Winnipeg Jets vs Pittsburgh Penguins

A day away from the rink gives a team some time to rest and reflect. Coming off a flat performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night, the Jets took Sunday off, and regrouped at practice on Monday. On Tuesday, their minds were on a mission as the Jets took on the Dallas Stars, and skated away with a 5-2 victory. Patrik Laine netted his third hat trick of the season, while Connor Hellebuyck was solid in the net for the win.

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Tonight’s opponent are the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are coming off a shutout victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Evgeni Malkin returned from injury to put up a few points, while Sidney Crosby connected with new linemate in Jake Guentzel. Matt Murray posted the shutout by turning aside 29 shots.

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Who: Winnipeg Jets (26-29-4) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (35-13-7)

When: 6:00 pm CST

How: TSN, TSN1290, ROOT, 105.9 The X

Projected Lineups:

Winnipeg Jets:

Nikolaj Ehlers - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler

Mathieau Perreault - Mark Scheifele - Patrik Laine

Shawn Matthias - Adam Lowry - Joel Armia

Drew Stafford - Nic Petan - Chris Thorburn

Ben Chariot - Dustin Byfuglien

Josh Morrissey - Jacob Trouba

Mark Stuart - Paul Postma

Connor Hellebuyck

Micheal Hutchinson

Pittsburgh Penquins:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Jake Guentzel

Matt Cullen - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel

Scott Wilson - Evgeni Malkin - Patric Hornquist

Tom Kuhnhackl - Eric Fehr - Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang

Olli Maatta - Trevor Daley

Ian Cole - Justin Schultz

Matt Murray

Marc-Andre Fleury

For more on the Jets’ opponents, check out Pensburgh.

3 Questions:

1. Again, can Hellebuyck continue to play up to the level of confidence the team, the coaching staff, and the management of the Winnipeg Jets have in Pavelec? Ondrej Pavelec is with the team during this road trip, and is breathing down Connor Hellebuyck’s neck!
2. Can the Winnipeg Jets maintain it’s disciplined play and not allow the other team to secure a valuable power play opportunity? Things got a bit out of hand against the Dallas Stars, and as a result Tyler Seguin scored for Dallas on the power play.
3. Can the Winnipeg Jets become a consistent defensively minded team? Dallas was able to get 36 shots in on Hellebuyck, while the Jets countered with 24.

Players to watch:

Winnipeg Jets: Ehlers. Slick Nik has been flying around with the puck, and will be looking to pot a few tonight.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Crosby. Sid the Kid is going for his 1000 NHL point tonight.

Prediction: The Jets take the game 4-2.

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