Game 21: Winnipeg Jets vs Dallas Stars pre-game report

The Jets are back home for four games and they kick things off with a big Central division clash against the Stars who are tied with them in the standings with 26 points (although Dallas has played one fewer game).

The biggest question mark for Winnipeg is the status of Gabriel Vilardi, who was a possibility for the road trip as he shed his non-contact uniform, but ultimately the team played it safe and got him a few more days before he puts his leg to the test (potentially). The team did loan forward Dominic Toninato to the Moose on Monday.

Skate news:

No changes for the Jets today as Gabriel Vilardi isn’t quite ready to return to the lineup as he wasn’t skating on any of the lines during morning skate. Connor Hellebuyck gets the start to the surprise of nobody.

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

Player media:

Coach media:

Topics:

1) Update on Gabriel Vilardi
2) Jets angry after last loss to the Stars (1:09)
3) On the tough task they face in Dallas (1:55)
4) The test this club faces tonight (3:18)
5) Biggest difference between this year and last year’s team who also had a good start? (3:57)
6) Players feel roles are more defined and there is more selflessness (4:54)
7) Limiting high danger chances against Connor Hellebuyck (5:45)
8) Improved team play (6:47)
9) On NHL coaching fraternity (7:22)
10) Is Ville Heinola skating? (8:35)

Health update:

Jets head coach Rick Bowness said Gabriel Vilardi “won’t play tonight”. When asked to explain the thought behind Vilardi not playing he said “He’s not ready. Simple as that.” Indicated he’s skating with a new brace and said they are hopeful for Thursday against the Oilers and he’ll be considered a “game-time decision”. They want to give him a full practice with the team which they’ll have tomorrow.

Defenceman Ville Heinola is back with the team but last time we saw him two weeks ago he was wearing a tensor bandage around his foot and wasn’t on the ice. When asked if he’s close to skating Rick Bowness indicated “I just saw him today for the first time in awhile and it’s still bandaged up so I don’t have an answer to that.” Heinola had surgery on his ankle and we were told on October 9th that it would be a “minimum of eight weeks” before they started addressing his status (that timeline would be around December 4th) so it might not be too much longer. Stay tuned.

Betway Odds:

The Stars are a sizzling hot road team having gone 7-1-1 to date while the Jets counter with a respectable home record of 6-3-1. Winnipeg has a slight edge (+3) in goal differential. As mentioned above the home team are the hotter of the two clubs having gone 8-2-0 in their last ten while the visitors are 5-4-1. Despite this the oddsmakers are giving a slight edge to the visiting 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).