Game 67: Jets vs. Hurricanes pre-game report

Remember when the Jets were part of the Southeast Division?  Well it’s a far cry from that now. After leaving Tampa Bay with a 5-2 loss the Jets are in Raleigh tonight to take on a Carolina Hurricanes team that has used an 8-1-1 run to sit a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Carolina sits just two points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for 3rd in the Metropolitan Division.

Morning Skate:

As per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun both Adam Lowry and Bryan Little are on the ice after missing practice on Thursday.  For now the projected lineup is simply based on the last game against the Lightning.  No line rushes as according to Ken it is an optional with “Patrik Laine, Andrew Copp, Mathieu Perreault, Nathan Beaulieu, Tyler Myers, Dmitry Kulikov and Ben Chiarot are not on the ice.”  Ken added that Laurent Brossoit was the first goalie off the ice and will start in net tonight for the Jets.

Jets projected lineup:

Laine – Scheifele – Wheeler
Connor – Hayes – Ehlers
Tanev-Lowry-Little
Perreault-Copp-Roslovic

Beaulieu – Trouba
Kulikov – Myers
Chiarot – Niku

Brossoit
Helllebuyck

It is worth noting that Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice would only confirm that Little/Lowry were playing tonight but not who was coming out of the lineup.  It will probably be Par Lindholm.  We will have to wait and see once warm up gets underway about 30 minutes before puck drop.

Audio:

Kevin Hayes

Nikolaj Ehlers

Mark Scheifele

Coach Maurice:  Update on the skaters for tonight’s game?  How important is it to get Adam Lowry back into the lineup?  Does Lindholm come out?  Is there an update with Byfuglien?  What has he seen from Sami Niku?  How has Niku’s defence improved?  Is it possible that Niku would be a fit with Byfuglien down the line?  Was it a vote of confidence that Niku wasn’t sent to the Moose as a “paper transaction”?  What Nino Niederreiter has brought to Carolina.  Benefit of a change of scenery.  On facing a lot of shots.

Health Update:

Asked about Dustin Byfuglien the Jets bench boss had this to say “He’s not on the trip.  He went back to get a new treatment.  Not as a change of course of action, it was something they thought they could do after a certain period of time, so he went back to get that taken care of.”

Audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6:30 pm CT.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game audio from the Jets room as well as from coach Maurice.