Time: 9:00 PM CST
Channel: TSN3, PRIME
Radio: TSN1290
The Winnipeg Jets (29-13-7) travel to Anaheim for the second time this season, looking to build on their 4-1 victory over the Ducks (23-17-9) back in November.
That version of the Ducks was not as strong as this version, missing star players Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler, among other names out with injury. The Ryans are now back, and Getzlaf’s 31 points in 25 games has him clipping long at a very good pace.
The Ducks are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, and have fought their way back into the Western Conference playoff picture, sitting two points back of the Calgary Flames for third in the Pacific, and two points back of the Colorado Avalanche for the second and final wildcard spot.Their most recent performance was a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers, in which they chased Henrik Lundqvist after allowing three goals on seven shots on Tuesday night.
The Jets are 7-2-1 in their last 10, and are coming off a high scoring, 5-4 OT victory in San Jose on Tuesday. The Jets had struggled at 3-on-3 previously, going 0-for-6 in OT, but 2-for-3 in shootout.
The Jets remain without the services of Mark Scheifele, who last played on December 27 when he suffered an upper body injury against the Oilers. He is joined on the shelf by Adam Lowry, who hasn’t played since January 5th, while Dmitry Kulikov and Toby Enstrom both missed practice yesterday after getting banged up in the win over San Jose on Tuesday. Tucker Poolman was called up, while Ben Chiarot remains an option out of the press box in case one or both are not able to go tonight.
The second line of Mathieu Perreault, Bryan Little and Nikolaj Ehlers has been humming along quite nicely since being formed in wake of Scheifele’s injury. In their past 10 games, Perreault has nine points, Little has eight and Ehlers has nine. The top line of Kyle Connor, Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine saw some juggling on Tuesday, with AHL stud Jack Roslovic getting a chance at Kyle Connor’s expense. Roslovic has had his chances in seven games since getting called up, but remains in search of that elusive first NHL point.
This will be Winnipeg’s last road game in a long while, with a stretch of ten coming up at Bell MTS Place. The team will next play on the road on February 23 in St. Louis.
Will the Ducks finally perform a flying-V after 25 years?
Will the Jets roast the Ducks? Because roast duck is really good. I recommend it with blackcurrant sauce. Also, duck is a red meat, so I recommend trying it rare or medium rare. What were we talking about?
Tune in this evening! Same Jets time (9 PM CST), Same Jets channel (TSN 3)!
Winnipeg Jets: 29-13-7
Stat Leaders:
Goals: Patrik Laine (21)
Assists: Blake Wheeler (40)
Points: Wheeler (54)
Goalie Stat Leaders:
Wins: Connor Hellebuyck (26)
Goals Against Average: Hellebuyck (2.34)
Save Percentage: Hellebuyck (.924)
Minutes: Hellebuyck (2,337)
Special Teams: PP 25.0% (2nd), PK 81.8% (14th)
Anaheim Ducks: 23-17-9
Stat Leaders:
Goals: Rickard Rakell (18)
Assists: Ryan Getzlaf (25)
Points: Rakell (36)
Goalie Stat Leaders:
Wins: John Gibson (17)
Goals Against Average: Ryan Miller (2.18)
Save Percentage: Reto Berra (.932) cough small sample size cough
Minutes: Gibson (2,173)
Special Teams: PP 17.8% (23rd), PK 82.3% (11th)
Winnipeg Jets
FORWARDS
29 Patrik Laine / 26 Blake Wheeler/ 52 Jack Roslovic
85 Mathieu Perreault/ 18 Bryan Little/ 27 Nikolaj Ehlers
13 Brandon Tanev/ 9 Andrew Copp/ 40 Joel Armia
81 Kyle Connor/ 15 Matt Hendricks/ 56 Marko Dano
DEFENCE
44 Josh Morrissey/ 8 Jacob Trouba
7 Ben Chiarot/ 57 Tyler Myers
39 Toby Enstrom/ 33 Dustin Byfuglien
STARTING GOALIE
37 Connor Hellebuyck
Riding the pine: 34 Michael Hutchinson
Scratched: 5 Dmitry Kulikov, 48 Brendan Lemieux
Injured: 55 Mark Scheifele (ETA Mid-late February, upper body), 35 Steve Mason (out since January 12, concussion) 17 Adam Lowry (Missing his seventh game, upper body), 16 Shawn Matthias (upper body, out since January 13)
Anaheim Ducks
FORWARDS
67 Rickard Rakell — 15 Ryan Getzlaf — 25 Ondrej Kase
7 Andrew Cogliano — 17 Ryan Kesler — 71 J.T. Brown
37 Nick Ritchie — 14 Adam Henrique — 33 Jakob Silfverberg
21 Chris Wagner — 50 Antoine Vermette — 10 Corey Perry
DEFENCE
47 Hampus Lindholm — 42 Josh Manson
4 Cam Fowler — 3 Kevin Bieksa
5 Korbinian Holzer — 26 Brandon Montour
STARTING GOALIE
36 John Gibson
Riding the pine: 30 Ryan Miller
Scratched: 38 Derek Grant, 23 Francois Beauchemin, 40 Jared Boll
Injured: 18 Patrick Eaves (Out indefinitely, Guillain-Barre syndrome), 51 Mike Liambas (Out since December 2, upper body)
Tonight will be “Beard Night” in Anaheim, in honor of Patrick Eaves’ facial follicle prowess and his battle with Guillain-Barre syndrome, “a rare but serious autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks healthy nerve cells in your peripheral nervous system”. Eaves’ charity of choice is the Cody Unser First Step Foundation, with its mission to improve the lives of individuals with neurological disorders and spinal cord injuries
