Game 41: Winnipeg Jets vs Detroit Red Wings pre-game report

Hard to believe the Jets have reached the midpoint of the season but here they are with a sterling 27-11-2 record which is good enough for top spot in the entire NHL. The Jets aren’t happy having let two points slip away and having to settle for one in their last game against the Ducks on Thursday night.

The Red Wings may be the 7th place team in the Atlantic Division but they’ve won three straight under new head coach Todd McLellan who was hired just over a week ago. Despite the recent success this team is 7-8-2 outside of Michigan. They do have the 5th best power play in the NHL but the 31st ranked penalty kill.

Skate news:

According to radio colour broadcaster Mitch Clinton it looks like Connor Hellebuyck starting. He also indicated that Haydn Fleury is skating in a yellow, non-contact uniform.

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

Red Wings projected lines & D pairs:

Veleno-Larkin-Raymond
DeBrincat-Copp-Kane
Berggren-Compher-Tarasenko
Rasmussen-Kasper-Motte/Fischer

Chiarot-Seider
Edvinsson-Petry
Gustafsson-Holl/Johansson

Lyon/Talbot

This was via Ansar Khan of MLive from Detroit’s last game.

Coach’s comments:

To follow.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6PM 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 8:40 PM CST as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.