GAMEDAY: Jets at Blues

ST. LOUIS – After one game against the Eastern Conference, the Winnipeg Jets hop right back into the grind of divisional contests tonight when they take on the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center.

In fact, both stops on this two-game road trip involve facing off with a Central Division foe (the next stop is in Dallas on Thursday), with the Jets looking to improve their divisional record from its current 2-0-1 standing.

To do so, they’ll have to bounce back from Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, a game that Winnipeg saw a lot of positives in – despite the final result.

“It was a good benchmark game for us,” said Cole Perfetti following Monday’s practice. “When we do play our style, we came out in the first period and took it to them. So, now it’s just keeping that going, shift after shift and game after game and not changing how we look or how we play.”

Perfetti , who played 16:34 in the game and tallied three shots - credited the Hurricanes for playing their style shift after shift for 60 minutes and feels it’s something the Jets will continue to work toward.

“That’s why they’re the Stanley Cup champions. It’s not an easy thing, but that’s our focus,” said Perfetti. “For me, that’s the takeaway and that’s what we have discussed in this room. Going out there every single shift, line after line and looking the same way.”

Winnipeg recalled forward Brayden Yager from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, on Monday (and put defenceman Josh Morrissey on injured reserve retroactive to October 7). The 21-year-old Yager scored the overtime winner for the Moose on Sunday afternoon, and at the time of his recall was ranked inside the AHL’s top 10 in points with nine (five goals, four assists).

Yager won't play tonight in St. Louis based on the line rushes in the morning skate, but Arniel wouldn't rule out Thursday in Dallas. As for tonight's projected line combinations, the morning skate looked like this:

As for the Blues, tonight’s tilt with Winnipeg is the first game of a five-game home stand. St. Louis will be looking to get back in the win column as well, following a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

"Obviously they made changes last year and moved some veterans out. They’re still a high-pressure group, very active off the rush with their defence," said Arniel. "It kind of sounds repetitive with all the teams we’ve talked about early on. There is a lot of similarities, everybody seems to be doing it - high pressure games with attacking both with and without the puck."

Also similar to the Jets, the Blues are dealing with some injury issues of their own. Logan Mailloux, Tyler Tucker, Alexey Toropchenko, and Ross Johnston are just some of the players on the injured list for the Blues.

Tonight also marks the eighth time that Jets forward Morgan Barron will face-off with his brother, Justin, who was claimed off waivers by the Blues from Nashville in late September.

"It’s been good for him to get a fresh start and to get the chance to go to another good young team. Obviously, it’s been fun for me to watch," said Barron. "You watch games around the league but you pay closer attention and I always try to catch his games. I feel like he’s been playing great and is kind of running with an opportunity here with a young team. "

So what has Barron seen from his younger brother's new team?

"You kind of see their confidence growing and they’re taking their game to the next level. It’s going to be a good challenge," said Barron. "A lot of those guys seem to be playing the new generation of hockey, where it’s a ton of skill and a ton of speed."

If last year’s season series proved anything, it’s that goals will be at a premium between these two squads, and any one of those could end up being the game-winner. The Blues won the opener of the season series 1-0, with the Jets winning the next three (and two of those were one-goal games as well).

Puck drop is set for 7 pm CT.