Game 38: Jets vs Leafs pre-game report

The Jets lost the first game of this four-game homestand against the Leafs on Wednesday and took Thursday off to rest and recover.  They find themselves down three points to first place Toronto and given that their next two games against the Canucks have been postponed you can expect them to toss whatever they got tonight in the re-match.

All eyes will be on morning skate today with the status of Blake Wheeler uncertain ahead of puck drop.

Morning skate news:

According to Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press the captain of the Jets Blake Wheeler is on the ice for today’s morning skate. And Mike confirms that the lines and D pairs remain the same.

Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet adds this:

Seems to be some intrigue now over the #NHLJets lineup for tonight. Jansen Harkins is not staying on for extra work as he normally would if he was going to be scratched. Blake Wheeler stayed on a bit later than usual. Guessing he’s a game-time decision but we shall see here.

Roster news:

Paul Maurice said they will leave it to tonight regarding Blake Wheeler‘s status but said his captain was feeling good after morning skate.  Aka he’s a game-time decision.

Warm-up skate:

Blake Wheeler took line rushes and was listed so he will play tonight.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Ehlers
Stastny-Dubois-Wheeler
Copp-Lowry-Appleton
Perreault-Thompson-Lewis

Morrissey-DeMelo
Forbort-Pionk
Stanley-Poolman

Hellebuyck
Brossoit

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1. Update on Nathan Beaulieu.
2. Status of Blake Wheeler.
3. His reaction to the Beaulieu news.
4. What he knows about the Jets schedule for next week.
5. Clarity on how long Beaulieu will be out?
6. Does the break upcoming change mindset for tnt’s game?
7. The way the Leafs kill penalties.
8. What the Canucks are dealing with.
9. Sobering reminder from what Vancouver is dealing with.
10. Does he see some Mats Sundin in Auston Matthews?
11. What did he see from Lowry line vs Matthews line?
12. More clarity on Beaulieu injury.

Injury news:

The Jets bench boss began his media availability with the news that Nathan Beaulieu is done for the season as he required shoulder surgery for a torn labrum.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7:00 pm CDT.  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 Paul Maurice.  You can also join us afterwards for our post-game show here (be sure to smash that like/subscribe button).