Game 58: Winnipeg Jets vs Anaheim Ducks pre-game report

The Jets kicked off the three-game post-Olympic road trip with a 3-2 OT win over the Canucks on Wednesday. They used yesterday as a travel day and it’s expected that they’ve had Connor Hellebuyck join them (he is back to being listed on the NHL media site) fresh from winning a gold medal with Team USA over in Milan and then getting some time off. With the return of Hellebuyck it likely means the team will be sending goalie prospect Domenic DiVincentiis back down to the Moose after he backed up Eric Comrie two days back.

Since the team didn’t skate on Thursday hard to know if they will simply role out the same lineup or make a tweak. Haydn Fleury remains on IR (one of five players on it now that Nino Niederreiter had been added) although he was skating in a regular jersey so he could be close to returning. Might they inject Walker Duehr in to get some fresh legs? Stay tuned for morning skate to find out.

Their opponent has a Jekyll-and-Hyde split when it comes to home/road records, but they’re dominant at the Honda Center, boasting an 18-8-1 record which accounts for the second-most wins in the West. They’ve also won three straight and are 8-2-0 in their last ten games. Interestingly, they have just the 24th ranked power play and 22nd overall penalty kill.

Skate news:

Starts at 1:30 PM CST.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

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

Stanley-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Heinola-Schenn

Hellebuyck

Ducks projected lines & D pairs:

Kreider-Carlsson-Gauthier
Killorn-McTavish-Sennecke
Viel-Poehling-Harkins
Johnston-Washe-Vatrano
Strome

LaCombe-Trouba
Zellweger-Gudas
Mintyukov-Helleson/Moore

Dostál | Husso

This is how they practiced on Thursday as per Derek Lee who covers the team.

Coach media availability:

To follow.

Odds:

On paper, there isn’t much separating these two, even if the home side gets a slight nod. Winnipeg has the structure to grind this out, but they’ll need to manage the puck cleanly and avoid feeding any early momentum. Anaheim has been far more confident in its own building, which adds another layer to what already feels like a narrow matchup. In a game this tight, details and composure are likely to decide it. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 9 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 11:40 PM CST as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.