GAMEDAY: Jets at Canucks

VANCOUVER -Pierre-Luc Dubois could hardly contain himself this morning.
"I've never been more ready to play a hockey game in my entire life," he said after the Winnipeg Jets morning skate on Sunday.
It's hard to blame him.
Dubois played his first two games in a Jets jersey before what he describes as a "muscle injury" sidelined him for the next four games.
He's ready to go tonight though, as the Jets (10-6-1) close out a four-game road trip against the Vancouver Canucks (8-12-1). The 22-year-old isn't putting any added pressure on himself in his return.

However, he knows that as the season goes on, mistakes are more magnified.
"Those details can cost you games at this point," said Dubois. "For me, to jump in at this point, is to be the best player that I can be. If I have to keep it simple at times, I keep it simple and try not to take two or three or four games to get into it. Hopefully, it just takes a period or a shift even."

Jets head coach Paul Maurice will start Dubois on the wing with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler tonight.
In addition to the wear and tear on the body being different on the wing than at centre, Maurice feels that playing with Scheifele and Wheeler suits Dubois' game.
"He's got a version of Mark's game in him - that ability to slow the play down, find holes, and make plays. He also has the ability to have Blake's game - a hard-driving, heavy in the corners type of player," said Maurice. "I think that over time, the players I've played with Mark and Blake have developed that in their game. It was good for Nik Ehlers. It was good for Kyle Connor."
Speaking of Ehlers and Connor, they'll have Paul Stastny between them based on the line rushes at this morning's skate at Rogers Arena.
Dubois-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Stastny-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Perreault-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Beaulieu-DeMelo
Maurice doesn't plan to monitor Dubois' minutes tonight. Instead, shift length will play a key role, as will special teams.
"Some of it is just how the game is called - are we in the box a lot? If we're killing a lot of penalties, he can play all the regular shifts that he can handle," said Maurice. "If we're on the power play a lot, maybe I'll watch and give Perreault a shift up there, Copp a shift up there, every once in a while if I need to spell him off. I won't monitor the minutes as much as shift length and rotation."
Other options Maurice may consider include flipping Dubois and Stastny. The trio of Stastny, Scheifele, and Wheeler was put together late in Friday's 2-0 win over Vancouver and came up with a key shot block. It also puts two centres of differing hands on the ice to cover off face-offs in either circle.
The idea of putting Copp with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton is one that could also provide some offence, according to Maurice.
"I like that line," he said. "In years past they were kind of a 'hold the other line' mentality. I think these guys can score goals. That's how we came to it."
The Jets and Canucks have split their two meetings so far this season. The five-on-five shot attempts in the first half of Friday's game were slightly tilted toward the Jets, but as Vancouver pressed for the equalizer - that Laurent Brossoit made sure never materialized - the Canucks started to tilt that stat in their favour.
"If you listen to their camp talk after the game, they liked their last 30 minutes," said Maurice. "They were a hard forechecking team but their D got really active and they got an awful lot of motion in our end of the ice. That's their starting point, that's what they want to establish. It's also a game that if you're right and hard on pucks, you're going to get your chances against a team that will play with that active of a back end."
Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo played 14:51 in Friday's win and dealt with that Vancouver forecheck all night.
"They brought the pressure a lot throughout that game. It was accepting that and just knowing it and just playing within ourselves and within our structure," said DeMelo, adding that was the biggest difference between a win on Friday and the loss to the Canucks earlier in the season.
"It's great to come out with a tight game like that where everybody battled hard and everybody knew that we had to play good defence," DeMelo said. "We did a good job collapsing and forcing shots from the outside. I think it was just a mindset that it was going to be a hard game and a game that was going to be in the trenches."
For his part, Dubois can't wait to be back in that battle with his teammates. Not playing a game in over a week took a mental toll as well as a physical one.
"I've played 240-something games (241) in a row and I've been in pain or I've been sick before but I just don't like missing time," he said. "I'm someone who wants to play out there. So, at times, to feel like you're almost there and then you can't play, it wasn't easy.
"I'm ready to go again."
Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
Winnipeg has won six games in a row at Rogers Arena in Vancouver and have points in eight off their past 10 games in the lower mainland (7-2-1).
Mark Scheifele is riding a nine-game point streak (6G, 7A), one game shy of his career-high.
Neal Pionk is tied for fifth in NHL scoring among defensemen with 14 points (2G, 12A) and has a point in three consecutive games.
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