Game 15: Winnipeg Jets vs Anaheim Ducks pre-game report

The Jets hit the ice on Saturday for an optional practice at the Honda Center as they prepared to face the red-hot Ducks. They are gonna be in tough as they’ve lost two straight games. Meanwhile Anaheim were in Vegas last night where they defeated the Knights 4-3 in overtime when former Jet Jacob Trouba fired a backhand shot for their 10th win which puts them into 2nd spot in the Western Conference.

Anaheim have the 11th ranked power play and 23rd overall penalty kill which goes to show you that they aren’t using special teams to get things done. Meanwhile Winnipeg have slipped to 12th overall in PP and 4th ranked PK.

Skate news:

Pretty significant occurrence as Mitchell Clinton is reporting that Cole Perfetti is taking line rushes. He provides the line rushes and D pairs below from Anaheim which indicates that Cole Koepke isn’t skating.

Warm-up news:

Eric Comrie gets the net for his fourth start of the season.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Namestnikov-Toews-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Pearson-Ford-Chibrikov

Morrissey-DeMelo
Stanley-Pionk
Fleury-Schenn

Comrie
Hellebuyck

Ducks projected lines & D pairs:

Kreider – Carlsson – Terry
Gauthier – McTavish – Sennecke
Nesterenko – Poehling – Killorn
Johnston – Harkins – Vatrano

Lacombe – Helleson
Zellweger – Trouba
Mintyukov – Moore

Dostal
Mrazek

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:
1) Cole Perfetti returns.
2) Thoughts on the Ducks (:28)
3) What jumps out about Anaheim? (1:10)
4) Track meet element of games vs Ducks (2:13)

Perfetti returns:

The Jets get a big piece back today as confirmed by head coach Scott Arniel.

Odds:

Despite the Ducks sitting second overall in the West, they’ll be skating in the second half of a back-to-back — a tough test against a rested Jets squad. Winnipeg, currently fourth in the conference, is slumping with losses in two straight games. The Ducks have been one of the league’s top surprises this season, but fatigue could be a factor as they look to keep pace with a determined Jets team looking to get back on track. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 9 PM CST. Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action. You can join us on our YouTube channel for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show around 11:40 PM CDT as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.