Morning Skate Report: Jets vs Coyotes

WINNIPEG - A stretch of eight games, with each game in a different time zone than the one before it, comes to an end tonight for the Winnipeg Jets (10-7-4).
They'll host the Arizona Coyotes in the first of four match-ups this season, and for a Jets team that has already played 13 games in the month of November - tonight is the classic 'empty the tank' opportunity.
It will take all they've got left after a gruelling schedule to carry the momentum from a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday - and even that win didn't come easy.
"You're at the end of a back-to-back, you've lost five in a row, you're maybe not feeling as fresh as usual, and you battle back and get a win like that in a tough arena, that was exciting," said Nikolaj Ehlers after the team's morning skate.
"That was fun. It gave us some extra energy. We're going to want to use that tonight."

The victory snapped Winnipeg's five-game winless skid, and the come from behind regulation win was the team's second when trailing after the opening period.

To do that against the Western Conference leading Calgary Flames was a big boost, and even though the Coyotes come in with a 4-15-2 record, the challenge doesn't get any easier tonight.
"The things we're fighting aren't going to be complacency with Arizona right now," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "It's understanding that Arizona in their last five games, they're top 10 defensively in all the metrics. Easy goals aren't there tonight.
"We're trying to work on narrowing our focus on what we want to be good at each night and trying to be much better in one or two areas instead of trying to get everybody rolling."
Maurice will keep the same lines as he used on Saturday, with Connor Hellebuyck getting the start in goal.
The projected line-up is expected to look like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Copp-Dubois-Svechnikov
Stastny-Lowry-Ehlers
Harkins-Toninato-Vesalainen
Morrissey-Schmidt
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
The shuffling of the lines prior to the win over Calgary paid dividends for the Jets, as Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Blake Wheeler combined for five points.
"That line scored two the way that only they, in some ways, can," said Maurice. "The chaos they caused with their size and speed on the first goal, then the straight rush skill they had on the second goal.
"(Connor) now is not learning from the other two. He's helping drive whoever he's playing with."
Paul Stastny also got on the board with his fifth of the season in just his second game back from a foot injury.

Ehlers wasn't on the ice for that particular goal, but feels that line - with Lowry and Stastny - has potential.
"I think all four lines found some chemistry in that last game and we were able to play a pretty good game. Hopefully we can continue that," said Ehlers, who felt the line changes were needed as the Jets went through a stretch of scoring four times in four games.
"You're going to have stretches like that during the season. We weren't worried about it," said Ehlers. "I know I wasn't I have a lot of confidence in myself and this team, and in every single line out there. You put anybody together out there, they're going to make something happen. It's exciting."
Andrew Copp, who scored an empty netter on Saturday, felt the same about his line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Evgeny Svechnikov.
In fact, it was Dubois and Copp that muscled the puck out late in the game that led to Copp sealing the victory.

Having the ability to play with several line mates is key, and something Copp has done since he broke into the National Hockey League.
"There's times where you really like consistency with a line, especially when things are going good," said Copp. "Then injuries happen or our offence maybe isn't clicking the way it usually does and leads to changes.
"I thought we had some good chances in Saturday's game. Hopefully, we can build off that tonight."
The Coyotes come in with losses in each of their past two outings, the most recent coming against the Dallas Stars two nights ago.
In fact, their welcome to the Central Division this season hasn't been friendly.
Arizona is 1-5-0 against divisional opponents, and 3-8-0 against the Western Conference overall.
No matter the records, the Jets know they have to focus on their own game tonight. A quick start would be ideal, but more importantly, they need a full 60-minute effort to give them a chance to string some victories together after a trying stretch.
"(We're) just trying to replicate (Saturday) in terms of team buy-in, in terms of effort given, in terms of second efforts and emptying the tank, I think we can kind of count on that tonight as kind of our calling card," said Copp. "I think we're just trying to get back on track and get to our game as quickly as possible. Like I said, it's going to be a lot of effort grinding one out tonight."
Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm CT.