Game 38: Jets vs Flames pre-game report

The Calgary Flames are looking to inch closer to the Los Angeles Kings, who sit 2nd in the Pacific Division, while giving them some space ahead of the Seattle Kraken (4th) and Edmonton Oilers (5th). The Flames have won two straight games and now they are desperate to continue to bank points.

The Jets, on the other hand, currently sit in 2nd in the Central Division with 47 points and will be looking to gain a bit of ground on the Dallas Stars (1st in the Central Division with 52 points) while putting some distance ahead of the Wild (3rd in Central with 44 points). The biggest questions for the Jets will be the status of a number of their injured guys who seemed like game-time decisions.

Skate news:

As per Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun, no Connor Hellebuyck at the optional skate this morning which suggests he starts between the pipes. He also indicated that Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers are in regular uniforms although that should be taken with a grain of salt given it is an optional morning skate. Lastly, Blake Wheeler and Saku Maenalanen remain in red, non-contact uniforms.

Lineup:

None of the injured guys are ready to return as per Jets bench boss Rick Bowness. He was asked if there was some concern about Josh Morrissey who didn’t skate and he indicated “Little bit. We’re expecting him to play. Does that guarantee that he plays, no. But we’re fully expecting him to play.”

Warm-up skate:

Late scratch for Michael Eyssimont which meant Kyle Capobianco.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Dubois-Reichel
Lowry-Scheifele-Kuhlman
Barron-Stenlund-AJF
Gustafsson-Gagner

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Dillon-Heinola
Capobianco

Hellebuyck
Rittich

Betway Odds:

The Jets have won two straight games and are 13-6-0 at Canada Life Centre. The Flames team they are up against have also won two straight games but are a rather pedestrian 7-6-5 away from the Scotiabank Saddledome. Despite these factors, the odds favour the visitors. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) Injured Jets players.
2) Is Josh Morrissey a question mark tonight? (:38)
3) Potential to get 2-3 guys back for same game, potential downside? (1:01)
4) Happy with the offence from the defence so far? (2:00)
5) What has he seen from the Lowry/Scheifele pairing? (2:44)
6) What he thought about Kristian Reichel jumping up to 81/80 line (3:25)
7) Connor Hellebuyck starts? (4:06)
8) What went into Jansen Harkins being sent down first? (4:13)
9) Does it come down to defined roles? (4:56)
10) Assessing depth of the organization (5:43)

Waiver news:

Forward Jansen Harkins cleared waivers and can be assigned to the Moose.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7:00 pm CST.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game interviews from Jets players as well as from head coach Rick Bowness.

You can also join us afterwards for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show (be sure to smash that like/subscribe button). This season you’ll have a chance to win great schwag including authentic Jets jerseys, hats, etc after every single game (For a variety of ways to enter click here).