Morning Skate Report: Jets at Sharks

SAN JOSE - The Winnipeg Jets might be facing a much different looking San Jose Sharks squad than they faced in previous seasons, but the challenge remains the same inside SAP Center.
"Just based on expectations from the past, this team was so good in the first 10 minutes. Maybe, for me, the toughest building in the first 10 minutes," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "They had so much speed and possession in their game. They were just all over you.
"You need to play simple and fast early in the game. That's our history with San Jose. The only chance you had was you had to manage those first 10 minutes with the puck and not feed their transition game."

The San Jose squad the Jets will face tonight has some of the same names - Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, and Logan Couture to name a few - that were part of those trademark fast starts.

But the roster also had an injection of youth, including the name William Eklund. The 19-year-old Swedish forward that San Jose chose in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
He'll play in his first NHL game tonight, a feat that Jets forward Cole Perfetti accomplished in Anaheim.
Perfetti will play his second game tonight with Adam Lowry and Paul Stastny as linemates.
"What happens with Cole going forward is day-to-day and he'll learn and grow," said Maurice.
"Both Stastny and Lowry are excited about playing with Cole and they're both good gentlemen in teaching him the game, but there is something he can do for them as well."
For the second straight game to open the season, the Jets (0-1-0) will serve as the opponent for a home opener. They're looking to get into the win column after dropping the first one, a 4-1 decision in Anaheim to the Ducks.
"They're going to come out with a ton of energy. The building is going to be buzzing. I think it's the first time in a year-and-a-half that they've had fans in here as well," said Riley Nash. "Those guys will be ready to go. I think just keeping it a little bit simpler than usual, make them come 200 feet through four or five guys every time they're trying to get a rush or get pucks to the net."
The Sharks will no doubt get a boost from their fans, but the Jets will get a boost in their line-up as well.
Mark Scheifele will play in his first game of the season after completing his four-game suspension on Wednesday.
"I'm pretty excited. It's been a long time," said Scheifele, whose suspension began in Game 2 of last season's playoffs. "It sucked watching the other night. It always sucks to sit out. So, pretty excited I get to play."
He'll be back in his familiar spot between Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor, as well as a one-timer threat from the left circle on the power play.

The full Jets line-up is expected to look like this, with Connor Hellebuyck projected to be the starter:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Copp-Dubois-Ehlers
Stastny-Lowry-Perfetti
Harkins-Nash-Vesalainen
Morrissey-Schmidt
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
Tonight is also a homecoming of sorts for Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon. The 30-year-old played six seasons with the Sharks before being traded to Washington at the trade deadline during the 2019-20 season.
He hasn't been back since - until now.
And just like Maurice, he definitely knows the importance of the first 10 minutes at the Shark Tank.
"I think as an away team you always knew, the first 10 minutes, if you can get out of there 0-0 it was usually a win for that first period," Dillon said. "It's our second game, we're looking to get our first win on the board here too. It should be fun."

The Jets will be looking to flip the script on special teams from how things went in Anaheim.
Winnipeg's power play went 0-for-5 despite generating 12 shots. On the penalty kill, the Jets surrendered goals on the first two power plays against before killing off the final three.
"I think with new faces you have to get used to each other," said Logan Stanley. "Just some simple things we can clean up to prevent those two goals. We talked about it this morning and we all have to get on the same page and work together a little bit. Everything takes a little bit of time. We'll try and improve on it tonight and every night we go out there."
And this early in the season, focusing on the positives (and the process) is critical.
"We have some new guys, some new D, so I think it's going to take a little bit of time for all of us to get on the same page," said Nash. "If we keep progressing and keep taking steps forward and we play like we did the other night, most times I think we'll come out with a win."
Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT.