Time: 9:30 PM CST
Channel: TSN3, NBCSCA, NHL.TV
Radio: TSN1290, KFOX
California, here we come!
The Winnipeg Jets have embarked on their annual California road trip, with the first of three stops taking place in San Jose tonight when they take on the Sharks.
Winners of four of their last five, including their last game which came four days ago against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Jets currently hold third place in the Central Division standings, despite finding basically every way in the book to have a player end up injured.
Nikolaj Ehlers leads the Jets in goals with 11, and showed off his blazing speed on Monday, winning the Winnipeg Jets Skills Competition's Fastest Skater event with a blistering time of 13.03 seconds. Before you go “whoa, that’s faster than Connor McDavid”, keep in mind that this is not from a standing start. But the Flying Dane can indeed fly.
With a 13.03 second lap, @NikolajEhlers24 takes this year’s Fastest Skater! pic.twitter.com/esry98gqAa
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 26, 2019
Tonight, the Jets visit the San Jose Sharks, in the second of three West Side Story Games this season. The Jets came away with the victory in San Jose on November 1st thanks to a goal by Ehlers with a little less than a minute and a half left in the game, with the Jets winning 3-2.
San Jose sits fourth in the Pacific Division, after a very slow start to their year. However, the Sharks are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games, as things finally seem to be working for them. Logan Couture has 20 assists and 25 points on the year, while Evander Kane has 12 goals (though none is his last five games).
Goaltending continues to be an issue for San Jose, with the team save percentage sitting at .893. Martin Jones has been getting the bulk of the work in net, and has an .891 save percentage this year.
Despite the bad goaltending, the Sharks have the top rated penalty kill in the NHL with a 91.5 % efficiency, while the Jets thump along in 29th at 72.2%.
On the flippity, Connor Hellebuyck and his .928 save percentage are a big reason for the Jets success. He swooped in to grab a victory on Saturday after Laurent Brossoit was forced to temporarily exit the game against the Jackets.
No updates on the injury front for the Jets, with Bryan Little, Mason Appleton and Gabriel Bourque still on the shelf, and Mark Letestu out long-term.
Tomas Hertl took the morning skate for San Jose, but will miss his fourth straight game with an ankle injury.
San Jose has been running a 11 forward, seven defender set-up of late.
| Winnipeg Jets | Stats | San Jose Sharks |
|---|---|---|
| 1-0-0 | Series | 0-1-0 |
| 14-9-1 | Record | 13-11-1 |
| 29 | Points | 27 |
| 3rd Central | Division | 4th Pacific |
| 5th West | Conference | 8th West |
| 4-1-0 | Last 5 | 4-1-0 |
| 68 | Goals For | 73 |
| 73 | Goals Against | 83 |
| Regular Season | ||
| Nikolaj Ehlers (11) | Goals | Evander Kane (12) |
| Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele (14) | Assists | Logan Couture (20) |
| Scheifele (22) | Points | Couture (25) |
| Connor Hellebuyck (11) | Wins | Martin Jones (10) |
| Hellebuyck (2.42) | Goals Against Average | Jones (3.18) |
| Hellebuyck (.928) | Save Percentage | Aaron Dell (.897) |
| 15.5 (24th) | Power Play % | 19.5 (14th) |
| 72.2 (29th) | Penalty Kill % | 91.4 (1st) |
Winnipeg Jets Lineup:
FORWARDS:
81 Kyle Connor / 55 Mark Scheifele / 29 Patrik Laine
27 Nikolaj Ehlers / 26 Blake Wheeler / 28 Jack Roslovic
9 Andrew Copp / 17 Adam Lowry / 85 Mathieu Perreault
46 Joona Luoto / 19 David Gustafsson / 38 Logan Shaw
DEFENCE
44 Josh Morrissey / 3 Tucker Poolman
7 Dmitry Kulikov / 4 Neal Pionk
2 Anthony Bitetto / 5 Luca Sbisa
STARTING GOALIE
37 Connor Hellebuyck
Riding the pine: 30 Laurent Brossoit
Scratched: 80 Michael Spacek, 23 Carl Dahlstrom
Injured: 22 Mark Letestu (myocarditis, ETA mid-April), 88 Nathan Beaulieu, (upper body, day-to-day) 18 Bryan Little (head, out indefinitely), 82 Mason Appleton (foot, week-to-week), 57 Gabriel Bourque (lower body, ETA December 7)
On Some Beach, Somewhere: 33 Dustin Byfuglien
San Jose Sharks Lineup:
FORWARDS
9 Evander Kane / 39 Logan Couture / 12 Patrick Marleau
28 Timo Meier / 23 Barclay Goodrow / 62 Kevin Labanc
20 Marcus Sorensen / 19 Joe Thornton / 68 Melker Karlsson
7 Dylan Gambrell / 40 Antti Suomela /
DEFENCE
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic / 65 Erik Karlsson
51 Radim Simek / 88 Brent Burns
4 Brenden Dillon / 38 Mario Ferraro
72 Tim Heed
STARTING GOALIE
30 Aaron Dell
Riding the pine: 31 Martin Jones
Scratched: 73 Noah Gregor , 52 Lukas Radil
Injured: 5 Dalton Prout, 48 Tomas Hertl
