GAMEDAY: Jets at Canadiens (Preseason Game 3)

WINNIPEG -It's not too often the Winnipeg Jets head east in the preseason - save for a Young Stars tournament in Belleville, ON in 2019 - but that's exactly what they'll do tonight as they head to Bell Centre to take on the Montreal Canadiens.
The Jets are 1-1-0 in the preseason and are coming off Tuesday's 5-3 victory over Ottawa, while the Canadiens dropped a 3-0 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.
The rosters for both clubs will certainly look different from their last outings, as once again the Jets will send a young group on the road after a more veteran line-up against Ottawa.
But there will be opportunity.
"(Brad) Lambert, he's coming with us tonight and there's a very good chance that he'll play," Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of the 2022 first round pick, who has missed the majority of the first week of camp due to injury.

Saku Maenalanen will also make the trip. Although Bowness said it's not clear if the Finnish forward will play his third straight preseason game.
"There's a guy we are not sure is going to be able to play, one of those "game-time decisions" so until we know that… (it's unclear)," Bowness said. "The (Dubois) line will stay in tact, the Gustafsson line, but there's a guy who may or not play and that will change where we play."
Bowness didn't expand too far into tonight's line-up, but did say that David Rittich will get his second start of the preseason. Arvid Holm may get the final 20 minutes of tonight's game in Montreal, which would be his first appearance.
On defence, Ville Heinola will remain on the right side in a pairing with Logan Stanley. That puts Dylan Samberg with Nate Schmidt and Kyle Capobianco with Johnathan Kovacevic.
Still, there will be some veterans making the trip.
Nate Schmidt and Sam Gagner will get their first taste of preseason action, while Mason Appleton will play for the first time since the 4-0 loss to Edmonton to open the exhibition schedule.
The focus tonight for the Jets is to tighten things up systems wise, which will be an ongoing process through camp.
Wednesday's practice was a step in that direction.
"There's kind of two forechecks that we like to use and you've just got to quickly identify which one we're in and then not think and just go," said Appleton. "In the neutral zone, it's the same kind of concept where you got to make a quick read and then go. You don't want to get caught thinking too much, especially in the NHL, it's such a fast game."
The 26-year-old Appleton played 15:14 against Edmonton, with 1:41 of that coming on the penalty kill - which went a perfect 3-for-3 that night.
Appleton also wore an 'A' on his jersey, the first time the Green Bay, Wisconsin product has worn a letter at the NHL level.
"It's an honor any time you get to wear a letter, whatever level of hockey you're playing at," said Appleton. "We dressed a pretty young team in Edmonton so that's obviously one reason I was probably wearing an 'A'. But you know, I'm more of a guy that just likes to work hard and let that kind of be who I am as a leader. You can be verbal, you can show it, and you can do a little bit of both."
Jets head coach Rick Bowness has seen all of that from Appleton in this month's camp.
"He's a good player, he's a good hard worker, he's a great teammate," said Bowness. "You love his work habits, you love his attitude, you love his compete. There is a lot to like with Mason."
Last season was a bit of a whirlwind for Appleton, who was claimed in the Expansion Draft by the Seattle Kraken, then missed a month due to an ankle injury, and was re-acquired by the Jets at the trade deadline in February.
He finished with eight goals and 21 points in 68 games last season, and is looking to get back to his offensive production from 2020-21, when he hit double-digits in the goal column for the first time (12).
"You want to continue to climb and get better in this league, no matter where you're at," said Appleton. "You want to work has hard as you can every day to get to that next step, play a couple more minutes, get some power-play touches, whatever it is. You want more, always, and that's just the natural mindset of a competitive athlete."
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
THE ROSTER
Forwards -Saku Maenalanen, Jansen Harkins, David Gustafsson, Mason Appleton, Kevin Stenlund, Jeff Malott, Daniel Torgersson, Brad Lambert, Evan Polei, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kristian Reichel, Sam Gagner, Cole Maier
Defencemen - Ville Heinola, Dylan Samberg, Logan Stanley, Johnathan Kovacevic, Kyle Capobianco, Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders -David Rittich, Arvid Holm
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