam Fox will also make their NHL debuts.

Players to watch

Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey could play more minutes because of the absence of Dustin Byfuglien, who is suspended while on a personal leave of absence. Morrissey had 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) and averaged 22:24 per game in 59 games last season.
Rangers forward Artemi Panarin had 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists) in 79 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. He has 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in six games at the Garden.

They said it

"A lot of people are expecting us to not make the playoffs and that's something we're going to prove wrong. We have a good team. We have so much skill in this team. … I think we'll be real dangerous." -- Jets forward Patrik Laine
"Guys look happy in practice, a lot of smiles, a lot of laughter. I feel we're maybe not as tense in that sense. … It's a feeling in here, you can tell that the guys are ready." -- Rangers center Mika Zibanejad

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Andrew Copp -- Patrik Laine
Mathieu Perreault -- Adam Lowry -- Gabriel Bourque
Mason Appleton -- Mark Letestu -- Jack Roslovic
Josh Morrissey -- Dmitry Kulikov
Ville Heinola -- Neal Pionk
Anthony Bitetto -- Tucker Poolman
Connor Hellebuyck
Laurent Brossoit
Scratched:David Gustafsson, Carl Dahlstrom
Injured:Bryan Little (concussion), Nathan Beaulieu (upper body)
Suspended:Dustin Byfuglien

Rangers projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Chris Kreider -- Ryan Strome -- Kaapo Kakko
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Brett Howden -- Jesper Fast
Brendan Lemieux -- Lias Andersson -- Brendan Smith
Brady Skjei -- Jacob Trouba
Marc Staal -- Tony DeAngelo
Libor Hajek --
Adam Fox
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched:Micheal Haley, Greg McKegg
Injured:None

Status report

Little skated Thursday for the first time since being diagnosed with a concussion Tuesday. … Dahlstrom joined the Jets for the first time Thursday. They claimed him off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. He flew to New York from Prague, where the Blackhawks are playing in the 2019 NHL Global Series. He could play at the New Jersey Devils on Friday, coach Paul Maurice said.

Stat pack

Lundqvist will be making his 14th consecutive start in a season-opening game with the Rangers, making him the second goalie in NHL history to start at least 14 straight season openers with the same team. Martin Brodeur started 18 straight with the Devils. Lundqvist needs one win to become the sixth goalie in NHL history with at least 450.