Detroit Red Wings at Winnipeg Jets

We take you back to Oct. 30 in Detroit, where local product Kyle Connor had a huge night against his hometown club and eclipsed the 500-point mark for his career after recording a goal and two assists. You could tell the Winnipeg Jets winger had some extra giddy-up in his step that night.

So what might fellow Michigan product Connor Hellebuyck have in store tonight as his Jets host the Red Wings for the only time this season? We remind you that Winnipeg’s two-time Vezina Trophy winner needs but one victory to become just the 30^th goaltender in NHL history with at least 300 wins and 40 shutouts.

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“He’s been awesome for us. We just want to go out and play our game and give it our all,” forward Mark Scheifele said following his team’s optional morning skate.

Hellebuyck could have hit the milestone on Thursday night, but the Jets blew a late third-period lead and ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks. That left the team winless in its last two (0-1-1) following a four-game winning streak, although they continue to lead the NHL with 56 points (and sit second in point percentage behind the Vegas Golden Knights).

Although the Jets took that initial meeting by a 6-2 score, don’t expect the Red Wings to roll over in this one. Detroit comes in red hot, relatively speaking, as they’ve rattled off three straight victories including a 5-4 triumph on Thursday in Columbus. Give some credit to new head coach Todd McLellan, who took over from Derek Lalonde just after Christmas.

“Really, their play without the puck is probably the biggest difference,” Jets bench boss Scott Arniel said of what has changed in Motor City. “They still have a real good skill-set, some top-end forwards, some real mobile young defencemen who can go, but you can see it, they’re not giving up odd-man rushes. Obviously, their buy-in without the puck has been big.”

The Jets will go with the same lineup as they did against the Ducks, meaning defencemen Dylan Coghlan and forward Dominic Toninato are healthy scratches while blue-liners Dylan Samberg and Haydn Fleury and forward Mason Appleton remain injured. Samberg and Fleury both joined the optional morning skate in yellow non-contact jerseys as they work their way back.

“We’re still a little ways away on both those guys, but (Samberg) is a little further along,” said Arniel.

Alex Lyon gets the call in net for the visitors, while veteran defenceman Jeff Petry is out with an upper-body injury he suffered against the Blue Jackets.

This is game two of a season-long eight-game homestand for the Jets, who will get a bit of a break after this and play just once over the next five days.

Here’s some other information to get you set:

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

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FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: A fun little exchange happened this morning in the Jets dressing room. There was Mark Scheifele, responding to a question about Team Canada’s lack of recent success at the World Juniors including falling short of even reaching the medal round for a second straight year.

“My results weren’t amazing. I had a bronze and a fourth,” Scheifele began as he recalled his 2012 and 2013 appearances. He then expanded on how he’s thankful social media wasn’t as prevalent back then as it is today in terms of the pressure it puts on young players.

“It’s definitely something you have to get used to. It’s a different animal nowadays, but I think that’s all part of the whole learning process,” he said. “It’s everyone’s goal to win that gold medal, but only one team gets to win it. I didn’t have the luck to win it either.”

At that point, Scheifele was asked by Sean Reynolds of Sportsnet if teammate Josh Morrissey — who was listening to the scrum from his nearby stall with a big smirk on his face — would ever take the chance to “rub in” the fact he helped the 2015 World Junior squad win it all.

“Ahh, I don’t know. I had a gold at Worlds (in 2016), and he didn’t,” Scheifele said, staring directly at Morrissey with an equally wide smile. He then went into a full-blown Larry David-style voice as he said “Ehhhh, you know, it evens off.”

Good stuff.

Of course, Morrissey is currently the only member of the Jets on the roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, although Scheifele is making a compelling case to be added as a potential injury replacement. He’s now scored 11 goals in 15 games since being snubbed and leads the Jets with 23 — tied for second in the NHL behind only Leon Draisaitl.

To put that in perspective, Florida’s Sam Bennett has not scored in the 13 games since he was named a member of the team. Yikes.

KEN SAYS: Captain Adam Lowry became the sixth member of the Jets to hit double digits in goals on Thursday night when he buried a pass from Alex Iafallo, who also scored a goal on a wraparound that gave his team a 3-2 lead.

It will be interesting to see how the lines shake down as the game moves along. In each of the past two games, Arniel has made some subtle tweaks to the line combinations in an effort to try and spark the offence. Iafallo has done a solid job since Appleton left the lineup with a lower-body issue.

For the first time in three games, forward Morgan Barron was held off the scoresheet but his confidence level is on the rise and he’s someone who could move up the depth chart if Arniel is looking to mix things up a bit. He’s someone that had success on a line with Lowry before the arrival of Nino Niederreiter in the trade with the Nashville Predators. Barron can skate and has some additional offensive upside, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him be given a bit more responsibility.

Winnipeg Jets' Morgan Barron (36) and Anaheim Ducks' Radko Gudas (7) jostle for a loose puck during second period NHL action Thursday. (John Woods / The Canadian Press)

Winnipeg Jets’ Morgan Barron (36) and Anaheim Ducks’ Radko Gudas (7) jostle for a loose puck during second period NHL action Thursday. (John Woods / The Canadian Press)

The Red Wings have been led offensively by Swedish winger Lucas Raymond, who has 15 goals and 38 points in 38 games. Raymond signed a lucrative long-term extension this past summer along with top-pairing defenceman Moritz Seider.

The connections to the Jets on the Red Wings include forward Andrew Copp, who is centering the second line with a pair of former Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. Copp has seven goals and 16 points in 38 games and remains a conscientious two-way player. Hard-hitting blue-liner Ben Chiarot is currently skating on the top pairing with Seider, who was chosen sixth overall in 2019.

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is riding a four-game point streak and was chosen to play for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Barron-Gustafsson-Kupari

DEFENCE:

Morrissey-DeMelo
Stanley-Pionk
Heinola-Miller

GOAL:

Hellebuyck
Comrie

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Coghlan, F Toninato

INJURED: D Samberg (broken foot), D Fleury (lower-body), F Appleton (lower-body)

DETROIT RED WINGS

FORWARDS:

Veleno-Larkin-Raymond
DeBrincat-Copp-Kane
Berggren-Compher-Tarasenko
Rasmussen-Kasper-Motte

DEFENCE:

Chiarot-Seider
Edvinsson-Holl
Gustafsson-Johansson

GOAL:

Lyon
Talbot

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Lagesson, RW Fischer

INJURED: D Petry (upper-body)

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Jets forward Mark Scheifele on facing the Detroit Red Wings:

“We’re expecting a tough test. They have a good squad over there. Obviously some pretty elite skill up front. And with the new coaching change, Todd’s been in this league for a long time and has had success, so we’ve got to be ready for them.”