Game 15: Jets vs Ducks pre-game report

The Jets have had a few days of practice between games after an exciting comeback win in OT on Sunday in Seattle to tonight’s game in Winnipeg against the Ducks. We learned on Wednesday that Mason Appleton will be out for 8-12 weeks after having surgery on his wrist and that Nikolaj Ehlers is back on the ice but will not be rushed back.

Pre-skate news:

The Jets placed Appleton on IR which left them with an open roster spot. The team announced they have recalled Ville Heinola from the Moose, which is a curious move because it presumably leaves them with eight healthy defencemen. Back on November 1st when Logan Stanley‘s slight foot fracture was revealed it was thought he’s be out a couple of weeks. So he could be close to a return to the lineup. We shall have to wait and see if there is more to this when morning skate gets underway.

Skate news:

As per usual it is an optional morning skate as per Mitchell Clinton of JetsTV but he did indicate that Connor Hellebuyck is going through his normal routine. For now the lines and D pairs are based on yesterday’s practice.

Warm-up skate:

Kyle Capobianco was in the tunnel as the Jets were getting ready to come out for warm-up skate. No Dylan DeMelo or Ville Heinola. Dominic Toninato comes in for Mason Appleton. Jansen Harkins also didn’t take part in warm-up.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Gagner
Perfetti-Dubois-Wheeler
Jonsson Fjallby-Lowry Eyssimont
Toninato-Gustafsson-Maenalanen

Morrissey-Pionk
Schmidt-Dillon
Samberg-Capobianco

Hellebuyck
Rittich

Betway Odds:

Maybe it is due to the fact that the Jets are 5-1-0 at Canada Life so far this season or because at 5-10-1 the Ducks are last in the Pacific Division and just 2-6-1 on the road, which translates to the odds favouring the home team in tonight’s game. The goals against alone show quite the disparity as Winnipeg has allowed a league low 33 while Anaheim is at the other end of the spectrum (literally) with 70. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) Will there be any lineup changes?
2) The recall of Ville Heinola (:25)
3) The chat he had with Heinola before AM skate (1:12)
4) Status of Nikolaj Ehlers (2:15)
5) Trying to neutralize Ducks skill (2:37)
6) More on Ehlers (3:35)
7) Does he have a system for determining starting goalie? (4:18)
8) Trying to draw the Ducks into taking penalties (5:40)

Health news:

Bench boss Rick Bowness confirmed that Nikolaj Ehlers didn’t skate today and while he wouldn’t really provide much in the way of insight what he did reveal sounded a bit ominous.

Hall of Fame jersey retirement ceremony:

With tonight being the Hall of Fame night for the raising of Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen‘s jerseys to the rafters at Canada Life there will be a bit more fanfare than a normal game on a Thursday night. You can watch their morning availability here.

Up Next:

Puck drop is likely a little later than the 7 pm CST scheduled start time.  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). This season you’ll have a chance to win great schwag including authentic Jets jerseys, hats, etc after every single game (For a variety of ways to enter click here).