Game 40: Winnipeg Jets vs Anaheim Ducks pre-game report

The Jets were rolling along having won six of seven before they ran out of gas in Colorado suffering their first regulation loss after winning four straight. The big question mark coming out of that game is the health of Dylan DeMelo who left the game after a Josh Manson wrist shot left him in some pain and needing a teammate’s assistance to get off the ice.

Tonight’s opponent in the Ducks defeated the Jets when they went to southern California in the second game of a back-t0-back two weeks ago with just 26 seconds left in the 3rd period. Anaheim remains 7th in the Pacific although they are just two points back of the Kraken going 5-5-0 in their last ten. They defeated a very good Devils team on New Year’s Eve which was their second straight victory and they beat the Oilers the game before that.

The special teams battle looks like this: Winnipeg’s power play remains best in the NHL while their penalty kill sits 17th overall. Anaheim counters with 31st overall power play and the 27th ranked penalty kill.

Skate news:

Good news for the Jets as Dylan DeMelo, who didn’t finish last game, is on the ice for morning skate. Also Ville Heinola draws back in.

Dylan Samberg is also skating with the group in a yellow, non-contact.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Barron-Gustafsson-Kupari
Toninato

Morrissey-DeMelo
Stanley-Pionk
Heinola-Miller

Hellebuyck
Comrie

Ducks projected lines & D pairs:

Vatrano -Strome – Terry
Killorn – Carlsson – Leason
Gauthier – McTavish – Fabbri
Johnston – Lundestrom – Harkins

Lacombe – Gudas
Dumoulin – Trouba
Mintyukov – Helleson

Gibson

Player media:

Coach media:

Topics:
1) Learning from last game vs Ducks.
2) Did he know Dylan DeMelo would be ok after Avs game? (1:05)
3) Lowry line not missing a beat with Iafallo on it (1:27)
4) Any update on Mason Appleton? (2:15)
5) What can they do with eight straight at home? (2:26)
6) Maintaining focus (3:00)
7) Getting some practice time in over next 19 days (3:16)
8) Value of Connor Hellebuyck who is in Hart conversation (3:53)
9) What did he see from Dylan Coghlan/what’s he expect from Ville Heinola? (4:54)
10) Plan for Dylan Samberg (5:43)

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7 PM CST. 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 9:40 PM CST as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.