Coming off a 6-3 loss to the Oilers and back at full strength, the Jets begin a mini Central Division road trip against the St. Louis Blues tonight. On the first half of a back-to-back set, it looks like (but is not yet confirmed that) Michael Hutchinson will be the Jets’ starting goalie tonight. One other roster change to mention: Mathieu Perreault skated on a line with Adam Lowry and Brandon Tanev at today’s morning skate, switching places with Marko Dano.
Meanwhile, the Blues have won three games in a row heading into this one and will also be starting their back up goaltender to give Jake Allen the night off. Carter Hutton (2-4-0, 891 SV%) has not had a strong start to the season, and may present a golden opportunity to steal a point or two.
Lineups:
St. Louis Blues:
Jaden Schwartz – Paul Stastny – David Perron
Robby Fabbri – Alexander Steen – Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitri Jaskin – Patrik Berglund – Nail Yakupov
Scottie Upshall – Kyle Brodziak – Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson – Kevin Shattenkirk
Robert Bortuzzo – Colton Parayko
Carter Hutton
Jake Allen
Winnipeg Jets:
Nikolaj Ehlers – Mark Scheifele – Patrick Laine
Drew Stafford – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Matthieu Perreault – Adam Lowry – Brandon Tanev
Marko Dano – Andrew Copp – Chris Thorburn
Josh Morrissey – Dustin Byfuglien
Tobias Enstrom – Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot – Paul Postma
Michael Hutchinson
Connor Hellebuyck
Where To Watch:
7:00 PM on TSN3 and TSN 1290
Player to Watch:
Michael Hutchinson. “Hutch” is sporting an .897 SV% heading into this contest, and (unsurprisingly) hasn’t started a game since the middle of November. He could use a strong start or two, and the coaching staff could likely use the confidence in their backup goaltender.
Predictions:
Jets win 4-2 on the back of solid outing from Michael Hutchinson (and a not-so-solid outing from Carter Hutton).