Jets at Hurricanes: Game Day Thread

After suffering a loss in their last contest at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, the Winnipeg Jets are back in action tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Jets are going into this game on a bit of a hot streak, 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.  They sport an 8-6-2 record on the season, despite a -5 goal differential.  The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are 5-6-3 and still a bit battered by injuries.

The Jets will be starting Michael Hutchinson in net tonight, just his third start of the season.  After a not-very-good first start, he has saved all 42 shots directed at him in subsequent appearances (one start, one in relief of Ondrej Pavelec).  The Hurricanes will start Cam Ward in net, who is looking to continue his bounce-back season.

The game will be broadcast on TSN3.

Winnipeg Jets

Forwards

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Michael Frolik

Evander Kane - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler

Mathieu Perreault - Adam Lowry - Dustin Byfuglien

TJ Galiardi - Jim Slater - Matt Halischuk

Defence

Tobias Enstrom - Zach Bogosian

Mark Stuart - Jacob Trouba

Grant Clitsome - Paul Postma

Goalies

Michael Hutchinson (starting)

Ondrej Pavelec

Carolina Hurricanes

Forwards

Eric Staal - Victor Rask - Jiri Tlusty

Jeff Skinner - Jay McClement - Alexander Semin

Nathan Gerbe - Riley Nash - Elias Lindholm

Zach Boychuk - Patrick Dwyer - Brad Malone

Defence

Andrej Sekera - Justin Faulk

Tim Gleason - Jay Harrison

Ron Hainsey - John-Michael Liles

Goalies

Cam Ward (starting)

Anton Khudobin

Who to Watch

For the Jets, it's Michael Hutchinson.  He's been great since his first start, but it's come in limited action.  Let's hope that continues.

For the Hurricanes, it's not so much one player, but two.  I'll be interested to see how Victor Rask fares patrolling the middle of the ice, particularly when lined up against a top-line centre like Bryan Little.  Similarly, how Eric Staal fares playing on the wing.  It seems like a strange decision, moving your best player to where he can only be effective on half the ice.

Who to Boo

Victor Rask.  I'm sure he's a perfectly nice kid, but moving a team's best player to the wing, where he can only be effective on half the ice, seems like a silly move and I don't want to support it.  Sorry, Victor, but your coach has set you up to take the fall here.

Prediction

Jets 3 - Hurricanes 2. And Derek complains about the refs.