After four games on the road and then being home for one the Jets are back on the road in California to play three games. Tonight they take on a Sharks team that are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games and have won three straight. Winnipeg will put their 8-4-0 road record up against the 8-5-0 home record of San Jose.
During his media availability on Tuesday there was no indication from Jets head coach Paul Maurice as to which player will replace Nathan Beaulieu who blocked a shot on Saturday against the Blue Jackets and won’t be back on the ice for 7-10 days. For now it would appear that Anthony Bitetto will be the guy returning to the lineup. The Jets will hold an optional skate/media availability at 12:30 PM CT so we will likely have some clarity on the lineup at that point.
Optional Morning Skate:
Coach confirms that Anthony Bitetto goes into the lineup.
Jets projected lines and D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Laine
Ehlers-Wheeler-Roslovic
Copp-Lowry-Perreault
Luoto-Gustafsson-Shaw
Morrissey-Poolman
Kulikov-Pionk
Bitetto-Sbisa
Hellebuyck
Brossoit
Audio:
Andrew Copp
Nikolaj Ehlers
Coach Maurice: Thoughts on Winnipeg winning the Grey Cup. His relationship with Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. On letting his players see a team in Winnipeg win a championship. Who goes in for Nathan Beaulieu? What Connor Hellebuyck did for the Jets the last time they were in San Jose. The play of the Sharks since they last played. How does he feel that Tucker Poolman has adjusted? How have they defended against offensively minded defencemen? What does a regular fan not know about what a good goalie does for the five guys in front of him? Is Hellebuyck team MVP to this point?
All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.
Up Next:
Puck drop is at 9:30 PM CST. 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.
