GAMEDAY: Jets vs Senators

WINNIPEG -This December chunk of the Winnipeg Jets schedule was always going to be difficult.
Add injuries on top of the 10 games the Jets have played since the start of December and, well, the task gets that much harder.
But they know there isn't much sympathy around the National Hockey League, so Adam Lowry says the Jets used Monday's day off to its maximum, and now they're prepared to host the Ottawa Senators (14-15-2) tonight.
"You know you're maybe not going to feel your best every night, but it's finding ways to contribute, finding ways to be a positive player on the team every time you step on the ice," said Lowry. "Every team goes through the grind of the schedule. We're right in it and obviously we're looking forward to a few days off coming up here."

The pre-holiday schedule concludes with three games in four nights: tonight, at home to Ottawa, then a set of back-to-backs on the road in Boston and Washington.

Winnipeg (20-10-1) just concluded their fifth set of back-to-backs over the weekend with a 5-1 win over Vancouver and a 3-2 setback against Seattle.
The Jets led twice in Seattle - with 1-0 and 2-1 leads after the first and second periods - only to see a more rested Kraken squad score twice in the third.
"Our guys worked very hard in Seattle. I gave them a lot of credit for that," said head coach Rick Bowness of his meeting with the players this morning. "Now we didn't look good at times, but we were working, we were trying, we were competing. That's the message from the coaching staff, just keep working."
So, the Jets will do just that, but they will be down another body when the puck drops tonight.
An early morning emergency recall of goaltender Arvid Holm was required, as Connor Hellebuyck is unavailable due to a non-COVID illness.
Bowness said Hellebuyck, who is second in the NHL in wins with 16, is expected to travel with the team to Boston and Washington. As for tonight, David Rittich will get his first set of consecutive starts this season, just two days after making 31 saves in the 3-2 loss to Seattle on Sunday.
Another change to the Jets line-up will come on defence, as Ville Heinola slots in for Kyle Capobianco.
"I just want to play my game," said Heinola. "I want to skate a lot, be good on the breakouts, of course play in the d-zone well but also jump in the play and get something going in the o-zone too."
Heinola has played in two games with the Jets so far this season. The first came on November 21 against Carolina, then two nights later he skated against Minnesota.
"Ottawa is a good team - they're going to come at him tonight," said Bowness. "But if he uses his speed and moves the puck and keeps his gaps tight, he'll be fine. It will be a good test for him."

The left-shot defenceman will play on his off side, the right, in a pairing with Dylan Samberg. Heinola has some experience on that side, playing there for a few games with the Manitoba Moose before missing four games due to illness.
"I feel 100 percent," said Heinola, who will experience game action for the first time since his last AHL game, which came on December 3.
"I like the o-zone on the right side," he added. "I feel like you're mostly in the middle with the puck, you have more moves. I like it. You can't force yourself on the backhand, that's probably the biggest thing for me to learn there. Stay on the forehand and the turns are a little different."
Winnipeg's line-up is expected to look like this:
Perfetti-Scheifele-Kuhlman
Connor-Dubois-Gagner
Barron-Lowry-Harkins
Gustafsson-Stenlund-Jonsson-Fjallby
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Heinola
Ottawa comes into the game off a loss to Minnesota on Saturday. That loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Senators, whose power play had a big role in the win streak.
They scored nine times on the man advantage in 22 opportunities in victories over Nashville, Anaheim, Montreal, and Detroit. That pushed Ottawa's power play to fourth in the NHL at 28.1 percent.

It'll be a good test for the Jets penalty kill, which sits fifth in the NHL at 82.1 percent.
"They have a lot of options on that first unit, so it's being aware of what they're trying to accomplish and making sure your little details are right," said Lowry. "If you can force them to break out the puck early, you can kind of frustrate them. That's going to be important. They're a good face-off team as well."
From the penalty kill, to the power play, to even strength, the Jets know it will take a full-team effort to pick up a valuable two points in the standings tonight.
They've fully embraced the 'next man up' mentality, and Lowry credits the players on the team - and those affiliated with the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose - for putting the team in this spot with three games to go before a much needed break.
"We've got great structure in place that kind of allows guys to be successful wherever they're put in the line-up," said Lowry. "You have to credit Mark Morrison and the Moose, they've done a real good job off preparing the guys that have come up and that have stepped in, they've really contributed right away.
"It's important to find ways to win, important to find ways to get points while these guys are out of the line-up."
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets have scored five goals or more in eight of their past 13 games. Since November 25, Winnipeg leads the NHL with 52 goals in 13 games.
The Jets are 11-5-0 at Canada Life Centre to start the season. Winnipeg has won 15 of their past 20 home games dating back to last season. Kyle Connor (8G, 13A) leads the team with 21 points in 16 home games.
This is Winnipeg's ninth game against an Eastern Conference opponent this season, having gone 4-4-0 so far. Tuesday's game is the first of three consecutive games for the Jets against an Eastern Conference team.
Mark Scheifele has four goals in his past four games to reach 19 on the season. He's halfway to his career best 38 goals, which he did during the 2018-19 season. He's on pace for exactly 50 goals, which has only been done twice in franchise history.
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