Morning Skate Report: Jets at Capitals

WASHINGTON - Cole Perfetti admits he was more of a Sidney Crosby fan growing up, but that doesn't take away from how special it will be for the 20-year-old Winnipeg Jets (17-12-5) forward to play his first game against Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals tonight.
"I think in his rookie year I was three or four years old," said Perfetti. "It's kind of funny to think about, have watched him my whole life and to now play against him is pretty special. It's something you dream about as a little kid. You always want to be on the same ice with a guy like that."
Perfetti will once again be alongside Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois tonight, the same spot he was in last Thursday when the Jets shut out the Detroit Red Wings 3-0.
Another game of playing with those two players is an opportunity Perfetti isn't taking lightly. He played a career-high 14:10 in Detroit with two shots on goal, and the trio nearly connected on a three-way passing play in the third period.
He wants to build on that performance against Washington.

"I thought we had a lot of great chances, created lots and we build on that in practice and now hopefully in this game here tonight, keep generating, keep creating O-zone chances," said Perfetti. "To play with guys like that is pretty fun, to sit back and watch and be on the ice, you see them make plays that are crazy."
Tonight also marks another opportunity for Austin Poganski, who will play his second game in Jets colours after playing just over 11 minutes in the win over Detroit.
"Here with the Jets organization, we do a lot of the same systems in the A and the NHL, so that makes the transition a lot easier," said Poganski. "Obviously we got a good win there in Detroit. To be back here for the Jets, hoping to get another win tonight."
It was a packed morning skate at Capital One Center Tuesday morning, as the taxi squad's presence meant there were over 20 skaters on the ice, in addition to goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck - who starts in goal tonight - Mikhail Berdin, and Arvid Holm.

Also on the ice? Jets captain Blake Wheeler, who shed the non-contact jersey he wore yesterday for a regular jersey.
The Jets captain - out since December 10 - won't play tonight.
"We're getting close," said interim head coach Dave Lowry. "The big thing with Blake is he's out of gold and now into a regular jersey. It's going to be a couple more practices to get him up to speed, then it will be a medical decision."
Paul Stastny and Evgeny Svechnikov also won't suit up tonight. Lowry says Stastny, who is coming off COVID-19 protocol, needs a few more skates. Svechnikov is also a couple games away.
Add it all up, and the Jets projected line-up is expected to look like this tonight:
Copp-Scheifele-Ehlers
Connor-Dubois-Perfetti
Harkins-Lowry-Poganski
Vesalainen-Toninato-Reichel
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Schmidt
It's been one month, plus one day, since Lowry took over as interim head coach. On his first day, the Jets dropped a 5-2 decision to the Capitals at Canada Life Centre.
Since then, though, they've won four of five games. Even in the loss to Washington, Lowry didn't feel his group was far off.

"We made a couple of mistakes. They capitalized. They have some world-class players that they get paid a lot of money to score goals," said Lowry. "I believe we're a better team today in terms of what our team's expectations are and what the coaches expectations are."
As for the Capitals (21-9-9), the Metropolitan Division's fourth-ranked team is coming off a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
They're 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, but have struggled at home as of late going 1-4-1 in their last six. John Carlson and Conor Sheary are in COVID-19 protocol, which hasn't helped Washington's cause, as they try to hop over Pittsburgh and Carolina in the standings tonight.
But the Jets can't focus too much on the Capitals, says Lowry.
"We make them have to play 200 feet," Lowry said. "I know it's all cliché and that but if you give skilled players easy exits, you give them easy opportunities, they're usually going to capitalize.
"They're in the same position we are. You have some very good players out of your lineup and it's opportunities for other guys. We just have to make sure that our game is strong tonight."
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.