Notes: Red Wings not taking Laine, Jets lightly

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - The Red Wings know better than to take the Winnipeg Jets lightly.
When the Jets visited Joe Louis Arena Nov. 4, they were playing the second game of a back-to-back after losing in overtime to the Washington Capitals.

The young Jets rallied to score four goals in the third period for a 5-3 win, three of those goals coming in the last eight minutes.
"Very good team," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "They have a hard and heavy team that has good speed that once they get you in the O-zone they can wear you down. A guy like (Blake) Wheeler is hard to handle at times. We're going to have to do a good job in our D-zone of being fast, we're going to have to do a good job of getting out of our zone fast. If we spend a lot of time in our end it's certainly advantage them. That's certainly one of the biggest things they pose. Once they get that five-man unit going and the D are active and they got real good D that can get involved in the offense it makes it a tough matchup."
Of course most eyes are focused on rookie Patrik Laine, the second overall pick in this past summer's draft.
Laine leads all rookies in scoring with 23 points.
His 16 goals are five more than Toronto's Auston Matthews and are just one shy of the league leader, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby.
"He can obviously shoot the puck," defenseman Brian Lashoff said. "He's a good, young player. When he came in, he was ready to go and he's off to a good start. He's a guy we've got to watch out for."
Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a Commerce, Mich. native, said there's a reason Laine scores so much.
"His release," Hellebuyck said. "He's got a really good release and it's a little bit sneaky because he kind of hides it with the toe of his stick and then when he releases it, it's hard to read."
Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba, a Rochester, Mich. native, said Laine isn't just a goal-scorer.
"Just his threat of shooting the puck is the biggest thing," Trouba said. "He gets it off quick and it's pretty accurate and pretty hard. Then he knows when you try to take away that shot, when to make the pass and he can make that pass like he showed in St. Louis. Everybody thought he was shooting on that 2-on-1 in overtime and he took the shot away and he made the pass so I think that's something that's pretty special with him."
Laine, who doesn't even turn 19 until next April 19, said he wasn't thinking about being the rookie scoring leader or challenging Crosby for most goals.
"I didn't think anything when I came here," Laine said. "I just wanted to play and show everybody that I can play in this league. I think I've done that."
The Jets (13-13-2, 8-5-0 home) currently sit eighth in the Western Conference.
"We're doing now pretty good as a team and we got a couple huge wins this weekend so I'm happy with our game but everybody has to be better players and I think we can be a lot better team and a lot better players," Laine said.
The Jets' leading scorer, Mark Scheifele, did not skate Tuesday morning and has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury.
Scheifele had a goal and two assists in the Nov. 4 game in Detroit.
JETS WITH MICHIGAN CONNECTIONS: Hellebuyck and Trouba aren't the only Jets with Michigan connections.
Forward Kyle Connor is from Shelby Township, Mich., and played for the University of Michigan.
Andrew Copp was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., and played with Dylan Larkin at Michigan during the 2014-15 season.
Hellebuyck, 23, is 2-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in two games against his hometown team.
"I caught the majority of their games," Hellebuyck said. "I don't want to oversell it right now because we're playing them tonight but I'm a pretty big Wings fan. It's definitely a little more exciting than a normal game because you grew up watching them so just playing them is a different feeling."
Trouba said his extended family who live in Michigan will get a chance to see him on TV tonight.
Although he grew up a Wings fan, Trouba is now used to playing against them. This will be his fifth time.
"I don't really look at it too much any different," Trouba said. "It's kind of fun playing against a team you grew up cheering for but once the game starts, it's pretty much just another game."
As a defenseman, there was really only one player that could have been Trouba's favorite.
"(Nick) Lidstrom, obviously," Trouba said. "Probably every kid my age and a little older than me would say him. Just having him in your backyard being able to watch him every night was pretty cool."
INJURY UPDATES: Goaltender Jimmy Howard (groin), forward Andreas Athanasiou (knee) and defenseman Alexey Marchenko (shoulder) made the trip and have increased their activity each practice.
"Howard will be ready to go full practice on Thursday," Blashill said. "AA I'm hoping will be ready to go full practice on Thursday and Marchy I'll know more here today."
LINEUP FOR JETS: Petr Mrazek was the first goaltender off the ice.
Although Blashill said lineup decisions would be finalized after warmups, he indicated that it was likely Lashoff would play again.
Lashoff, 26, did not get called up last season but has played in 118 games with the Wings in his career.
"I was excited to get the call," Lashoff said. "I was in Grand Rapids for a while since the last time I was up. I just concentrated on working hard and giving myself the best opportunity to get back up here and help the guys win."
The Wings did win in overtime Sunday against the New York Islanders and Lashoff played with Niklas Kronwall.
"He talks on the ice and he's a good leader in the room for sure," Lashoff said. "And he talks to me on the bench. He's just so smart he makes a lot of things on the ice easier and he makes it easier for me."