Morning Skate Report: Jets at Devils

NEWARK - Following a big win over the two-time Stanley Cup champions two nights ago, the Winnipeg Jets hope to begin a three-game road trip with a similar result against the New Jersey Devils.
The Jets (25-22-10) begin the trip seven points back of the Dallas Stars for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference and will hope to chip into that gap beginning tonight.
If the previous meeting against New Jersey this season is a prediction of things to come tonight at Prudential Center, offence could be in the spotlight when the puck drops at 6 pm CT.
Back in November the Jets beat the Devils 8-4. The last time Winnipeg was in New Jersey, the final score was 5-4 in a shootout after the visitors trailed 4-0.
Toss into the equation that the Jets scored seven goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning - and 19 over the course of a four-game home stand - and the red light could get a workout tonight.
"You have to understand how we score our goals," said Jets defenceman Nate Schmidt. "The important part in this league is not everything is going to be pretty… getting to the net, a lot better things happen for us."

Schmidt makes a good point. How the offence is generated is important.

The first period against the Lightning saw six goals scored, three per side, but interim head coach Dave Lowry would prefer to see his team play the way they did over the final 40 minutes against Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
"It's understanding that you can play 50 feet or you can play 200 feet. The quicker you get the puck, the quicker you can get the puck back to attack," said Lowry. "We did a real good job against Tampa making it hard to get through the neutral zone. We were able to have clean exits out. We managed the puck very well. We were able to create and spend some time in the offensive zone."
Once again, Neal Pionk didn't take the morning skate but will play tonight against the Devils. In fact, in terms of skaters, the Jets won't make any changes to their line-up tonight an are expected to look like this:
Stastny-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Svechnikov
Copp-Lowry-Ehlers
Harkins-Toninato-Vesalainen
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-Schmidt
The only change the Jets will make line-up wise is in goal.
Eric Comrie, who has won each of his last three starts, gets the call between the pipes.
This will be Comrie's 10th start of the season.
"I think Eric has been great for us all year. He's great in practice. He's always the guy that's out late, working on whatever the guys want to work on," said Schmidt.
"A lot of the guys respect him and they want to play hard for him because they know he's giving the extra effort… He gives us a chance every time he's gone in and our guys have a lot of faith in what he's been able to do."
Tonight's game against the Devils is also the first half of a back-to-back, and Lowry said the fact Comrie spent some time with New Jersey last season - earning a win over Buffalo on January 31, 2021 in his only start - played into the decision as well.
"You always like to play against your former team," said Lowry. "We felt the schedule dictated this would be a good place."
As for the Devils (21-31-5), they have wins in each of their last two outings. They beat the St. Louis Blues in overtime on Sunday before earning a 5-3 comeback win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

In fact, the Devils - who trailed 3-0 just 5:52 into the second period - became the first team this season to beat the Avalanche this season when they hold a lead after the first period. Colorado was previously 23-0-0 in that situation.
"They play the game similar to Tampa and they play the game similar to the Rangers," Lowry said of the Devils. "They're extremely quick, they have some young and dynamic forwards, and you watch them through video - they play the game and it looks like they're having fun and they play an exciting brand."
Devils captain Nico Hischier didn't play in that win over Colorado and also won't play tonight against the Jets. He's nursing a lower-body injury and remains day-to-day.
A Jets win tonight would sweep the season series with the Devils and keep the team's momentum rolling. Winnipeg has points in five of their last seven games but will need to keep that up to gain ground in the playoff race.
The confidence built from Tuesday's win is a feeling the Jets want to hold on to, and build on.
"You look at games that hopefully can catapult you into the back part of the year here," Schmidt said. "It's always a lot more fun to start off a road trip when you have a big win in your back pocket."