GAMEDAY: Jets at Maple Leafs

TORONTO -Mark Scheifele will be a motivated player tonight as the Winnipeg Jets take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (18-6-2).
He always is when he gets to play in his home province, but one walk around Toronto on Monday gave the Jets centre something he's missed for a long time.
"I was lucky enough that my parents drove in and we were able to go for a walk outside. I was thankful that I was able to see them," said Scheifele. "I haven't seen them in a long time, to just be able to see their faces, even though our masks were on - and to be able to talk to them and see them in person, definitely meant so much to me."

Sure, it's just a walk around town. But for Scheifele, who - in regular circumstances - would go out for dinner with his parents the night before the game, and have them in the stands when the puck drops, that stroll could be just the thing he needs to wipe away any memory of Saturday's 7-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
He's locked in on helping his team avoid consecutive losses in regulation, something the Jets (15-8-1) have managed to do so far this season. They're 6-0-1 coming off a regulation loss, and Scheifele says that is a point of pride in the dressing room.
"Anytime after a loss, you want to regroup in a good way," Scheifele said. "For us, it's just a matter of getting back to our game, playing the way we know how to, not focusing as much about everything else but focusing on our team and what we can do to win hockey games. I think that's our focus here tonight."

Paul Maurice said after Monday's practice that the Jets will go with the same line-up on Tuesday as the one that suffered the setback on Saturday.
When he looks at the Maple Leafs' line-up, he sees a lot of similarities with his own team.
"We can run our top two offensive lines against each other, our checking lines can grind each other, the fourth lines can come out with high frequency based on both schedules and the confidence both coaches have in their fourth line - and the players will decide it," said Maurice. "So, both - I would imagine - coaches will take a look at the first 10 minutes of the first period and make a decision on 'is there an advantage and/or a disadvantage happening in the line match-ups you're running?'"
The Jets line-up is expected to look like this:
Stastny-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Perreault-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Beaulieu-DeMelo
This will be the first time that Pierre-Luc Dubois faces the Maple Leafs in a Jets jersey.
His performance against Toronto (while a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets) in the bubble over the summer was something pointed out by Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and Maurice at the time Dubois was acquired.
He had four points in the best-of-five series, including a hat trick in Game 3 - which saw the Blue Jackets erase a 3-0 deficit - with Dubois getting the game-winner in overtime.
Dubois feels the challenge of going up against Auston Matthews and John Tavares brought out the best in him.
"I'm a competitor, so it forces you to bring your A-game. You know those are guys that if you make a mistake, they'll take advantage of it," Dubois said. "You don't want to be outplayed. You want to be the guy out there. They have so many good players on that team that it forces you every shift - whether you're playing against a certain line or not or a D pairing or not - you have to be the best player that you can be out there and that's how I think the team wins."
With 90 goals in the 26 games they've played, the Maple Leafs are the highest scoring team in the NHL. The Jets average 3.29 per game, so they're not far behind.

Dubois feels the best way to defend Toronto isn't to sit back. It's to go right at them with Winnipeg's style of play.
"We're a big team, we have good offence, too. We know we move the puck well. We should bring it to them instead of just waiting and hoping for them to make a mistake. I think we have to go at them and play in their zone," said Dubois. "Offensive players want to play in the offensive zone. They don't want to be in the D-zone defending. As long as you can keep the puck there, it gets frustrating, and it's not the game you technically want to play."
For his part, Scheifele also enjoys the challenge of going up against the likes of Matthews, Tavares, and Mitch Marner.
Scheifele often brings his best in those situations. He has 19 points in 15 career games against the Maple Leafs, and wants to continue that tonight - and at the same time, avenge the loss from earlier in the season.
"We haven't played them since the second game of the year," said Scheifele. "A lot of things have happened on both teams since then. It'll be hopefully a good game tonight."
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Winnipeg Jets will play the Toronto Maple Leafs three straight times to close out a five-game road trip. The Jets split the first two games of the trip in Montreal on Thursday and Saturday.
The Jets are 6-0-1 when coming off a regulation loss this season.
Winnipeg hasn't lost consecutive games in regulation since Feb. 22-23 of last season. The Jets are 20-9-2 since they last lost consecutive games in regulation.
Mathieu Perreault has scored in three consecutive games for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
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