Game 27: Winnipeg Jets vs San Jose Sharks pre-game report

The Jets come into today’s game against the Sharks having won four straight games and sitting near the top of the Central. But the focus isn’t about the current success of this hockey club but instead the status of their top goal scorer as Kyle Connor left their last game in Anaheim early in the 2nd with a knee injury that looked substantial. The expectation is there will be an update today after he had an MRI on Monday.

Since the Jets didn’t practice on Monday and with the lack of clarity (for us) regarding the status of Kyle Connor, for now the presumption is that Axel Jonsson-Fjallby will draw back in and return to the 4th line alongside David Gustafsson and Morgan Barron. Given how those two played on Sunday in Anaheim it wouldn’t be a shocker to see them elevated. However, given that Alex Iafallo has played some games with Mark Scheifele it’s possible that the coaching staff goes back to that well.

Head coach Rick Bowness a week ago was asked if the rotation between Nate Schmidt, Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm was truly a game by game decision or if someone could solidify a spot? He indicated “At this time it is a game to game thing. We’re not going to let Nate Schmidt, our veteran sit out very long either, that’s not fair to him. Listen with eight defence and you want them all playing, it’s a juggling act, there’s no question. We’ll always go on the ice with the best lineup we feel gives us a chance to win that night.”. At that point Schmidt had been a healthy scratch for two games and he’s been scratched twice more after those comments. Perhaps we see him or Declan Chisholm return this evening.

The Jets goaltending plan is also unknown given they play a back-to-back tonight and tomorrow. Do they save Connor Hellebuyck for tomorrow against the Kings? Although you usually don’t play your starter in the second game of a back-to-back.

Lots of questions which will become answers once morning skate gets underway in northern California.

Pre-skate news:

Mike McIntrye of the Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that “Kyle Connor’s knee injury is hopefully a 6-8 week recovery timeline”.

Morning skate news:

Also via Mike we get updated lines with Kyle Connor missing it will be Morgan Barron getting the promotion. We see that Nate Schmidt has returned to the lineup. Also Laurent Brossoit in the starter’s net.

Warm-up skate:

Update from San Jose via Mike indicates the Jets will go 11/7 with Nate Schmidt and Logan Stanley in and AJF out.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

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

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Stanley

Brossoit
Hellebuyck

Coach media:

Tips:

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Topics:

1) Update on Kyle Connor.
2) How do you fill the hole created by 81’s absence? (:48)
3) Any thoughts on the NHL not deeming the hit suspension worthy? (1:32)
4) Are they considering 11/7? (1:53)
5) Thoughts on the Sharks (2:18)
6) Going with Laurent Brossoit in net (3:12)
7) How has Nate Schmidt handled being a healthy scratch? (3:38)
8) Putting Gabriel Vilardi up on the top line (4:22)

Betway Odds:

While the Sharks have been a horrible team this season they have shown some signs of life after getting off to a horrendous start to the their season. They are 5-3-2 in their last ten games which include wins over the Devils, Islanders, Wings, a shootout loss to the Golden Knights and losing a 6-5 contest to the top spot in the Metro Rangers. While goal scoring may be more difficult for Winnipeg without Kyle Connor the good news for the visitors is that San Jose has given up more goals (116) than any other team in the NHL. The Jets goal differential is +17 while the Sharks are sitting at an impressive (not) -54. Not surprisingly the oddsmakers are giving a big edge to the visitors team. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

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. You can also join us afterwards for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show. (Please be sure to smash that like/subscribe button).