Both the Jets and Sabres were off on Sunday after picking up wins on Saturday night. Winnipeg defeated a lowly Nashville team while Buffalo was able to defeat a red-hot Minnesota club in the shootout. This is the first of two meetings between these two clubs that will happen this week with the next game on Friday in Winnipeg.
Will Neal Pionk be ready to return to the lineup? Will Luke Schenn remain in or might prospect Elias Salomonsson have earned himself a chance to get back into the lineup for another game? While Winnipeg finally got some secondary scoring might Cole Koepke be back in? More questions than answers right now so we’ll have to wait for morning skate to find out.
The power play for Winnipeg has slipped from 6th down to 10th although the penalty kill remains stable at 6th overall. For the Sabres special teams the PP is ranked 21st overall but the PK has been exceptional at 2nd best in the NHL.
Skate news:
According to Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press no changes for the Jets from the lineup they iced on Saturday as they skate this morning at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Jets projected lines & D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Namestnikov-Toews-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Pearson-Barron-Nyquist
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Schenn
Stanley-Miller
Comrie
Sabres projected lines & D pairs:
Benson-Norris-Thompson
Zucker-McLeod-Quinn
Doan-Ostlund-Tuch
Greenway-Krebs-Malenstyn
Dahlin-Samuelsson
Byram-Timmins
Power-Bryson
Luukkonen
As per Rachel Lenzi of the Buffalo News this is how the Sabres will look today. Josh Norris is back in the lineup after missing 24 games due to shoulder surgery.
Players media availability:
Coach media availability:
Topics:
1) Status of Neal Pionk?
2) Did he like what he saw from the 2nd line? (:20)
3) Evaluating Jonathan Toews first 23 games (:57)
4) What is he expecting from the Sabres? (1:37)
5) Leaning on Adam Lowry during tough times (2:13)
Odds:
The slightly favoured Winnipeg Jets head into Buffalo after beating a struggling Nashville team, hoping to build on that win. The Sabres, strong at home with an 8-5-2 record, are coming off an impressive shootout victory over a red-hot Minnesota squad. The matchup comes down to whether Winnipeg can string together another solid effort, or if Buffalo’s home-ice confidence will tilt things their way. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.
Up Next:
Puck drop is at 6:30 PM CST. Don’t forget that today’s game is on Prime not TSN or Sportsnet. 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 9:10 PM CST as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.
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