GAMEDAY: Jets at Kings

The mission is clear for the Winnipeg Jets (3-3-0).
Tonight, as they begin a three-game road trip with their first meeting of the season with the Los Angeles Kings (4-4-0), they want to build on the 4-0 win over St. Louis.
In the words of forward Morgan Barron, "It's about stringing them together."
It won't come easy, as the Kings have won four of their past six games - including a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday - and have scored 27 goals so far this season, the third most in the National Hockey League.
"We've done it a couple times where we've played well and lost the game the next time out," said associate coach Scott Arniel. "Build off what we've just done, believe in how we got there, our standards that we stuck to, and try to do it again on the road here in LA."

Pierre-Luc Dubois hates to speak in cliches, but when it comes to putting together winning streaks in the NHL, there is a reason the cliches exist.

"It's understanding how we have to play to win. It's not always pretty, it's not always the most exciting hockey, but it's what gets you into the playoffs and gives you a chance of winning," Dubois said. "When you go on streaks, there is a bit of luck sometimes involved. Most of it is just understanding the way you have to play and playing 60 minutes. It's boring cliches, but it works."
For the second straight day, Logan Stanley didn't skate and isn't expected to play tonight as he continues to recover from a shot block against the Blues.
It's expected that Dylan Samberg will return to the line-up (in Stanley's spot alongside Dylan DeMelo), after missing the last two games with his own injury.
Winnipeg's projected line-up is expected to look like this, with Connor Hellebuyck the probable starter after earning his first shutout of the season on Monday:
Connor-Scheifele-Appleton
Perfetti-Dubois-Wheeler
Barron-Lowry-Gagner
Jonsson-Fjallby-Gustafsson-Maenalanen
Morrissey-Pionk
Dillon-Schmidt
Samberg-DeMelo
As much as a carbon copy of what the Jets did against St. Louis would be helpful, the Kings present a different challenge.

Arniel points out that how Los Angeles runs their neutral zone is different than St. Louis.
"They play a 1-3-1 through there. They don't let you open up the game, they don't let you get thinking you're going to carry pucks from the top of your circle to the top of theirs," Arniel said. "I just watched them play against Tampa Bay, against Washington, against Pittsburgh, all really good offensive skating teams. There wasn't much room to work."
So look for the Jets to focus on getting the puck deep into the Kings' zone and winning puck battles to get possession back.
But that's not going to be easy. It'll be a battle for space all over the ice.
"They're good in the D-zone, good off the rush, smart team, good defensemen, good goalies. They're a tough team to play against," said Dubois. "They'll be a good test for us tonight here to not try too much and play a full 60 minutes. If it's 0-0 after two periods, then that's just how it is, try not to get too caught up in going back and forth with them."
As it always seems to, the game will come down to winning individual battles all over the ice. Doing just that helped the Jets generate the offence they were able to get against St. Louis, with the tallies by Mark Scheifele, Sam Gagner, and Barron all being the result of puck battles won below the goal line.
"You go head-to-head with somebody all night long, whether it's a defenceman, a right-winger, or a centre - that's your battle to win every time you step on the ice," said Arniel. "If we can get that throughout our line-up, guys winning their fair share of the battles, that usually leads to winning hockey."
A win tonight would start the road trip on a positive note. It's the second straight road trip that sees the Jets play three games in four nights, starting with a set of back-to-backs.
"You're not always going to be perfect," Arniel said. "Schedule can sometimes hamper things with travel, back-to-backs, or threes in fours. It's the battles you're going to run into every shift, it's playing smart hockey at the right time. Trying to be consistent in your effort first and that helps the group be at our best."
Puck drop is set for 9:30 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com
Game Notes
The Jets are in the midst of playing six of eight games on the road to open the season and went 1-2-0 during their first road trip.
The winning side has scored at least four goals in each of Winnipeg's six games to start the season.
The Jets are playing their second of 13 back-to-back sets on their schedule this season. The Jets were 6-4-2 in the first game of back-to-back last season, and 5-5-2 in the second game.
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