WINNIPEG – The Washington Capitals arrived Wednesday in Winnipeg fresh off a frustrating late 3-1 loss at Nashville the night before.

A pair of Nashville goals late in the third period undid what had been a very solid effort for the Capitals, who will conclude this three-game journey Saturday night at Toronto. A Capitals win tonight would give coach Bruce Boudreau his 200th NHL coaching victory.

Much of the focus in Winnipeg on Thursday morning surrounded Alex Ovechkin, who leads the Capitals with seven goals this season and will be making his NHL debut on Winnipeg ice.

“So-so,” Ovechkin answered when asked to describe the start to his season. “I’m thinking all the time what I have to do differently.”

But 20 of the 23 skaters who have dressed for the Capitals this season have recorded at least one point, and 17 different Capitals have scored a goal. However, despite that balanced scoring, the Capitals have sagged since a franchise-best 7-0-0 start to the season and have gone just 3-5-1 since that opening burst.

Washington will be without sidelined defenseman Mike Green, who remains back in Washington. Jay Beagle will miss his 16th game tonight stemming from a concussion after a fight with Pittsburgh’s Arron Asham.

Here is the projected lineup for Washington tonight:

Troy Brouwer – Nicklas Backstrom – Alex Ovechkin
Jason Chimera – Brooks Laich – Alexander Semin
Cody Eakin – Marcus Johansson – Joel Ward
Matt Hendricks – Jeff Halpern – Mike Knuble

Roman Hamrlik – Karl Alzner
John Erskine – Dennis Wideman
Jeff Schultz – John Carlson

Michal Neuvirth will start for the Capitals, with Tomas Vokoun serving as back-up.

WINNIPEG -- The objective for the Winnipeg Jets tonight is to build upon what was perhaps their finest performance of the season.

That performance, a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, snapped a five-game winless streak for the Jets (6-9-3) and greatly lightened the tension surrounding the team.

However, the Washington Capitals pay the Jets a visit tonight at the MTS Centre, and it will be another stiff test for a young Winnipeg team that is now moving into a home-heavy portion of its schedule. The Capitals arrived in Winnipeg on Wednesday still smarting from a late 3-1 loss at Nashville on Tuesday night.

"I don't think we should expect anything less," defenseman Mark Stuart said. "We were happy with our last game, but we need to continue to string together consistent efforts."

Frustrating the Capitals, beginning with shutting down Alex Ovechkin by limiting his time and space, will be foremost among the Jets' objectives. Stuart is expected to shoulder much of the burden of stopping Ovechkin and linemates Troy Brouwer and Nicklas Backstrom. Coach Claude Noel expects to try to contain Ovechkin via a committee of defensemen, though he acknowledged that the Capitals' offensive weapons extend far beyond Ovechkin.

"You've always got to know when he is out there," Stuart said. "It's a challenge against him. It's always a challenge."

Here is the projected lineup for Winnipeg tonight:

Andrew Ladd – Nik Antropov – Kyle Wellwood
Alexander Burmistrov – Bryan Little – Evander Kane
Tanner Glass – Jim Slater – Chris Thorburn
Jason Jaffray – Tim Stapleton – Blake Wheeler

Mark Stuart – Dustin Byfuglien
Johnny Oduya – Zach Bogosian
Arturs Kulda – Mark Flood

Ondrej Pavelec will start for the Jets, with Chris Mason serving as backup.

WINNIPEG -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are on a 7-3-0 roll, but coach Guy Boucher is not easily impressed.

Saturday night's 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues left Boucher in an irritated mood on Sunday, so he kept his club off the ice for self-assessment. Tampa Bay's 3-5-2 road record and the Lightning's inability to respond until late in the game against the Blues frustrated Boucher.

"I think probably because it toned me down," Boucher replied when asked why the Lightning did not skate on Sunday. "I kind of protected the players, but it still came out today.

"We have high standards for ourselves," he continued. "Even though we're missing players, we still have the same standards and expectations, and it's important that we respect the process. We don't respect the process on the road and we have to understand."

