MATCHDAY: Jets at Rangers | Winnipeg Jets

NEW YORK – For the first time in 11 games, the Winnipeg Jets (14-1-0) will make a defensive change in their bracket.

Haydn Fleury will make his first appearance since October 18th when he starts Tuesday’s clash between the Jets and the New York Rangers.

“I’m excited. (Head coach Scott Arniel) told me yesterday, so I called my wife. It’s an early game so my older son can watch. He’s in now,” Fleury said, grinning. “I’m excited Just excited to be out there with the guys again.”

The game marks the start of a three-game road trip for the Jets, who will not have the services of defenseman Logan Stanley for the duration of the trip. Stanley, 26, is back in Winnipeg nursing what Arniel calls a “mid-body injury.”

“He’s been dealing with something here for a week and a half or two weeks,” Arniel said. “We just felt like it was time to close it. He plays with great pain. We’ll see how he feels when we get home.”

Fleury, who is averaging 15:03 of ice time in his four games this season, will join a familiar face in Colin Miller on the blue line. The duo have combined to go 47:33 at five-on-five this season (according to Natural Stat Trick) and have helped limit opponents to just five high-danger chances in that time.

“I thought things were going well between me and Millsy. I think he played really well in the first 15 games here,” Fleury said. “I’ll step in and we’ll try to pick up where we left off.”

While he hasn’t played, Fleury has done his best to stay mentally (and physically) fit. Whether it’s pushing through conditioning drills at the end of practice or closely watching games, he feels like he’s put in the work necessary to be ready to face the Rangers.

“They have a deadly power game. They are good in their building, so it will be a big challenge for us tonight,” Fleury said. “Just stick to what we do best. We showed that our best hockey is good enough to win in this league. Just stick with it and start the road trip right.”

Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal for the Jets. Hellebuyck was named the National Hockey League’s first Star of the Week on Monday after posting two shutouts in three games and stopping 88 of 89 shots for a 0.33 goals-against average.

Ahead of him, the Jets’ lineup is expected to look like this:

Connor Scheifele Vilardi

Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers

Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton

Barrno-Kupari-Iafallo

Morrissey DeMelo

Samberg-Pionk

Fleury Miller

The Rangers (9-3-1) are coming off a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Madison Square Garden is a homecoming of sorts for a number of people in the Jets organization, including Neal Pionk, Morgan Barron, Vladislav Namestnikov and the Chief. Attempts to extend coach Scott Arniel – who spent five years as an associate coach with the Rangers.

Today, however, it’s all business as Winnipeg looks to match the best start in NHL history.

“They have been one of the better teams in the league in recent years,” Pionk said. “It’s always a good game to play against one of the best teams in the East and see how they do.”

Winnipeg’s power play, which currently leads the league at 41.9 percent, capitalized on two of five chances in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars. It is compared to the league’s best penalty kill, which the Rangers maintain at 91.1 percent.

This is a fact that the Jets are well aware of.

“It could be the deciding factor of the game, our power play versus their penalty kill,” said Pionk, who has two power play goals of his own this season. “We had a meeting about it this morning. We have to be sharp because they too are firing at full speed. It will be a good game.”

Still, the majority of the game will be played at five-on-five, an area where the Jets have excelled – especially since their only setback of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to Arniel, the Rangers have a variety of ways to generate offense

“They’re one of the elite teams in the East,” Arniel said. “That rush game, we have to eliminate how much we allow them to do that. With the second wave that comes with (Adam) Fox and their defense, we need to make sure we get the numbers back and stop that whenever possible.”

Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

ICE CHIPS

Ville Heinola participated in the morning skate in the regular jersey after wearing the last few skates non-contact.

“He’s full commitment and full contact. It’s about conditioning yourself to engage and commit to these practices,” Arniel said. “I’m not going to rush this. We want him to be with us for the rest of the year. We don’t want this to happen again and anything to happen. We have to make sure his conditioning and fighting effort are where they need to be.”

This is the first time Heinola has fully participated in practice since he skated on the first day of training camp. The defender’s blood test (as part of his training camp physical) revealed an infection in his surgically repaired ankle.