GAMEDAY: Jets at Canadiens

MONTREAL -The 16 road wins the Winnipeg Jets (27-19-3) have earned this season are tied for the second most in the National Hockey League, and Nate Thompson sees that as something his team can lean into as they begin a three-game road trip tonight in Montreal against the Canadiens.
"We're together a lot more," Thompson said after this morning's skate. "You're just around each other a bit more and we've been good on the road this year. We have a lot of confidence to take from that."
Regardless of where tonight's game is being played, head coach Paul Maurice just wants to see a continuation of the positive aspects of Wednesday's game against Edmonton - even if the final score on that night left the Jets on the losing end.
The part that improved the most was the team's ability to defend against chances off transition.
"The most dangerous rush chance we gave up last game was when Josh Morrissey broke his stick right after we had a real good chance," said Maurice. "After that, 12 of their rushes - and each team is going to have 30-40 in the game - by the time they got to the tops of the circles we had eliminated the danger. Two of them got through us.
"We were far better positioned in both ends of the rink to win the five-on-five game, which we did."

Over one-third of Mathieu Perreault's 17 points this season have come against the Canadiens.
In fact, in the four games the Jets have played in Perreault's home province of Quebec this season, the Drummondville, QC product has three goals and two assists.
He says defending against those transition plays - something that Montreal, like Edmonton, can also feast on - begins in the offensive zone.
"It really all started with our puck decisions," said Perreault. "We didn't make any turnovers so we got the puck deep and made them come 200-feet every time so that way you can find yourself on the defensive side of the puck more often than not and this is kind of how you prevent it, you make sure the puck goes down there and you stay in position."
Winnipeg Jets : Ground Control
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Fly By - April 30, 2021 - WPG @ MTL
Winnipeg won't make any line-up changes tonight and Connor Hellebuyck will make his 41st start in goal of the season.
In front of him, the Jets are expected to look like this, which is how Wednesday's game finished:
Copp-Scheifele-Appleton
Connor-Stastny-Wheeler
Vesalainen-Dubois-Perreault
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Benn-DeMelo
Along with his linemate Perreault, Pierre-Luc Dubois has also had success against the Canadiens this season.
He scored the overtime winner on Mar. 4 and had a multi-point performance on Feb. 25. He's hoping his line can take another step tonight.
"I thought we did some good things," said Dubois. "Ves is a big body, good one the forecheck, good down low, can make plays. I thought we did some good things out there and can just build our chemistry from here."
Injuries continue to have an effect on the Jets line-up, as Adam Lowry will miss his fourth consecutive game, while Nikolaj Ehlers will miss his third.
There was a piece of good news though, as Lowry skated in a regular jersey during the morning skate (as opposed to the non-contact sweater he had worn the last few days). Maurice said Lowry will get some physical contact today and if he responds well, he could be a full participant in practice on Sunday.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, are also dealing with regulars out of the line-up. Jonathan Drouin is on a personal leave of absence from the team, Brendan Gallagher has missed the last 13 games with a broken thumb, but resumed skating a couple days ago. Goaltender Carey Price suffered a concussion on Apr. 19 against the Oilers and has just started off-ice activities as of yesterday.
Even with those pieces out, Maurice expects a stiff test from the Canadiens who are four points up on the Calgary Flames for the final playoff spot in the North Division.
"They've had the advantage in some ways of an urgency that we're going to start feeling now with Calgary pushing back into that playoff mix," said Maurice. "This is a playoff game for these guys tonight. They're four up with a game in hand, and they need this one. We need it too. We have to stop the bleeding and get a good feeling in our room."
A victory tonight would be incredibly meaningful for both clubs. The level of urgency will be noticeable from the second the puck drops at 6 pm CT.
"The home games weren't how we wanted them to go, but I think now that we're on the road, we restart at zero," said Dubois. "The playoffs are coming up soon so we want to find our game before they start."
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Winnipeg Jets begin a three-game road trip tonight in Montreal against the Canadiens.
The Jets have won three consecutive games against Montreal. It's Winnipeg's second three-game winning streak against the Canadiens this season.
Mark Scheifele is 12th in NHL scoring with 55 points (19G, 36A) in 49 games this season.
Derek Forbort ranks third in the NHL this season with 101 blocked shots.
During the past nine games, the Jets have outshot their opponent in seven of the contests, including in four of the five games of their most recent home stand.
READ THE GAME NOTES