Defenseman Victor Hedman has not played Tampa Bay's previous three games because of an upper-body injury. Boucher indicated that Hedman's status for tonight's game will be a game-time decision, but it is expected that he will play. Hedman's absence has been a significant blow for a blue line that has been without Mattias Ohlund all season.

The Lightning will also be without left wing Ryan Malone, who will miss his third game with an upper-body injury.

Here is the projected lineup for Tampa Bay tonight:

LIGHTNING
Nate Thompson - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis
Tom Pyatt - Vincent Lecavalier - Teddy Purcell
Brett Connolly - Dominic Moore - Adam Hall
Ryan Shannon - Blair Jones - Steve Downie

Victor Hedman - Eric Brewer
Pavel Kubina - Marc-Andre Bergeron
Brett Clark - Bruno Gervais

Dwayne Roloson will return to the net for the Lightning, with Mathieu Garon backing up.

WINNIPEG -- Subpar play on the ice means the Winnipeg Jets are beginning to shuffle their roster, starting with tonight's contest with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the MTS Centre.

The Jets are 0-3-2 in their past five games, their latest a 2-1 defeat coming on Saturday night at Columbus against the 30th-ranked Blue Jackets. That loss followed a 4-0 shutout by the Florida Panthers in Winnipeg last Thursday.

"We need a good game from a standpoint of work, discipline, details and energy," coach Claude Noel said.

In response to the recent poor play, the Jets recalled left wing Jason Jaffray from St. John's of the American League on Sunday. Jaffray had 7 goals and 12 points in 15 games with St. John's and recorded a hat trick with the IceCaps on Saturday night, earning himself the recall.

"He is a really solid AHL player who has really good character," said Noel, who had Jaffray as an AHL player last season. "He is a really sincere player. I don't want him to be more than what he is."

Jaffray's arrival has spelled the end of the Jets' top forward line of Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler that has combined for just six goals over the club's first 17 games.

"I'm just trying to get some things going," Noel said. "We're just trying to juggle around to jar some things. It's probably time."

The Jets also swapped young defenseman, re-assigning Paul Postma to the IceCaps and recalling Arturs Kulda.

Winnipeg enters a busy stretch back on home ice, where the Jets will play eight of their 11 next games. However, a difficult week looms with the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers following the Lightning.

Noel downplayed the recent buzz about Tampa Bay's 1-3-1 system, stressing the need to avoid carrying the puck and turning over the puck against the Lightning's quick counterstrike.

"It's just a different system," Noel said. "They do a good job."

Back on Oct. 29, the Jets assembled one of their finest performances this season, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum.

"It should give us confidence," Noel said of that game. "It showed we can play well and play for 60 minutes."

Here is the projected lineup for Winnipeg tonight:

JETS
Andrew Ladd - Nik Antropov - Kyle Wellwood
Alexander Burmistrov - Bryan Little - Evander Kane
Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn
Jason Jaffray - Tim Stapleton - Blake Wheeler

Mark Stuart - Dustin Byfuglien
Johnny Oduya - Zach Bogosian
Arturs Kulda - Mark Flood

Ondrej Pavelec will start for the Jets, with Chris Mason serving as backup.

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets received a rare piece of positive news on the injury front on Friday morning.

The Jets activated goaltender Chris Mason from Injured Reserve after the veteran backup missed seven games with a groin injury. Mason exited the Jets' 9-8 win at Philadelphia on Oct. 27 after playing 8:27 in relief of starter Ondrej Pavelec. Mason is 1-2-0 in four games this season with a 2.68 goals-against average.

To make room for Mason, the Jets reassigned goaltender Peter Mannino to the St. John's IceCaps of the American League. Mannino logged third-period mop-up duty in Thursday night's 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers.

"I'm excited to come off [Injured Reserve]," Mason said before the team departed for Saturday night's visit to Columbus. "It [stinks] being injured. I'm pretty happy to be back. You just want to be with the guys."

