Game 24: Winnipeg Jets vs Carolina Hurricanes pre-game report

The Jets took Sunday off following their win over the Blackhawks on Saturday which helped stop their three-game losing streak.

One of the big changes to the lineup was the insertion of defenceman Declan Chisholm who got his first NHL game in nearly two years and who acquitted himself quite well in the winning effort. In order for him to play veteran Nate Schmidt had to take a seat and the question for today is will he remain in the lineup or will Rick Bowness go back to number 88?

While the expectation is that Vlad Namestnikov, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, will not play in tonight’s game the Jets bench boss wasn’t 100% confirming his availability (or lack thereof) two days ago so we will have to wait and see what this morning brings.

Today will be the first time the Jets use their ‘Fly the Forty-Eight’ jerseys.

Extended:

Ahead of skate we learned that the Jets had agreed to a three-year contract extension with Nino Niederreiter.

Morning skate news:

Laurent Brossoit will get the start in net today for the Jets. Same lines and D pairs as last game which means Declan Chisholm will get a second straight game.

Vlad Namestnikov was on the ice but not taking part in line rushes.

Warm-up news:

The Jets have made a change choosing to go 11/7 and the extra D man will be Logan Stanley.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Ehlers
Perfetti-Vilardi-Iafallo
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Gustafsson

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Chisholm
Stanley

Brossoit
Hellebuyck

Player media:

Coach media:

Topics:

1) His thoughts on the Nino Niederreiter extension.
2) What all the extensions this season do for the team? (1:05)
3) How much has Nino Niederreiter contributed to cultural shift (1:18)
4) Did Declan Chisholm earn himself another game? (1:53)
5) Bigger test for Chisholm tonight against the Hurricanes (2:44)
6) Update on Vlad Namestnikov (3:18)
7) Are there similarities on how the Jets and Hurricanes want to play? (3:40)
8) Has Carolina taken on the identity of their coach? (4:46)

Health news:

While Vlad Namestnikov was on the ice head coach Rick Bowness wasn’t prepared to say he’d be ready for game one of the road trip on Thursday night in Colorado. “It won’t be long-term. We’re hoping that at some point in the next road trip that he plays. When that is, obviously it’s day-t0-day.”

Betway Odds:

The Hurricanes are a much more formidable opponent than the one the Jets just faced when the Hawks came to town. While Carolina sits 2nd in the Metro and are currently 6-3-1 in their last ten games they have not been a particularly strong road team going just 6-6-0 away from Raleigh. They’ve scored more goals than the Jets but they’ve also allowed ten more goals against. The oddsmakers are giving a slight edge to the visitors. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6:30 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).