Game 42: Jets vs Flyers pre-game report

The Jets are coming off  a massive 4-1 win over the Blues to start the road trip and are looking to close things out tonight in Philly before they take some time off for the All-Star break.

On Monday we learned that Josh Morrissey will return from protocol and will be a player in the game while Dylan DeMelo, who was dealing with an injury, will be a game-time decision. For now the projected lineup is based on yesterday’s practice.

The assumption is that Connor Hellebuyck will return to the net after getting the day off on Saturday.

Skate news:

As per Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press the forward lines remain the same as they were in practice yesterday although the D are rotating according to him so we shall have to wait and hear what interim head coach Dave Lowry says following skate.

Lineup update:

As per Mitchell Clinton of JetsTV from the media availability with Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry is the team will give Dylan DeMelo more time to heal from his injury and he will not be a player tonight.

Interim head coach Dave Lowry didn’t confirm his D pairs aside from yesterday confirming Morrissey was playing tonight. Seems likely he sticks with what he used in practice on Monday but we will have to wait to see at warm up who is a scratch.

Warm up skate:

As expected the lines and D pairs for tonight are the same as the projected ones both Jeff and Mitch confirm. Declan Chisholm will be a scratch.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Copp-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Perfetti
Stastny-Lowry-Poganski
Harkins-Toninato-Vesalainen

Dillon-Schmidt
Heinola-Pionk
Morrissey-Kovacevic

Hellebuyck
Comrie

Player media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) Will he share his lineup?
2) Update on DeMelo? (:23)
3) Connor Hellebuyck starting? (:33)
4) Getting to break feeling good about their game (:52)
5) Pointing to last game as a way to get buy-in from team to play right way (1:36)
6) His expectations of the Flyers (2:21)
7) Changes to testing being a weight off players shoulders (3:25)
8) Making his life easier as well with protocol changes (4:05)
9) Impact of having Josh Morrissey back on the roster (4:48)
10) What has he liked from the Dillon – Schmidt pairing? (5:31)

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6 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 interim head coach Dave Lowry.

You can also join us afterwards for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show. (be sure to smash that like/subscribe button).