Game 73: Jets vs Ducks pre-game report

The Jets practiced in Winnipeg before departing for The Golden State to play three games in sunny California starting tonight in Anaheim against a Ducks team that have lost two straight, are 12-19-3 at home and spot a whopping -104 goal differential.

This Winnipeg squad appears to have some question marks. It was originally believed that Dylan Samberg was held out of the lineup on Tuesday against the Coyotes because he blocked a shot in morning skate but Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun indicated he was a healthy scratch. In his place Kyle Capobianco played. Based on practice yesterday it would appear that Rick Bowness will maintain the same lineup as he used in the last game. The lines and D pairs will be updated (if neccessary) when skate gets underway at Honda Center.

Morning Skate news:

Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet is in Anaheim for the game and he confirms the lines and D pairs at morning skate are the same as they are listed below.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Niederreiter
Namestnikov-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Stenlund-Maenalanen

Morrissey-Pionk
Dillon-DeMelo
Capobianco-Schmidt

Hellebuyck
Rittich

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) Importance of getting first win of the road trip
2) How much video they watching of 1st/3rd period from game vs Arizona? (:29)
3) Thoughts on the Ducks (1:13)
4) Jets team identity (1:40)
5) Challenges to playing an aggressive style (2:10)
6) Picking Capobianco vs Samberg (2:52)
7) What does he say to Kyle Connor at a time like this? (3:33)
8) Can Dubois & Niederreiter create more space for Connor? (4:09)
9) What does he want to see from the Scheifele line? (4:18)

Betway Odds:

As illustrated above the Ducks are having a rough, rough season. They are 3-4-3 in their last ten games and are 23-38-10 overall which puts them solidly in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. While Winnipeg’s away record of 18-17-1 isn’t terror inspiring the oddsmakers still favour the visitors who are coming off a 2-1 win over the Coyotes on Tuesday night. Be sure to check out the latest game day odds from Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 9:00 pm CDT.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game interviews from Jets players as well as from head coach Rick Bowness.

You can also join us afterwards for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show (be sure to smash that like/subscribe button). This season you’ll have a chance to win great schwag including authentic Jets jerseys, hats, etc after every single game (For a variety of ways to enter click here).