Game 44: Jets vs Coyotes pre-game report

The Jets are home for the game tonight and then head right back out on the road. They enter the game having won seven of their last eight and sitting 1st in the Central Division. Their opponent in the Coyotes played last night in St. Paul and lost 2-1 to the Wild which puts them 7th overall in the Central.

Skate news:

As per Mitchell Clinton the only thing learned at the optional morning skate is that Connor Hellebuyck is going through his regular starting routine. For now the lines and D pairs are based on last game. That will be updated (if necessary) once Rick Bowness has spoken.

Lineup news:

Rick Bowness indicated he expects Morgan Barron to return after missing last two games due to illness. No indication who comes out of the lineup as a result. We will have to wait for warm-up skate.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Perfetti-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Ehlers
Barron-Lowry-Kuhlman
Jonsson-Fjallby Stenlund Maenalanen

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt

Hellebuyck
Rittich

Health news:

Jets bench boss Rick Bowness indicates that Mason Appleton and Logan Stanley are going on the road trip with the team but that they are “not close to playing”.

Betway Odds:

The Jets come into this game having one seven of eight and after playing one of their most complete games of the season in their win over the Pens. The Coyotes have lost eight straight games, are 6-18-3 on the road this season and have a goal differential of a whopping -60. It should come with little surprise that the home team is heavily favoured in the game tonight. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) What are keys to avoiding a “trap game”?
2) What has he liked about his team’s play on the road? (:53)
3) What is biggest challenge of long road trip? (1:50)
4) Big difference between playing on the road vs home? (2:09)
5) How is their health going into this game? (2:17)
6) Flu bug has nobody questionable for tonight? (2:37)

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6:00 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).