The Jets left behind the cold weather and perhaps the bad vibes that have been hampering this club for the last few days, I mean weeks, I mean months. They face a critical, potentially season defining road trip through Florida and Carolina. They start with a Panthers team, led by their former coach Paul Maurice, who themselves are trying to get above the playoff line, then they head up the I-75 north to Tampa to take on a Lightning team on a slide (3-4-3 in last 10) and then they end heading north to Carolina to take on the second best team in the Eastern Conference.
And they do it without Pierre-Luc Dubois (at least to start) who is dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in the game against the Sharks.
Skate news:
As per Mitchell Clinton of the Jets all who are expected to be in attendance are in attendance at the Panthers IceDen for practice. He confirms that Pierre-Luc Dubois is not in attendance.
Lines and D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Niederreiter
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Wheeler
Barron-Lowry-Appleton
Maenalanen-Stenlund-Gustafsson
Kuhlman-Gagner-AJF
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-Schmidt
Samberg-Capobianco
Player media availability:
Coach media availability:
Topics:
1) Mood at practice.
2) How close are the Jets to breaking out on the power play? (:45)
3) Comfort with Namestnikov at centre (1:32)
4) How closely will they watch Panthers/ Hawks game tnt? (1:58)
5) New additions bringing life to the group (2:19)
6) What’s he seeing from leadership right now? (2:37)
7) Update on Pierre-Luc Dubois (2:58)
Health Update:
Jets head coach Rick Bowness confirms no Pierre-Luc Dubois for either game in Florida. His hope is he joins them in Carolina for the game on Tuesday against the Hurricanes.
Merch contest:
We are just a few games into a new month of contests with plenty of opportunities left to enter and win the IC contest for authentic Jets merch. You can enter here.
Up next:
The Jets will have a chance to try to take advantage of a Panthers team who are playing tonight against the Blackhawks. Be sure start your morning with the Morning Papers which go live at 7 AM, stick with us throughout the day for any and all news and then join us after the final buzzer on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show.
