Game 31: Winnipeg Jets vs Detroit Red Wings pre-game report

The Jets hit a bump in the road with their OT loss to the Habs on Monday but they remain 6-1-1 in December and have been very good against Eastern Conference opponents (7-0-3) this season. Winnipeg is expected to work on special teams today and, in fact, that was expected to have happened on Monday but the team was dealing with some bumps and bruises so head coach Rick Bowness made it an optional practice.

One thing he did confirm was that Laurent Brossoit would be the starting goalie in this game.

The Red Wings are in a slump and have lost both of their goalies (Ville Husso and Alex Lyon) to injury which means James Reimer of Morweena, Manitoba and former Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson (signed Tuesday) will be their tandem between the pipes.

Morning skate news:

All was normal today at skate except a change to the power play units.

Ville Heinola and Rasmus Kupari were both skating in yellow, non-contact.

Power Play Units:

PP1: Scheifele, Ehlers, Iafallo, Vilardi and Morrissey.

PP2: Perfetti, Niederreiter, Namestnikov, Pionk and Schmidt.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

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

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt

Brossoit
Hellebuyck

Player media:

Coach media:

Topics:

1) What is he hoping to achieve by going back to Vilardi/Iafallo on first PP unit?
2) Putting Cole Perfetti on the right flank. (1:01)
3) Where is Cole Perfetti at right now? (1:29)
4) Benefit to letting Perfetti “figure it out” on 2nd line? (2:11)
5) Rutger McGroarty named captain of the U.S. World Junior team (2:54)
6) Is there anything different that he’s seeing with the Red Wings now? (3:27)
7) Emphasis on the PK (4:17)
8) Red Wings power play (4:59)

Betway Odds:

The Wings come limping into Winnipeg having lost three straight. They sit just one point back of a playoff spot in the East and have a +11 goal differential having scored the fifth most goals this season but sitting middle of the pack in terms of goals against. Not surprisingly given the current state of the team the oddsmakers are giving a big edge to the home team. 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).