Thomas' Five Storylines - WPG vs. STL

MORRISSEY THRIVING
The Jets have done a much better job keeping the puck out of their net as of late and part of the reason for that is the resurgence of Josh Morrissey. Last season, Morrissey finished with a negative plus/minus (-1) for the first time in his NHL career. In 2021-22, Morrissey leads the Jets with a plus 10 rating and is looking more and more comfortable with new defence partner Nate Schmidt. Now the 26-year-old Calgary native likely won't be able to sustain his 12.0% shooting percentage but this looks like a career season in the making. Morrissey is tied with Nashville's Roman Josi for the most power play goals by a defenceman this season with three.

PROUD PAPA BACK IN CREASE
After missing the first three games of this current seven game home stand, Connor Hellebuyck returns to the crease. Hellebuyck and his wife Andrea are the proud parents of a baby boy. The Jets top goaltender also had to miss the first few days of fatherhood as he was dealing with an illness which was non-COVID related. Hellebuyck skated for 40 minutes on Monday and his first assignment back with be against the Central Division's second best team, the St. Louis Blues.
"Now it's just about getting my reads back and making sure I'm doing things as a quick as I possibly can." said Hellebuyck on Monday.
WALKING WOUNDED
After walking through most of the first ten games of the season without any injuries (minus the COVID issues), the Jets had some question marks ahead of the game against St. Louis. Mark Scheifele took a knee in the thigh area on Saturday and Paul Stastny didn't return after having a Neal Pionk shot go off his foot. Both players missed Monday's practice, but Scheifele will be in the lineup this evening while Stastny will not play against St. Louis. So, Jansen Harkins will move up into Stastny's spot on the left side of the second line and Paul Maurice will go with 12 forwards and six defencemen. Kristian Vesalainen and Riley Nash will come back into the fold.
READY FOR BLUES
The Jets may have lost to the Islanders Saturday night to end their perfect record on home ice this season, but they played the perfect team to prepare them for the Blues. Outside of a couple hiccups in their defensive end the Jets didn't sacrifice defence for offence and that is an important sign against St. Louis who love to jump on turnovers and make you pay.
BLUES LEADING THE WAY
The Blues are another impressive opponent sitting second in the Central Division with some excellent special teams. St. Louis has the second-best power play (30.8%) in the league and owns the third best penalty kill (88.2%). Vladimir Tarasenko is playing lights on right now as well for a player who was rumoured to be on his way out of St. Louis with 11 points over his last nine games.