The Jets return home to start an important week of games inside the Western Conference, as they face division rival Minnesota on Monday night.

The Jets finished a four game Western road trip on Saturday night, losing 4-0 to the San Jose Sharks in the second game of a back to back.  Steve Mason left the game after 1 period with an upper body injury, and was placed on the IR on Monday morning.

Connor Hellebuyck came into the game in relief and stopped 19 of 20 shots.  Since a pair of OT losses in Pittsburgh and Columbus at the end of October, the Jets are 10-3-1 in their last 14 games.

The Wild picked up points in 3 of their 4 games played last week.  Last Monday, they lost 4-3 in overtime to New Jersey, before rattling off back to back wins, 5-4 over Buffalo on Wednesday, and 3-2 in a shootout over Colorado on Friday.  Their point streak was snapped with a 6-3 loss to the St Louis Blues on Saturday.  Devan Dubnyk had an off night on Saturday, giving up all 6 goals on 40 shots for an .850 save percentage.  As per Michael Russo of the Athletic, Dubnyk will get the night off in Winnipeg, as Alex Stalock will get the start for the Wild tonight.  Stalock started the game on October 31st against the Jets, giving up 2 goals on 19 shots in the 2-1 loss.

This is the third of four regular season meetings between these Central Division rivals.  On October 20^th in Winnipeg, Patrik Laine scored a pair of powerplay goals, and Blake Wheeler’s 200^th career NHL goal was the difference in a 4-3 Jets win.  On October 31^st in Minnesota, Nikolaj Ehlers scored the game winner early in the third period, and Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves as the Jets beat the Wild 2-1.  Mark Scheifele leads the Jets in scoring in the season series, with 3 assists in 2 games played.  Hellebuyck started both games for Winnipeg, and is 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .929 SV%.  These two teams will meet once more in the regular season, January 13^th at Minnesota.

Two of the best, and most underrated centres in the NHL will do battle tonight, centering each team’s top lines.  The matchup to watch will be in the faceoff circle. Among centres who have taken 250 faceoffs on the season, Koivu is 10^th in the Western conference with a 54.8% winning percentage, while Scheifele is 27^th in the Western conference at 48.1%.  If Scheifele can win this matchup, it will go a long way to the Jets offence rebounding from a tough night in San Jose.

The Jets had their first stinker since the game in Vegas on Saturday night, and will be looking to bounce back in a big way tonight.  The home crowd on Hockey Fights Cancer night will provide a lift, and the Jets will not start slow as they did on Saturday: Jets win 3-1.