Game 45: Jets vs Canadiens pre-game report

The Jets are riding high having won three straight games and eight of their last nine games. They sit 1st in the Western Conference and have a chance to continue to bank points as they head east to face teams mostly below the playoff line including tonight in Montreal where they face a Habs club with the second lowest points total in the Eastern Conference.

The only real question marks after the team recalled Ville Heinola is whether they insert him into the lineup although with a team rolling along it seems unlikely that bench boss Rick Bowness makes any lineup changes. With that in mind you also wonder whether veteran forward Sam Gagner will remain a healthy scratch or whether they rotate him back into the lineup.

Skate news:

As per radio voice of the Jets Paul Edmonds no Nikolaj Ehlers this morning so the Jets have Sam Gagner skating in his spot. He also has Ville Heinola paired with Nate Schmidt.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

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

Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Heinola-Schmidt

Hellebuyck
Rittich

Betway Odds:

While the Habs are coming off a win they are 3-7-0 in their last ten and rock a 9-11-0 record at home. Their goal differential is a whopping -46 as they find themselves likely part of the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. Not surprisingly the oddsmakers favour the visitors with their 8-2-0 in last ten record, +33 goal differential and solid 12-8-1 road record. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) The season Pierre-Luc Dubois is having.
2) Turning the team around (1:05)
3) More opportunity for leaders to emerge (1:53)
4) Does he feel that has made a difference for PLD? (2:20)
5) His thoughts on Habs coach Martin St. Louis (2:54)
6) Is it part of his job to convince a guy like PLD to stay? (3:40)
7) Best approach to process vs results for the Habs (4:25)

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).