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Jets Fly Full Speed into a Surging Hurricane

The Winnipeg Jets recent eight game point streak came to a close Tuesday night, at the hands of the Montreal Canadians. Tonight, they will look to grab two points when they face off against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Jets and the Hurricanes have both succeeded as of late. The Hurricanes are on a six game point streak ( 5-0-1) meanwhile the Jets have possessed a 4-1-1 record through November.

Puck drop is at 6 pm CT and the game can be viewed on TSN 3. You can also listen to all the action on TSN 1290.

Thoughts

Winnipeg Jets

Put the Puck In The Net: Despite the Jets recent success, the team has struggled to find the back of the net. The Jets currently average 1.75 goals a game, which puts the Jets at 29th in the league. The Jets can’t rely on goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to win them hockey games by himself. The Jets need to muster up more offense, night in and night out.

Hey Evander, Wake Up! Some like to refer to Evander Kane as the Jets best player but through his first eight games he has struggled. After being sidelined for eight games with a knee injury, Kane’s return has produced one goal in eight games. Versus Montreal, Kane was denied on a breakaway, registered two penalties and missed an empty net. If Kane picks up his production, his linemates Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele should follow.

Changes Could Be Made Despite the Jets recent success, Head Coach Paul Maurice reiterated that changes could be made to the lineup.

“We’re going to have a long conversation about what our lineup’s going to look like in the next three games because at some point, I’ve got to get these guys back in the lineup,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re a 23-man roster and the three guys that have been out have been working hard, done what we’ve asked.”

The three players Maurice was referring too are, Adam Pardy, Matt Halischuk and Anthony Peluso.

"They need to get back into a game and we need them to get back into a game," Maurice said. "So that’ll be a discussion, especially when you look at this stretch of hockey we’re in."

It is likely all three players will draw in to the lineup at some point on the Jets current road trip.

Carolina Hurricanes

Welcome Back, Cam Ward! Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward has bounced back in great fashion from last year in which he was outplayed between the pipes by goaltender Anton Khudobin. Ward is in the midst of a five game winning streak and has been a key component to the Canes recent success.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice coached Ward in Carolina, praised the goaltender.

"To me, Cam is at his best when he's running a bunch of games (in a row) and gets into that good zone. When Cam Ward is on top of his game, he's an elite goalie. For a team that is looking to score goals, it will be a challenge for us."

Staal On The Wing: The Canes captain has played the bulk of his career up the middle but after being moved from centre to left wing on Monday against the Flames. Tonight he will line up on the left side once again, against the Jets. Playing on the left side is not such a foreign thing for Staal. Staal was used in the same capacity during the 2010 Winter Olympics, in which he helped the team win a goal medal.

Head Coach Bill Peters broke down the move

"(Eric is) a big, strong guy who plays north-south, and he wants to work. I think it’ll be effective here in the short term and possibly the long term, allowing him to drive the net and play more of a power-forward type game and be strong on pucks in the offensive zone."

It’s different," Staal said. "It depends on what type of game it is, to be honest. I mean I like having the puck, I like being around the puck. Last game was good. I thought our line generated a lot. We had some good shifts."

Player to Boo Mercilessly

Justin Faulk After starting out the year slow, he is playing some of the best hockey of his young career. We don’t like it when opposing players play well.

Prediction

4-2 Jets

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