After a 15-year wait, NHL regular season hockey returns to Winnipeg, as the Jets host the Montreal Canadiens at the MTS Centre.
What a special way to kick off a new generation of Jets hockey in Winnipeg than against the most storied, winningest franchise in hockey history.
The Habs and the Atlanta Thrashers split four meetings last season. But this year it will be a whole new situation in front of a sold-out, raucous, 15,000 fans in Winnipeg who have waited a long time to see their Jets back in action.
It is going to be a loud, playoff-like atmosphere when the puck drops. The key for the Jets will be to harness that energy but also not get over excited and take a bad penalty or get caught defensively.
Jets captain Andrew Ladd will be the one looking to guide his team in the Jets' inaugural game back home in Winnipeg. Ladd is expected to play on the top line alongside Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler. Last season Ladd led the team in scoring with 29 goals and 59 points.
While Sunday marks the Jets regular season debut, it also marks the debut of rookie Mark Scheifele. The 2011 seventh overall pick impressed enough in pre-season to make the opening night squad, leading the team in scoring with four goals and four assists in five games. Scheifele will centre the second line alongside Evander Kane and Kyle Wellwood.
One player who should be able to capitalize off the intense energy at puck drop is fan favourite Dustin Byfuglien. At the start of the first pre-season home game, which also had a playoff-like atmosphere, Byfuglien made a big hit off the opening face-off to keep the energy levels high.
Ondrej Pavelec gets the start in net to kick off the season. In 58 games played in 2010-11, Pavelec went 21-23-9 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage with four shutouts. Pavelec has played well against the Habs in the past, going 3-1-1 in five starts while posting a 1.95 GAA and a .944 save percentage with one shutout.
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Forwards
Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane - Mark Scheifele - Kyle Wellwood
Brett MacLean - Alex Burmistrov - Nik Antropov
Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn
Defencemen
Dustin Byfuglien - Johnny Oduya
Zach Bogosian - Mark Stuart
Ron Hainsey - Tobias Enstrom
Goalies
Ondrej Pavelec
Chris Mason
Injured: Kenndal McArdle, Aaron Gagnon, Ben Maxwell, Eric Fehr (shoulder)
The Montreal Canadiens travel to Winnipeg looking for their first win of the season after being shutout by James Reimer and the Toronto Maple Leafs in their opener.
Montreal outshot Toronto 14-4 in the first period and 32-18 at the final buzzer, but could not solve Reimer. It was the first time the Habs had been shutout by the Leafs to start the season since the 2000-01 campaign.
In order to get the offense going, Habs head coach Jacques Martin has changed his lines up from opening night. Erik Cole has been promoted to the top line to play alongside Tomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri. Meanwhile, Andrei Kostitsyn, who played on the first line in the season opener, has been placed on the third line with David Desharnais and Mathieu Darche.
Already without Andrei Markov who is recovering from a knee injury, the Habs received some more troubling news. Chris Campoli, who the team signed to a one-year, $1.75M deal on Sept. 26, went down awkwardly in the team's season opener and left the ice. Campoli did not return to the game and on Saturday, Martin revealed that Campoli will be out several months.
With Campoli out of the lineup, Russian defenceman Alexei Emelin will play in his first career NHL regular season game. The Habs selected Emelin in the third round (84th overall) in the 2004 NHL Draft but has yet to play a game due to contract issues in Russia. Emelin spent last season with the KHL's Ak-Bars Kazan, registering 11 goals and 15 assists in 52 games played.
Carey Price will get the start after allowing two goals on 18 shots in the season opening loss. In 11 career appearances against the Thrashers, Price holds a record of 5-2-3 with a 2.52 goals-against and a .913 save percentage.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines
Forwards
Erik Cole – Tomas Plekanec – Mike Cammalleri
Max Pacioretty – Scott Gomez – Brian Gionta
Andrei Kostitsyn – David Desharnais – Mathieu Darche
Yannick Weber – Andreas Engqvist – Travis Moen
Defencemen
Hal Gill – P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin – Josh Gorges
Jaroslav Spacek – Raphael Diaz
Goalies
Carey Price
Peter Budaj
Injured: Blair Betts (back), Chris Campoli (lower-body), Lars Eller (shoulder), Andrei Markov (knee), Ryan White (groin)
Habs vs. Jets gets underway at 4PM CT. The game will be broadcast on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, RDS and TSN Radio 1290.
For up-to-the-minute Jets news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett 
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