GAME DAY: JETS vs. KINGS

WINNIPEG, MB - In all the excitement that will be tonight's home opener at Bell MTS Place, fans of the Winnipeg Jets (1-1-0) may also have to exercise some patience. The reason being, generating offence against the Los Angeles Kings is no easy task.
"Every time you touch the puck you have to play the simple way for the full 60 minutes," said Mark Scheifele.
"If it takes 59 minutes to get one, then it takes 59 minutes. But it all starts defence first against a team like this."

The Kings allowed the fewest goals in the National Hockey League in the 2017-18 season (202). So far in the 2018-19 campaign, the Kings (1-0-1) have allowed five.
In order to generate space to make plays in the Los Angeles zone, Jets captain Blake Wheeler says his team can't overcomplicate things in order to create opportunities.
"They feed off teams wanting to do too much and getting tired of playing a certain style of game. There have been a lot of high scores around the league, but that's not going to be the case tonight," said Wheeler.
"You can't get too wrapped up in some of the offensive outputs that have been going around. It's about winning games. This team is great at it. They've won two Stanely Cups doing it. We have to stay with the fight. Our fans might not have a whole ton to cheer about, that typically means we're doing the right things, especially against a team like this."

After picking up two of a possible four points on the season-opening two-game road trip, the Jets are looking to get back in the win column tonight.
The focus is on discipline, after the Dallas Stars scored three times on the power play to beat the Jets on Saturday.
Head coach Paul Maurice said following Monday's practice that his team needs to "check with their feet, not their sticks" in order to avoid taking penalties leading to shorthanded situations.
Maurice was quick to say he won't be attaching too much concern or praise on any aspect of the team's play through two games. But he does feel the team is getting close to what it wants to look like at even strength.
"We're not that far off. We think we've slowed down a little bit offensively at times looking for a slightly better play," said Maurice. "Our shot totals are quite low, and they're quite high in terms of what we're giving up. But five-on-five, we're at least even or possibly better in chances for and against in our opinion."

Adam Lowry took part in the morning skate after the forward didn't skate on Monday. Jacob Trouba is also expected to play, despite the defenceman missing yesterday's practice and this morning's pre-game skate due to a leave of absence.
With both Lowry and Trouba in the line-up, the projected line combinations based on Monday's skate look like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Ehlers-Little-Laine
Vesalainen-Roslovic-Perreault
Copp-Lowry-Tanev
Morrissey-Trouba
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Morrow-Myers
Los Angeles will be without Dustin Brown (long-term injured reserve) and goaltender Jonathan Quick was moved to injured reserve on October 7.
Even though Myers has been in the league since 2009, the 28-year-old still looks forward to home openers.
"It's always exciting to get back in front of your home fans during the regular season," said Myers. "We want to try and give them a good start here."
The Jets have won three of seven home openers since relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, including a 5-3 win over the Kings back in 2013.
"You're going to have more energy. You have to get the juices going for a home opener. It's always a fun game," said Scheifele. "We know our fans are going to be rocking the building tonight. We're excited to get going."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
GAME NOTES
The Winnipeg Jets entertain the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow in the Jets' 2018-19 home opener...This is the Kings only trip to Winnipeg this season...The Jets are coming off a two-game, season-opening road trip that had a pair of 5-1 decisions - a victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday and a loss against the Dallas Stars on Saturday...The Jets are back on the road for another Central Division matchup on Thursday against the Nashville Predators before returning home for a six-game homestand.
Home Openers
The Jets have won three of seven home openers at Bell MTS Place, including three of the last five (Oct. 4/13 vs LAK - 5-3 W and Oct. 16/15 vs. CGY 3-1 W, Oct. 13/16 vs. CAR 5-4 OTW)...This is the second time the Jets have faced Los Angeles in a home opener, winning 5-3 in 2013...In Atlanta, the franchise went 5-4-2 in home openers for an all-time franchise mark of 8-8-2 in home openers.
Home, Sweet Home
The Jets posted their best home record in franchise history last season and ended the regular season on a franchise record nine-game home winning streak at Bell MTS Place...The Jets outscored their opponents 33-20 in the nine games and won six of the contests by one goal...Winnipeg's last loss in the regular season at Bell MTS Place was Feb. 27 to Nashville 6-5...Winnipeg led the NHL in points at home with 66 and wins at home with 32...Winnipeg scored a league-high 156 goals at home last season, while allowing just 101 goals...The Jets had a point in every game at home in four calendar months last season, going 5-0-1 at Bell MTS Place in November, 4-0-0 in January, 7-0-0 in March and 2-0-0 in April...This season, the Jets play seven of their first 10 games on home ice.
Party in the Pacific
The Jets went a dominant 17-4-2 against Pacific Division foes last season, including a 11-1-2 run in their last 14 games versus the Pacific...Winnipeg was 8-1-1 at Bell MTS Place against their Pacific Division foes with their lone regulation loss coming to Los Angeles on Feb. 20...Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck led the NHL with 15 wins against the Pacific, going 15-2-2...Nikolaj Ehlers (9G, 10A) and Blake Wheeler (3G, 16A) led the Jets in scoring against the Pacific with 19 points in 24 games.
Pre-Season Recap
The Jets went 4-3-0 during their seven-game pre-season slate, including 1-2-0 on the road...Two of Winnipeg's four wins came in overtime...Captain Blake Wheeler led the Jets in scoring in the pre-season with seven points (2G, 5A) in three games...Dustin Byfuglien (3G, 3A) and Mark Scheifele (2G, 4A) also had strong pre-seasons with six points each.
Two for KC
Kyle Connor is the only Jets player to have scored in both games this season after scoring the lone goal against the Stars on Saturday...He scored 31 goals as a rookie last season and has 11 goals in his last 15 games, dating back to last season...He leads the Jets in scoring this season with three points (2G, 1A) and also has a team-best plus-three rating.
Pacific Leaders
Nikolaj Ehlers (9G, 10A) and Blake Wheeler (3G, 16A) led the Jets in scoring against the Pacific Division last season with 19 points in 24 games...Ehlers had a four-point game against Edmonton on Oct. 9 (3G, 1A) and three-point game on Nov. 24 at Anaheim (2G, 1A)...Wheeler is on a four-game point streak against Pacific Division teams with six points (2G, 4A) in the quartet of games.
From the Backend
Josh Morrissey and Jacob Trouba each assisted Kyle Connor's goal on Saturday...Morrissey is coming off his best season offensively after setting career highs for goals (7), assists (19), and points (26)...Trouba is coming off back-to-back 20-plus assist seasons despite missing a significant number of games in both seasons.
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