GAMEDAY: Jets vs Oilers

WINNIPEG -Blake Wheeler won't make his return to the Winnipeg Jets (27-14-3) line-up as they open a five-game home stand against the Edmonton Oilers tonight at Bell MTS Place.
The Jets captain took part in the morning skate but with four days between tonight's game and the next match-up on the Jets schedule, head coach Paul Maurice wants to get Wheeler in a couple full practices before putting him back in the line-up.
"He feels great, says he's 100 per cent, doctors say he's good to go," said Maurice. "He potentially could have been available for tonight, it didn't make much sense for me to do that, especially with the change that we've just had in our schedule."

That change Maurice referred to is what reduce this home stand from six games to five, as the National Hockey League continues to adjust the schedule around the health of the Vancouver Canucks.
What was once a three-day break between games is now four days. However, the Jets aren't paying much attention to those days just yet, they know they have a big job to do tonight as they prepare to take on the Oilers for the seventh time this season.
Winnipeg won two of the first three match-ups with Edmonton (25-15-2) this season, but have lost the last three.
"I guess what we could do differently is not give them as many goals, basically. That's the bottom line," said Josh Morrissey with a sarcastic grin. "We know how lethal they are all over the ice, but especially off the rush, which is something we have to key in on against these guys, but what we've been working on throughout the year, and especially, I'd say, over the last month or so of trying not to give up odd-man rushes. And that's going to be really important against them."
There is still a lot to be determined in the North Division standings, as the Jets remain three points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for top spot, and five points ahead of third place Edmonton.

The Oilers hold two games in hand on the Jets, which is why head-to-head games - like tonight's - are so critical. As always, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are top of mind for the Jets coming into tonight's tilt.
"Those are their two studs so you've got to find a way to limit their transition opportunities, make life hard on them a little bit, as much as possible," said Andrew Copp. "The more we force teams to break the puck out and defend our speed and skill down low, the more success we're gonna have. When we do get our odd-man opportunities, we've got to take advantage of those."
The only change the Jets will make to the line-up that produced the 5-2 win in Toronto on Thursday will be on the blue line, as Logan Stanley slots back in alongside Dylan DeMelo.
The line rushes from this morning's skate looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Dubois
Copp-Stastny-Ehlers
Perreault-Lowry-Appleton
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
Winnipeg Jets : Ground Control
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Fly By - April 17, 2021 - WPG vs EDM
Maurice wants to make sure he sees a number of different looks on his blue line over the final 12 games of the regular season - specifically when it comes to Stanley, Ville Heinola (who played in Toronto), and the recently acquired Jordie Benn.
"It may be as simple as I'll rotate them for a few games," said Maurice. "Depending where we are in the last handful of games, you may see two of them in the line-up or you may see one player run straight through to the end. It'll be performance based."
It's all in an effort to see how each defenceman fares against certain match-ups as the Jets prepare for all scenarios with the playoffs on the horizon.

The other area of focus for the Jets is trying to carry the momentum from a road trip that saw them win four of five games. The Jets have lost each of their last two home games coming off a multi-game road trip.
"The key would be to not try to over complicate it early, come out and play a simple, hard game," said Morrissey. "Sort of have the same mentality that we've had on the road which has made us such a great road team this year - keep our shifts short, trying to play the game the right way. When we do that, we get all four lines going, the defencemen going, and we're tough to play against.
"It's kind of ironic, but try to play a road style of game at home to start with here."
So while they will be without the captain for one more game - even though they're eager to get him back - the Jets recent success proves there is plenty of leadership in the room, whether a player has a letter on his jersey or not.
"Throughout our lineup, we have a lot of leaders that don't necessarily have to be the most veteran guy or have been in the league the longest to be a leader," said Morrissey.
"We all like each other a lot, but we're not afraid to push one another as well in the room and hold each other accountable. I think this last road trip was a good step forward for us, and like I said, those guys we acquired, those leadership traits they bring to the table, has been huge."
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets begin a five-game home stand on Saturday night, with the first of three games against the Edmonton Oilers. Between the first and second game against the Oilers, the Jets host the Toronto Maple Leafs for two games next week.
The Jets have played 19 home games this season, tied for the fewest in the National Hockey League. Overall, Winnipeg is 11-6-2 on home ice this season.
Winnipeg is 25-for-28 (89.3%) on the penalty kill in their past eight games and have not surrendered a goal on the penalty kill in 10 of their past 16 games.
The Jets are 6-for-16 (28.6%) on the power play in their past four games.
Mark Scheifele is tied for seventh in NHL scoring with 52 points (17G, 35A) in 45 games this season. He's one of only four players in the NHL with 15 goals and 35 assists.
Kyle Connor (21) and Nikolaj Ehlers (20) both reached the 20-goal mark on Thursday.
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