2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Winnipeg Jets vs Vegas Golden Knights pre-game 1 report

The Jets will hit the ice today for an optional morning skate with the only real question mark being Kevin Stenlund as it appears, despite the “media war” that Nikolaj Ehlers will be good to go. If Stenlund cannot skate then expect David Gustafsson to draw in for him. The lines and D pairs below are based on yesterday’s practice.

Morning Skate news:

As per Murat Ates of The Athletic Winnipeg it is a highly optional this morning but he did indicate that Kevin Stenlund appears to be a full participant.

Health update:

The report from Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press has Nikolaj Ehlers and  Kevin Stenlund listed as game-time decisions by coach Rick Bowness. He added that Karson Kuhlman and David Gustafsson didn’t stay on for extra work so they’ll be in if Ehlers or Stenlund aren’t able to play.

Warm-up news:

Via Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet we have confirmation that no Nikolaj Ehlers but Kevin Stenlund is. Both Karson Kuhlman and David Gustafsson are skating. Wieber shares the lines below.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Dubois-Scheifele
Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Wheeler
Barron-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Stenlund-Maenalanen

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt

Hellebuyck
Rittich

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) Ehlers/Stenlund status?
2) Why use Kuhlman/Gustafsson as back-up plan? (:22)
3) Will they dress extra forwards for warm-up? (:53)
4) Bringing forward the momentum they created? (1:05)
5) How much was his team ticking off all the boxes? (1:53)
6) Expecting an elevated playoff temperature? (2:32)
7) What’s best way to handle emotion? (3:08)
8) How is video work impacted since Mark Stone was missing? (3:45)
9) What’s most important read they make to move puck up ice? (4:03)
10) Importance of offence from the defence in this series (4:37)
11) How does Barbashev change their dynamic? (5:00)

Betway Odds:

The Golden Knights have been formidable at home going 25-15-1 at T-Mobile Arena and they were 6-1-3 in the final ten games of the regular season. Of course the Jets, who haven’t been the best road team going 20-20-1, finished the last ten games at 6-4-0. The oddsmakers favour the home team in game 1. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 8:30 pm CDT.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game interviews from Jets players as well as from head coach Rick Bowness.

You can also join us afterwards for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show (be sure to smash that like/subscribe button).