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pre-game report

Game 19: Winnipeg Jets vs Florida Panthers pre-game report

A look at the projected lineup with all the latest game info.

The Jets enter tonight’s game feeling good about themselves having won four straight games and having picked up points in 12 of their last 14 contests (10-2-2). The Panther on the other hand have been playing well but did lose their last game.

Yesterday the team saw head coach Rick Bowness, who is on a leave of absence, so that may have provided this club with a bit of an emotional boost. And today we learned that he will be back behind the bench after a 13 game absence as he stayed by the side of his wife Judy who suffered a seizure last month.

Skate news:

Some more interesting news this morning as Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that Gabriel Vilardi has shed his non-contact uniform today at morning skate although he notes that he is skating as a defenceman so he continues to progress but obviously not quite ready for a return. Wieber confirms same lines although worth noting Brenden Dillon didn’t skate this morning. Logan Stanley took his spot.

Warm-up:

Wieber confirms that Brenden Dillon is taking warm-up and will pair with Neal Pionk.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Gustafsson-AJF

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt

Hellebuyck
Brossoit

Coach media:

Tips:

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Topics:

1) Update on his wife Judy
2) The challenge they faced together (1:04)
3) How much contact did he have with Scott Arniel while away? (1:14)
4) What was it like emotionally to walk back into the room with his players? (2:09)
5) Status of Brenden Dillon? (2:41)
6) Is Gabe Vilardi unlikely for Sunday? (2:56)
7) Encouraged by Vilardi getting up to speed? (3:19)
8) Is Laurent Brossoit an option for Sunday? (3:37)
9) Challenge presented by the Panthers (3:53)
10) Does he use U.S. Thanksgiving as a benchmark? (4:35)
11) How does he feel the team is doing approaching 1/4 mark? (4:57)
12) When did he arrive in Florida? (5:31)

Health update:

As per head coach Rick Bowness defenceman Brenden Dillon will be a game-time decision as he’s dealing with a lower-body issue. He also wouldn’t rule out Gabriel Vilardi returning to the lineup on Sunday against the Preds.

Betway Odds:

Florida has been a very solid team in general this season and very good at home going 7-2-1 in Sunrise. The Jets counter with a respectable 5-2-1 road record but despite that just a single point seperates these two clubs and it’s Winnipeg which has the slightly better goal differential (+10 vs +6) the oddsmakers are giving a rather clear edge to the home team. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7 pm CST.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action. You can also join us afterwards for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show. (Please be sure to smash that like/subscribe button).

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