Game 71: Winnipeg Jets vs Vegas Golden Knights pre-game report

The Jets picked up three of four possible points this weekend but still find themselves five points back of the Predators with just 12 games remaining which is a pretty difficult gap to overcome. It doesn’t help that they will face the hardest strength of schedule of the five teams vying for the final wild card spot beginning tonight against the Golden Knights which kicks off two straight games at home.

Winnipeg will have to play with some desperation this evening because their margin for error has diminished to almost nothing at this point. We saw the return of Neal Pionk to the lineup after missing two months and we will have to wait and see if there is anything new with Vlad Namestnikov or Nino Niederreiter. While the legend of Eric Comrie’s white mask (6-0 since he made the switch) the expectation is Connor Hellebuyck will be back in between the pipes.

The Golden Knights are jockeying with the Oilers for second spot in the Pacific right now although both teams also probably have the first-place Ducks in their focus which makes this an important two points for Vegas. They also have hit a bit of a skid going 4-6-0 in their last ten games.

Skate news:

Vlad Namestnikov and Nino Niederrieter on the ice in yellow, non-contact here at Jets morning skate. Looks like Winnipeg will be sticking with what they rolled with last game.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Lambert-Barron-Rosén
Nyquist-Toews-Koepke

Morrissey-Pionk
Samberg-Salomonsson
Fleury -DeMelo

Hellebuyck

Golden Knights projected lines & D pairs:

Barbashev—Eichel—Stone
Smith—Marner—Dorofeyev
Howden—Hertl—Bowman
C. Smith—Dowd—Sissons

McNabb—Theodore
Hanifin—Korczak
Lauzon—Andersson

Hill

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:
1) Matching up against the Golden Knights.
2) Back-to-back games with three PPs in OT (:52)
3) On delayed call, was bench yelling to give up puck to get 4 on 3? (1:24)
4) Where is he seeing growth in Brad Lambert’s game? (2:01)
5) Conversation in 1st intermission after Dylan DeMelo benched (2:48)
6) Early goals against at the start of periods (3:14)
7) Return of Neal Pionk. What did he like? (4:09)
8) Latest on Vlad Namestnikov & Nino Niederrieter (4:57)
9) Anything on Colin Miller? (5:17)
10) Getting Eric Comrie into more games (5:24)

Odds:

The Jets are running out of runway and need points as a tough stretch continues while the Golden Knights are chasing their own goals despite recent inconsistency, and while it feels close, the edge may still tilt slightly toward the visitors. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7 PM CT. 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 CT as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.