Time: 6:00 P.M. CST
TV: TSN3, TVAS, NESN
Radio: TSN1290, 98.5 Sports Hub
The Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins meet in Bean Town for their first meeting of the 2018-19 schedule. The Jets are coming off of last night’s 3-1 loss in the City of Brotherly Love, while Boston hasn’t played in 10 days, which means both teams face challenges in performing well tonight. How will they meet those challenges? We’ll soon find out.
The All-Star break can be an opportunity for teams to get healthy, but it didn’t do a lot of good for these two teams, with the Bruins still without the services of Tuukka Rask, who suffered a concussion in their last game. The Jets will be without the services of Dustin Byfuglien and Nikolaj Ehlers. Ben Chiarot, however, will be returning from injury.
Starting goalies tonight are Connor Hellebuyck for the good guys and Jaroslav Halak for the not good guys.
Boston currently occupies the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, while Winnipeg is still in first in the Central Division despite a 1-2-1 record in their last four. They are tied with Nashville at 64 points, but have three games in hand.
Winnipeg Jets Lineup:
FORWARDS:
81 Kyle Connor/ 55 Mark Scheifele/ 26 Blake Wheeler
29 Patrik Laine/ 18 Bryan Little/ 28 Jack Roslovic
85 Mathieu Perreault/ 17 Adam Lowry/ 13 Brandon Tanev
48 Brendan Lemieux/ 9 Andrew Copp/ 82 Mason Appleton
DEFENCE
44 Josh Morrissey/ 8 Jacob Trouba
5 Dmitry Kulikov/ 57 Tyler Myers
7 Ben Chiarot/ 83 Sami Niku
STARTING GOALIE
37 Connor Hellebuyck
Riding the pine: 30 Laurent Brossoit
Scratched: 19 Nic Petan, 70 Joe Morrow (not confirmed it’s Morrow out)
Injured: 33 Dustin Byfuglien (lower body, ETA end of January), 27 Nikolaj Ehlers (shoulder, ETA middle of February),
Boston Bruins Lineup:
FORWARDS
63 Brad Marchand/ 37 Patrice Bergeron/ 88 David Pastrnak
22 Peter Cehlarik/ 46 David Krejci/ 74 Jake DeBrusk
43 Danton Heinen/ 82 Trent Frederic/ 42 David Backes
52 Sean Kuraly / 55 Noel Acciari/ 14 Chris Wagner
DEFENCE
33 Zdeno Chara/ 73 Charlie McAvoy
47 Torey Krug/ 25 Brandon Carlo
48 Matt Grzelcyk / 86 Kevan Miller
STARTING GOALIE
41 Jaroslav Halak
Riding the pine: 31 Zane McIntyre
Scratched: 27 John Moore, 44 Steven Kampfer
Injured: 40 Tuukka Rask (concussion), 20 Joakim Nordstrom (fractured fibula)
Enemy Territory
Boston Bruins Coverage: Stanley Cup of Chowder
After a tough loss last night, the Winnipeg Jets will look for redemption at TD Garden against the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is 7 PM. https://t.co/zeGsiIgihd
— Stanley Cup of Chowder (@cupofchowdah) January 29, 2019
Last Jets Game:
Winnipeg Jets 1-3 Philadelphia Flyers
The Jets failed to take off, with a Jack Roslovic power play goal the only blemish on Carter Hart’s 31 save performance.
Last Bruins Game:
New York Rangers 3-2 Boston Bruins
It’s been 10 days since the Bruins played, and when they did they became Henrik Lundqvist career win number 446, as the King moved into sole possession of 6th place on the all-time wins list.
Players to watch:
Winnipeg Jets
It might be a bit early to call this part of the schedule the final stretch, but it sure would be great if Connor Hellebuyck could return to form as the season winds down and the playoffs approach. His numbers aren’t terrible, but when you look at what he’s capable of, you can’t help but want and expect a little more.
Boston Bruins
It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that David Pastrnak is just 22-years-old. The forward is now in his fifth NHL season, and is poised to hit the 30 goal mark for the third straight year, and currently leads the Bruins in points.
His contract looks great for the Bruins going forward, as 6.667 million per year for the next five years can only be seen as better and better value as he gets better with age.