Game 50: Winnipeg Jets vs Florida Panthers pre-game report

The Jets are coming off a 3-1 win over the Blues as the power play cashed in for Winnipeg early in the hockey game and they was all that was needed to secure the victory. It meant they have gone 5-3-2 in their last ten games.

Their opponent, two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. have gone 4-5-1 in their last ten which included a loss in their last game against the Sharks. The visitors come in with the 22nd ranked power play and the 9th overall penalty kill.

Skate news:

Elias Salomonsson is back after dealing with illness.

Warm-up news:

Danny Zhilkin, Isaak Phillips and Cole Koepke on the ice for warm-up but only Koepke draws in (as of now) for Gustav Nyquist (who isn’t skating).

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Toews-Vilardi
Niederrieter-Lowry-Namestnikov
Koepke-Barron-Pearson

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Stanley-Schenn

Hellebuyck

Panthers projected lines & D pairs:

Luostarinen – Lundell – Reinhart
Verhaeghe – Bennett – Greer
Samoskevich – Rodrigues – Tkachuk
Vilmanis – Scwhindt – Boqvist

Forsling – Ekblad
Mikkola – Balinskis
Bjornfot – Petry

Tarasov

An update today from yesterday’s practice lines as Marchand appears not ready to go which has Sam Reinhart where he was skating and Donovan Sebrango out on D and Niko Mikkola, who left their last game in the 2nd period, will be in as per George Richards. He also confirmed Daniil Tarasov starts in net.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Odds:

With the odds evenly split, this reflects how little separates the sides. Florida’s pace can create problems, but defensive lapses linger, while Winnipeg, even at home, has too often come out on the wrong end of tight games. It shapes up as a matchup likely decided by a single moment or late mistake rather than sustained dominance. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

Up Next:

We kick things of with a one hour preview of the game but we will also discuss all the news as related to the NHL club of Winnipeg on a Special Edition of IC Hockey from Cityplace at 12 noon. You can watch us live there or join us on our YouTube channel.

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.