Game 82: Winnipeg Jets vs Vancouver Canucks pre-game report

We did get some info on Wednesday from head coach Rick Bowness who confirmed that Morgan Barron, who is dealing with a lower-body issue, would not be playing tonight and he did confirm that the five healthy scratches (David Gustafsson, Cole Perfetti, Rasmus Kupari, Nate Schmidt & Colin Miller) would be playing. But we don’t know which players are coming out.  He also confirmed that Laurent Brossoit starts in net.

Additionally he wouldn’t say if the team might recall a player or two or four from the Moose since, at the time, Manitoba could still have clinched home-ice in their play-in series with the Stars, but since they lost 6-4 to the Admirals last night that hope was dashed which could mean some recalls from the AHL club.

Of course this Winnipeg team has seven players who could play their 82nd game tonight so we shall have to wait and see which of those were successful in lobbying their head coach to allow them to play and achieve that milestone. Tonight we could even see the rare 83rd game played if Sean Monahan plays.

The game still does have meaning as the Canucks sit with 109 points while the Jets are sitting with 108. The winner of this game would finish second in the West and would have home-ice against any team other than Dallas.

Winnipeg is looking to match their franchise record for wins in a season with 52 which they set back in 2017-18. Additionally the Jets have a chance to win the William Jennings Trophy for least goals against in a season. Interesting to think if Laurent Brossoit allows two goals or less the team will win the William Jennings Trophy but he hasn’t played enough games to get his name on it. (If they allow three they will share it with the Panthers).

Recall news:

The Jets announced four recalls this morning from the Moose. Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Parker Ford are all having really good seasons. Some NHL debuts for tonight’s 82nd Jets game of the season. Should make things more interesting. Collin Delia recalled to backup Laurent Brossoit.

Head coach Rick Bowness confirmed that Lambert and Chibrikov will make NHL debut.

Morning Skate:

None of the recalls were on the ice for morning skate.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Ehlers-Monahan-Toffoli
Iafallo-Lambert-Vilardi
Niederrieter-Gustafsson-Chibrikov
Perfetti-Kupari-Appleton

Schmidt-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller

Brossoit

Player media availabilities:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) How did they decide who to recall from the Moose?
2) Where does he plan on using Lambert and Chibrikov? (:24)
3) Conversations with guys who wanted to play 82 games? (:42)
4) Guys who are sitting tonight (1:37)
5) Composition of 3rd/4th lines (1:52)
6) What’s his message to guys making NHL debuts? (2:06)
7) How quickly will he turn page to playoff mode? (2:36)
8) Describing the mood change for teams who are playoff bound? (3:43)
9) Why isn’t a win tnt a bigger deal? (4:35)
10) Plans depending on when series starts (5:30)

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7 PM CDT.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action. Reminder to join us on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show following the final buzzer between the Jets and Canucks.