Mason also indicated that he is "100 percent" ready for game action. The demands of the position mean that groin injuries can sometimes linger for goaltenders, but Mason needed just two weeks to heal.

"I went full-bore here in the last three days here," Mason said of why he feels ready for game play. "I like to think that I heal quickly. The trainers here put me on an excellent regimen, so I feel great. There are no reservations at all."

Meanwhile, right wing Eric Fehr's surgically repaired right shoulder continues its long recovery. Fehr is testing the shoulder in practice, and Friday's contact-filled session provided it with a good workout. Fehr, acquired from the Washington Capitals in a July trade, has yet to play this season.

"It feels pretty good," Fehr said of his shoulder. "It's a little bit stronger than I expected, actually, just to be able to push guys and get body position."

While his teammates may not have relished the demanding practice, Fehr saw the session as a positive.

"That was a great practice for me to jump into," Fehr said. "We wanted to be physical in practice, we wanted to moving our feet and working hard. That's the kind of practice that, selfishly, I need to get back into the line-up."

Fehr plans to consult with the team's medical staff and see how his shoulder is progressing, but he could not provide a definitive timetable for his return.

Along with Fehr, the Jets own a long list of injured players on the blue line. Ron Hainsey has missed 12 games with an upper-body injury, Tobias Enstrom is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone, and Randy Jones and Derek Meech remain out as well.

WINNIPEG -- The Florida Panthers wrap up a two-game Canadian road trip tonight with a stop in Winnipeg.

The Panthers took a 5-1 decision on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs  behind 38 saves from Jose Theodore. Florida’s 7-4-3 start is the franchise’s best since a 9-1-4 beginning to the 1996-97 season.

The Jets, winless in three games, return home for the first time since Oct. 24 after a 3-2-2 seven-game road trip.

Here are the projected lineups:

PANTHERS
Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Jack Skille - Mike Santorelli - Tomas Kopecky
Marco Sturm - Marcel Goc - Sean Bergenheim
Scottie Upshall - Shawn Matthias - Matt Bradley

Ed Jovanovski - Keaton Ellerby
Jason Garrison - Brian Campbell
Dmitry Kulikov - Mike Weaver

Jose Theodore will start for the Panthers, with Scott Clemmensen backing up.

JETS
Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler
Alexander Burmistrov - Nik Antropov - Evander Kane
Kenndal McArdle - Tim Stapleton - Chris Thorburn
Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Kyle Wellwood

Mark Stuart - Zach Bogosian
Johnny Oduya - Dustin Byfuglien
Brett Festerling - Mark Flood

Ondrej Pavelec will start for the Jets, with Peter Mannino backing up.

WINNIPEG -- The New York Rangers' long and winding road finally comes to an end tonight against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Rangers will wrap up a season-opening seven-game road trip, a franchise record, after dropping a 2-0 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. They currently own a 2-1-0 record on their four-game tour of Western Canada and are 2-2-2 overall. Extensive renovations to Madison Square Garden forced the Rangers on the road, but they will debut on home ice on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After a curt post-game interview session with reporters in Edmonton, Rangers coach John Tortorella did not wish to rehash the loss after the Rangers' morning skate at MTS Centre.

"I'm not going to dissect it," Tortorella said.

But the Rangers will need to rectify their power play as quickly as possible. After going 0-for-16 on the man-advantage to begin the season, they finally notched a power-play goal at Calgary on Oct. 20. But the NHL's 30th-ranked power play again struggled on Saturday, going scoreless in five opportunities against the Oilers.

"I would think New York is probably not real happy if you listen to them," Winnipeg coach Claude Noel said. "They're not happy with the results, and they've been on the road a while. We're going to have to play well. We're going to have to keep plowing ahead, because we're walking into seven straight road games."

