Game 46: Winnipeg Jets vs Minnesota Wild pre-game report

The big news in Jetsland on Wednesday was that a trio of defenceman (Colin Miller, Haydn Fleury and Neal Pionk) were all going to be out with injury week-to-week. The team recalled top D prospect Elias Salomonsson from the Moose yesterday. They also have Isaak Phillips who is a big, left-shot defenceman who was recalled for the first time on Monday and who has 56 NHL games under his belt with the Hawks (I spoke with him about the opportunity after practice which you can watch here). Working against him is the player needing replacing is right-shot Pionk and Phillips has played all 33 games this season with Manitoba on the left side which would appear to give Salomonsson, a right-shot, the leg up.

Up front we saw Morgan Barron at practice yesterday in a regular uniform. While he isn’t officially “cleared” his head coach did say he could be a player tonight. If he is the big question is what player comes out of the lineup from a team that has won three straight?

However, they haven’t won very often away from Manitoba. In fact, they have lost nine straight games away from Canada Life Centre. Quite the dubious record.

The good news is when these two teams face off Friendly Manitoba vs Minnesota Nice usually becomes ‘Un’Friendly Manitoba vs Minnesota ‘not so’ Nice. Scott Arniel did say that this rivalry game “brings out the best in both of us”.

The Wild sit 20, yes 20 points ahead of the Jets right now (although they have played two more games) but it just goes to show you how good their opponent has been this season. And that shouldn’t be a shock as they were a very good team last year that simply got decimated by injuries.

While they lost their last game they have points in eight of their last ten (4-2-4) and have been very good at home (13-5-6). Their power play ranks 10th overall while the penalty kill is 22nd.

Skate news:

As per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press there will be another debut this evening as Isaak Phillips draws in for the injured Neal Pionk. Mike also indicates that Morgan Barron remains an extra so he will not return tonight.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor – Scheifele – Iafallo
Perfetti – Toews – Vilardi
Niederreiter – Lowry – Namestnikov
Koepke – Zhilkin – Pearson

Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Phillips
Stanley – Schenn

Hellebuyck

Wild projected lines & D pairs:

Kaprizov – Yurov – Zuccarello
Johansson – Hartman – Boldy
Foligno – Sturm – Tarasenko
Trenin – Jones – Hinostroza

Hughes – Faber
Brodin – Spurgeon
Middleton – Hunt

Wallstedt/Gustavsson

This was how they lined up in their last game against the Devils.

Coach media availability:

To follow.

Odds:

Minnesota comes in with the clear edge, built on a strong season and reliable play at home, while Winnipeg arrives riding a bit of momentum despite ongoing struggles away from Manitoba. As usual, this rivalry has a way of tightening up and turning emotional, often blurring the gap on paper. The Wild are deservedly favored, but the Jets’ recent surge suggests this may be closer than expected if they can carry that form on the road. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

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.