WINNIPEG -- While the Winnipeg Jets' three-game homestand needs a good start Tuesday, it will be the visiting St. Louis Blues looking to reverse a trend of poor first-period showings.

The Blues visit Winnipeg fresh off a 5-2 loss Saturday to the Anaheim Ducks in which they allowed three goals in the opening seven minutes. In a stretch of three losses in the past four games, opponents have outscored the Blues in the first period 9-1.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock put his team through practice Monday before departing for Winnipeg and saw a similar pattern play out.

"[Monday] was a slow start and a great finish," Hitchcock said with a chuckle after the team's morning skate Tuesday. "Kind of like our games. I think for us we just have to play the right way earlier and not dig ourselves a hole. I think every team goes through these lulls. Ours seem to be in the first period.

"But I think we won't have a choice with Winnipeg having a first game back after such a long break and the fans the way they are here. They're going to be engaged at the start, so I don't think we have any choice but to get engaged here."

WINNIPEG -- A pair of Central Division teams looking to find their games will meet Thursday when the Winnipeg Jets host the Chicago Blackhawks.

A rare slump accompanies the Blackhawks, who have lost two of their past three games, into MTS Centre. Opponents have outscored the Blackhawks 12-3 in those two losses, and Chicago is on a season-high seven-game road trip that began with a 5-1 loss Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche.

"[We are forgetting] about it," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said of the Blackhawks' recent struggles. "We're looking at the [past] two road games. We weren't so hot obviously. We've given up quite a few goals.

"But I think the [cause of those problems] is pretty clear. We've just got to be a little smart defensively, a little bit more committed to what we have to do in our own zone. We'll be looking to bounce back. We want to start this road trip the right way so we need to make up for what we didn't accomplish in the [past game]."

WINNIPEG -- Two teams that need some good fortune will meet Monday when the Calgary Flames make their first-ever visit to MTS Centre to play the Winnipeg Jets.

The Flames are fresh off a 4-2 home loss this past Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers in which they lost a 2-0 second-intermission lead against their provincial rival. Flames coach Bob Hartley, who coached the Winnipeg franchise for parts of five seasons when it was based in Atlanta, criticized his team after the loss, but sounded a different tone after the team's morning skate at MTS Centre.

"It's the beauty and the challenge of this game at the same time," Hartley said. "You can't sit on a loss or a win too long. You have to bounce back. Obviously we know what we did right and did wrong on Saturday, and we move on."

WINNIPEG -- The Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets will see similar opponents when they meet Friday at MTS Centre.

Both teams have used three-game winning streaks to revive seasons that had been in danger of unraveling after slow starts. The Flyers won 2-1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday and will wrap their three-game road trip against a Winnipeg Jets team that beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday.

"We have to be ready to go," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "Philly has got the same mojo that we have so they're going to be wanting to go as well."

Philadelphia has used a 6-3-1 run to move back into the Eastern Conference pack after a 1-7-0 start.

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets have had their share of challenges this season, and the San Jose Sharks will present another test when the teams meet Sunday.

The Sharks (10-2-4) arrived in Winnipeg on Saturday to begin preparing for a five game-road trip. San Jose is winless in its past four games and lost a 4-2 home decision to the Vancouver Canucks this past Thursday. Coach Todd McLellan was not happy with his team’s work ethic against the Canucks, and he has made bringing that work ethic back to its previous standard a point of emphasis leading into the game against Winnipeg.

Sharks center Joe Thornton pointed to a need to put together a better start against the Jets, something that the Sharks have struggled to do recently, but said San Jose’s problems are not alarming to the Sharks’ dressing room.

WINNIPEG -- The Nashville Predators' seven-game road trip continues Friday against an opponent they have controlled so far this season without needing to call on goaltender Pekka Rinne.

The Predators (8-5-2) have taken each of their meetings with the Winnipeg Jets in front of goaltender Carter Hutton. Nashville coach Barry Trotz gave Rinne a night off when the teams met in Winnipeg on Oct. 20, and Hutton responded with 38 saves in a 3-1 win. Four nights later in Nashville, Hutton started again after a hip infection sidelined Rinne and delivered a 34-save performance in helping Nashville take a 3-2 overtime decision.

Hutton will start again for Nashville against the Jets (6-9-2) on Friday. The Predators arrived in Winnipeg fresh off a 6-4 road win against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, as they continue a coast-to-coast, franchise-record-tying seven-game road trip that will see them face the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.

"It's been a little different," Hutton said of his time as Nashville's No. 1 goaltender. "Obviously Pekka going down is a huge loss to us. He's a world-class goalie and a great guy, so it's tough. You don't expect that. You don't wish that on any [player]. But opportunities come your way … and so far it has been a fun ride."

WINNIPEG -- The Detroit Red Wings have an opportunity to sweep their tour of Western Canada when they meet the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Monday.

The Red Wings (9-4-2) have the first three games on the journey, including a 5-0 win Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. A win against the Jets would boost them ahead of the idle Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

Detroit recalled defenseman Adam Almquist from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League on Sunday to replace injured defenseman Brendan Smith (shoulder). Smith injured himself in a third-period fight with Edmonton’s Will Acton.

WINNIPEG -- Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews makes his hometown return when his team plays the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Saturday.

Toews met with the Winnipeg media Saturday morning before the Blackhawks-Jets matinee that will be his first NHL regular-season game in his hometown since the NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011.

Toews played college hockey at the University of North Dakota, a short drive from Winnipeg, and played a 2010 preseason game here with the Blackhawks, but opportunities for him to play close to home have been limited.

"It will be an emotional game," Toews said. "It's kind of weird being back here during the season."

WINNIPEG -- The Washington Capitals return to where they triggered the beginning of the Winnipeg Jets' demise last spring.

Southeast Division members until NHL realignment split them this past summer, the Capitals and Jets will reunite at MTS Centre when they meet Tuesday in the Capitals' only visit to Winnipeg this season.

In March the Capitals took 4-0 and 6-1 wins in back-to-back games in Winnipeg that triggered a month-long run that pushed the Capitals past the Jets to an eventual Southeast Division title. The Capitals, who begin a season-long five-game road trip Tuesday, have shut out the Jets in three of the teams' past five meetings in Winnipeg, outscoring them 16-4 in those five games.

"[The back-to-back wins were] the turning [point] of our season," Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby said after the team's morning skate. "Our team played great here."

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets picked up a badly needed 4-3 shootout win on home ice Friday against the St. Louis Blues, but the victory came with a cost.

The Winnipeg blue line lost its third pairing Friday, forcing the Jets to skate with four defensemen for much of the third period. Dustin Byfuglien skated a career-high 31:37 in picking up the workload after the Jets lost rookie Jacob Trouba and Mark Stuart to injuries.

Trouba left the game on a stretcher after falling face-first into the end boards while attempting to hit Blues defenseman Jordan Leopold. Trouba was released from a Winnipeg hospital late Friday night and is expected to miss a month with a neck sprain. Trouba's partner, Mark Stuart, exited the game in the third period after crashing into the Winnipeg net.

Jets coach Claude Noel will dress Paul Postma and Adam Pardy, a recall from the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League on Saturday, in place of Stuart and Trouba.