GAMEDAY: Jets vs Canadiens

WINNIPEG -Games against the Montreal Canadiens always stand out for Drummondville, QC product Mathieu Perreault.
"I go back home every summer and all my buddies, my family, everyone lives back there, and they're Habs fans," said Perreault. "I was actually talking to my buddies this morning and they told me, you know, 'You can maybe score a goal or two,' but they don't want us to win the game. So that's why it's always special playing against them."
He'll have two chances to get the better of some family members over the next three days, as the Winnipeg Jets square off with the Canadiens tonight and Saturday night at Bell MTS Place.
The Jets (11-6-1) have won three of their past four games and start a four-game home stand tonight. Meanwhile, the Canadiens (9-5-4) will be playing their first game under interim head coach Dominique Ducharme, who took over for Claude Julien on Wednesday.

The Canadiens are winless in their last three, but the Jets know they're a dangerous group.
They've scored 42 goals at five-on-five this season, the fourth most in the NHL.
"They seem to do one of two things in the offensive zone. They'll rip it at the net from anywhere so they've got a high shot volume team. Then they have a bunch of guys on the blue line that can pound the puck," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "So when they do go low-to-high, and their D shoot it, they've got net front traffic. The game they put up 50-plus (shots) on us, they jumped on those loose pucks on those shots."
The game Maurice is referring to came on Feb. 7, 2019. Those high shot totals seem to be a theme that the Jets will want to reverse tonight. In the last four meetings with the Canadiens, Montreal has put up 53, 44, 48, and 31 shots on goal. Along the way, the Jets and Canadiens didn't seem to mind trading chances back and forth.
"It seems to devolve into an indescribable display of offence and risk," said Maurice, adding that heading into this season, he never particularly liked how the Jets' style of play evolved against the Canadiens or the Calgary Flames.
Part of that was because they weren't in Winnipeg's division, so there were limited games between them. Now, with all three in the North Division, Maurice is seeing improvement.
"I like the way we've been able to adjust to Calgary this year having seen them more," Maurice said, as his team prepares for the first of nine meetings with the Canadiens tonight.
"They're different and we're different. It's usually a high volume, high chance game going both ways,' he said. "I don't look at them as that now. The stats will tell you they're a real strong defensive team and a really strong offensive team. I think we have a better structure in place."
Sami Niku will return to the Jets line-up tonight against the Canadiens, the very team he made his NHL debut against - and scored his first NHL goal against - on Apr. 3, 2018.

This season, Niku has played in three games, but this will be his first since Jan. 19 against Ottawa.
"He's a puck moving defenceman and this is going to be critical in here tonight against Montreal, a very quick forecheck and really good sticks," said Maurice. "So having a guy that can make that five or 10-foot pass inside to relieve the pressure is going to be really important for us."
Niku will start the night paired with Dylan DeMelo. Tucker Poolman, who left Sunday's win over the Vancouver Canucks with an upper-body injury, took the morning skate but won't play tonight.
Winnipeg's line-up is expected to look like this, with Connor Hellebuyck starting in goal:
Dubois-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Stastny-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Perreault-Thompson-Lewis
Beaulieu-Morrissey
Forbort-Pionk
Niku-DeMelo
The Jets also have a bit of experience playing a team with a new coach, specifically when it comes to the Canadiens.
On Feb. 18, 2017, the Jets earned a 3-1 win over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre in what was Julien's first game as Montreal's new coach.
They're expecting a motivated opponent tonight.
"We've talked about it the last couple days so we'll try to be ready for that," said Perreault. "You look at the standings, they're one point behind us so the is a huge time of the season where if we can play our best hockey and take the points, we're running away and we can separate ourselves from that team."
Perhaps one of the best ways to stick it to his buddies back home is for Perreault to find the score sheet tonight. He's scored seven times and added three assists in 20 career games against Montreal.
Also, guess who scored the eventual game-winner in that 3-1 win in Montreal in February of 2017? Perreault.
"I always like to just try to beat them so I can, you know, brag around my buddies, you know, 'We beat the Habs.' You know, they're pissed off and I'm happy," Perreault said. "So it's always kind of been like that and it still is."
Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Winnipeg Jets begin a four-game home stand tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, in what will be the first of nine meetings between the two clubs this season.
After the home stand, the Jets play 12 of 14 games on the road.
The Jets are 0-3-1 against the Canadiens in the past four meetings at Bell MTS Place, but won the most recent meeting in Montreal last season.
Mark Scheifele is riding a 10-game point streak (7G 9A) which ties his career high.
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