Dillon returns to San Jose, Scheifele ready to contribute in first game

SAN JOSE - Brenden Dillon is seeing a lot of familiar faces around the rink as the Winnipeg Jets prepare to take on the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Dillon spent six seasons with the Sharks before being moved to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline in 2019-20. He's never had the chance to return to SAP Center to play against the Sharks - especially after the 2020-21 season kept the Capitals (and all the NHL's clubs) within their own division.
But tomorrow night, Dillon will get to walk down the visitors tunnel inside the rink that he called home from 2014 to 2020.
"The Shark Tank is a special place to play. I think as an away team you always knew, the first 10 minutes, if you can get out of there 0-0 it was usually a win for that first period," said Dillon. "Obviously they're still a great team, a lot of big pieces, dangerous pieces up front. The back end, they create a lot of offence. It's a team that seems to have a lot of excitement coming into the season. It's our second game, we're looking to get our first win on the board here too."

Before he gets to game night, though, the Jets had practice on Friday. The 45-minute session saw the team run through everything from five-on-five to special teams.

Dillon played 3:28 of his 15:48 of ice time on Wednesday on the penalty kill. The Jets killed off three of the five power plays the Anaheim Ducks had, but Dillon knows there is room for improvement.
"I'm still the new guy," he said. "So to actually get some game reps - you can play all the preseason games and training camp scrimmages you want - but to actually get into it and be bumping guys (is important)."
Another part of the Jets special teams that is looking to improve is the power play. Of the 34 shots the Jets had on Wednesday, 12 came on their five power play chances.
The Jets liked what they generated, but the group will get even more lethal on Friday when Mark Scheifele makes his season debut.
"The boys were snapping it around and had a lot of good chances," Scheifele said. "Like I said, (John) Gibson made some big saves and kept them in there. It could have been a totally different game if one of those goes early. That's the way hockey goes."
Scheifele was back in his familiar spot, both on the power play (in the left circle), and in regular line rushes (between Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler) in Friday's skate.

The trio of Connor, Scheifele, and Wheeler is one the Jets have used dating all the way back to 2017-18. There have been some variations along the way, but head coach Paul Maurice has seen that group change its game over the years.
"When I first got here, Blake would be the one whose game changed earliest on, cause the other two were still young and learning," Maurice said. "Then, in some ways, Mark just kind of grew at a steady rate, and then Kyle came in as a rookie and made some pretty quick changes in growth.
"When they first come into the league, the idea is to score as many goals as I can, that's how I can help the team and then maybe grow and mature. And they're as good on both sides of the puck as they are with it."

The full Jets line rushes looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Copp-Dubois-Ehlers
Stastny-Lowry-Perfetti
Harkins-Nash-Vesalainen
Morrissey-Schdmidt
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
Saturday's tilt against the Sharks will be San Jose's first game of the season. They're also just the next team on a long list of squads that look much different than they did the last time the Jets saw them.
There are still the familiar names, though: Tomas Hertl, Brent Burns, and Logan Couture to name a few.
"It's one of those things where you try to go out and work on your game," said Scheifele. "Play your game, do what your team does best. That's the focus in my mind and the team's mind … just go out and play and don't try to chase the game. Let the game come to you a little bit."

If there is any added excitement for Dillon to play one of his former teams, it's tough for Maurice to spot it.
"He's excited every day. He practices like a really good pro," Maurice said. "He's got a smile on his face and he's driving every day. I'm sure there is, especially when you spend that much time in one place, it's always special to come back."
Dillon plans to try and meet up with some of his old teammates, as much as time allows, leading up to tomorrow's tilt.
However, he knows when it's time to prepare, it's time to lock in.
"It's pretty cool coming back here to San Jose. Six unbelievable years really. Great memories and still some people I keep in touch with, media I still recognize," he said. "Just from a hockey standpoint and as a person, I definitely grew a lot. Nice to come back and see that it's going to be a good game tomorrow. Maybe hit those guys a little bit, not too hard, but too hard."