Game 21: Jets vs. Wild pre-game report

The Wild have been very tough at home rocking a 7-2-2 record at Xcel Energy Center which has them in 2nd spot in the Central two points ahead of the Jets (although Winnipeg has two games in hand).  When the Jets were rolling along coach Maurice didn’t seem inclined to change his lineup but now that they hit the snag in the form of a 6-3 loss to the Flames on Wednesday perhaps we will see Sami Niku play his first NHL game this season and just the second of his young career.  For now the projected lineup is simply based on last game.  The Jets bench boss is expected to speak at 12:30 pm so we will learn then what, if any, changes he will make to the lineup.

Early AM transaction:

The Jets have claimed Marko Dano off waivers and assigned him to the Manitoba Moose.

AM skate notes:

No skate for Winnipeg today with the early start but coach Maurice confirms he will use the exact same lineup as he used against the Flames which includes Hellebuyck getting the start as per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press.

Projected Jets lines, D pairs and starting goalie:

Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Laine
Copp-Lowry-Tanev
Petan-Roslovic-Perreault

Morrissey-Trouba
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Morrow-Myers

Hellebuyck
Brossoit

Audio:

Coach Maurice:  Thoughts on reacquiring Marko Dano.  On Dano’s attitude and ability to handle the difficulty of not playing.  On heading to the Moose.  Same lineup today?  What do they take out of the Calgary game?  On Hellebuyck’s ability to bounce back after a poor game.  Does he have a priority for the next quarter of the season?  What has caught his attention from his review of the Wild?  On the uniqueness of this road trip (schedule).  On the possibility of Hellebuyck playing back to back this weekend.

Up next:

Puck drop is at 3:00 PM.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game audio from the Jets room as well as from coach Maurice.