Tonight's game is the final home contest for the Jets until a Nov. 10 date with the Florida Panthers. The Jets will embark on a seven-game swing that will stretch out over 13 nights, beginning with a visit to play the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Martin Biron will make his first start of the season tonight and end Henrik Lundqvist's streak of 37 consecutive regular-season and playoff starts dating back to Feb. 11. Biron spelled Lundqvist on Saturday at Edmonton after the starter left the game with an equipment issue.

"Now it's about putting that work in practice into games," Biron said. "It has been a while. It's fun, it's exciting. It's about getting back into the rhythm."

WINNIPEG -- Here are the projected lineups for the New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets, who meet tonight at the MTS Centre:

RANGERS
Derek Stepan - Brad Richards - Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky - Artem Anisimov - Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko - Brian Boyle - Brandon Prust
Wojtek Wolski - Mike Rupp - Kris Newbury

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Tim Erixon - Michael Del Zotto
Jeff Woywitka - Steve Eminger

Martin Biron will start and be backed up by Henrik Lundqvist.

The Rangers will regain the services of Wolski, who missed five games after sustaining a groin injury in their season-opener against the Los Angeles Kings. Center Erik Christensen will not dress for the Rangers. Defenseman Brendan Bell will exit the Blueshirts' defense corps in favor of Woywitka. Defensemen Michael Sauer (shoulder) and Marc Staal (concussion) both remain sidelined.

JETS
Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Alexander Burmistrov - Nik Antropov - Evander Kane
Tanner Glass - Ben Maxwell - Chris Thorburn
Kenndal McArdle - Tim Stapleton - Kyle Wellwood

Tobias Enstrom - Dustin Byfuglien
Mark Stuart - Zach Bogosian
Johnny Oduya - Randy Jones

Chris Mason will see his second consecutive game in net for the Jets after relieving starter Ondrej Pavelec early in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Mason entered the game and stopped 18 of 19 Carolina shots in relief.

"I've got two good goalies," coach Claude Noel said of starting Mason. "It's comforting."

Winnipeg is expected to be without center Jim Slater, who took a heavy hit during the third period of Saturday's game. McArdle will make his season debut for the Jets after suffering a preseason injury on Sept. 24. Defenseman Ron Hainsey remains on injured reserve and will miss his fourth consecutive game tonight.

WINNIPEG -- Blue-line depth is a strength for the Winnipeg Jets, and injuries could test that depth this week.

The Jets skated on Tuesday morning before departing for Toronto, where they will begin a two-game road swing that begins on Wednesday night against the Maple Leafs and continues on Thursday at Ottawa.

Veteran defensemen Ron Hainsey (upper body) departed early in the second period of Monday night's 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and did not return. Then in the third period, defenseman Mark Stuart took a shot high to his face. Stuart missed a few shifts before returning to finish the game, but departed Tuesday morning's practice early. Both Hainsey and Stuart play key roles on the Winnipeg penalty kill.

Jets coach Claude Noel did not have an updated status on Hainsey and Stuart, but he did indicate he will insert Derek Meech into the Winnipeg lineup against the Maple Leafs. Meech, a Winnipeg native, will make his season debut after not dressing for the club's opening four games.

"Derek has shown he is a good player," Noel said. "He has experience in the League. His skating is his strength. He is a smart player, so I think he is going to have good energy. He has been dying to play, so I think he will get an opportunity."

The Jets did have left wing Evander Kane back on the ice for Tuesday morning's practice. Kane missed Monday's game after taking a puck to his foot last Saturday at Phoenix, but could return against the Maple Leafs.

Noel would not reveal whether goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped 28 shots against the Penguins, or backup Chris Mason will face the Maple Leafs, though he did tip his hand.

"I have a plan," Noel said of the goaltending situation. "My plan is to talk to [goaltending coach] Wade Flaherty. That's my plan. How would you not want to continue down the road with Pavelec? He played outstanding."

The game against Toronto begins a stretch in which the Jets will play nine of their next 11 games on the road against Eastern Conference opponents. The Jets followed their first win of the season with a practice session that Noel found to be lacking in execution.

"It takes a while to break people of some habits," Noel said. "I do get that."