GAMEDAY: Jets at Maple Leafs

TORONTO -With one win in their back pocket, the Winnipeg Jets look to earn their second consecutive victory to open the new season tonight when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-0).
To get that win though, they'll rely on a couple different faces.
Up front, Patrik Laine won't play as he deals with an upper-body injury that has forced him to leave Sunday's practice and Monday's morning skate early. Jansen Harkins comes into the line-up for Laine.
Tucker Poolman also won't play in Toronto - or on any point of the three-game road trip this week - as he sits on the team's Covid Protocol list. The opening on defence means Logan Stanley will make his National Hockey League debut tonight.

"This morning for morning skate, (Jets assistant coach Charlie Huddy) told me I was in the line-up. I had a big smile on my face. I'm ready to go tonight," said Stanley. "To have it in Toronto is pretty cool. I grew up watching the Leafs a lot. It's going to be a special night and I know my family will be watching back home."
Head coach Paul Maurice has said that the 22-year-old Stanley put a major emphasis on his fitness level this past off season. Now the towering left-shot defenceman - selected in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, the same year that Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine went first and second overall - is reaping the benefits of that off-season work.
"We're happy for him. He's done the work to give himself the opportunity," said Maurice. "Clearly it's a great test for him with the players and the speed he's going to see. It's a great measuring stick for where he's at in his young career."
The motivation to put in that extra work came after Stanley's 2019-20 campaign, where injuries shortened his season to 44 games. He had 10 points in those games, down from 22 points in his first American Hockey League season.
"I made some changes to how I trained and what I was doing," said Stanley, who said he skated more regularly this past off season. "I just knew that this was a big year. It was pedal to the metal and I worked out as hard as I could this summer. It's paying off tonight."

Stanley grew up just over an hour away from Toronto in Kitchener, Ontario. He shares that in common with Jets centre Mark Scheifele, who spent some time this off-season skating with Stanley and saw the improvements Stanley had made up close.
"I saw a lot of growth in his game, even just from that point in September to where he is now," said Scheifele, referring to ice sessions with himself, Stanley, former Jet Ben Chiarot, and Nate Bastian of the New Jersey Devils.
"I saw him in the gym a lot, saw him on the ice a lot, he put in the work this summer.
"So you love to see a guy who puts that much work in, who works as hard as he did this off-season, get his chance to be with us."
The 6'8" Stanley will be paired with Nathan Beaulieu tonight. The rest of the Jets line-up will look like this:
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Stastny-Perreault
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Niku
Forbort-Pionk
Stanley-Beaulieu
Like Stanley, Scheifele admits it's odd to come to the Toronto area and not see his parents. He credits them with the success he's had against the Maple Leafs so far in his career - 11 goals and 19 points in 14 career games.
"You always want to put on a show for mom and dad, maybe that's it," Scheifele said with a laugh.
"You're so close to home and you know they're watching at home. You just have to channel that energy a little differently and try to have a good game."

Speaking of success against the Maple Leafs, Kyle Connor is on a four-game point streak against Toronto with two goals and five points in that span.
With Laine out, he'll have Mathieu Perreault on his line for what might be the first time.
"We were trying to figure out if we've played together, ever, in our career," said Connor. "It'll be interesting. He's a veteran player and he's pretty tenacious on the forecheck. He has some pretty good skill and can shoot the puck. He'll be a good addition."
Tonight is the start of a stretch that will see the Jets play six games over the next nine days.
It would be easy to get overwhelmed with that amount of hockey over a short span, but as athletes do, the Jets are only focusing on tonight's game.

In fact, Connor doesn't seem to mind the upcoming schedule at all.
"You can get into a good groove. I feel like my conditioning and my game is at a good spot right now," said Connor. "It's almost better to get into the season, playing more games rather than a ton of practices. It'll be good for us."
Connor, like Stanley and Scheifele, is one of the 11 first round picks the Jets have made since the 2011 NHL Draft. With Stanley making his debut tonight, all of those picks - outside of Cole Perfetti, selected in 2020 - will have played an NHL game.
Stanley admits he felt the pressure of expectations as a first round pick early in his career, but not so much now.
"Once you're drafted, it doesn't mean as much as you think it does," he said. "As I got older, I learned how to tune that out and just go play hockey. That's all I'm going to do tonight."
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
Winnipeg plays three of their first four games on the road, beginning Monday in Toronto, before staying put at Bell MTS Place for a season-high seven-game home stand.
Against the Maple Leafs, Kyle Connor is on a four-game point streak (2G, 3A)
The Jets play 10 games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, while they have nine games against the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, and Vancouver Canucks.
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