Game Day Preview: Devils @ Jets

When: Thursday, February 28, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (9-9-1 – 9th in East), New Jersey Devils (10-5-4 – 6th in East)

Television/Radio:  TSN-JETS, MSG PLUS 2/ TSN 1290

The Story: The Winnipeg Jets are finally back home after a season long five-game road trip tonight and with four out of five wins in their back pockets, life is pretty good.

The Jets host the New Jersey Devils tonight at MTS Centre (7:00 p.m. CST,TSN-JETS) just four days after defeating them 4-2 (Sunday). The Jets defeated the New York Rangers 4-3 on Tuesday night to move to back to .500 on the season and more importantly within striking distance of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Jets currently have 19 points, tied with both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes for the most in the Southeast Division but still just out of a playoff spot in 9th place because of the tiebreaker (The Jets, Lightning and Hurricanes have the same amount of wins, but the Jets have the least amount of goals scored). With a win tonight and a Tampa Bay loss, the Jets can actually vault into 3rd place in the Eastern Conference. Amazing, yes, but a perfect illustration of how tight the playoff race is approaching the midway point of this abbreviated season.

New Jersey enters tonight’s game on a bit of a down slide. The Devils have lost two games in a row and are currently dealing with a back injury to future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur. Brodeur was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday and did not accompany the team to Winnipeg. Keith Kincaid was recalled from Albany of the American Hockey League and will backup Johan Hedberg tonight.

New Jersey currently sits in 6th in the East and is to no one’s surprise still led by 2-time Stanley Cup winner Patrik Elias, who has a team-high 22 points. Former Atlanta Thrasher Ilya Kovalchuk has only two goals in his last fives games but is still one of the most dangerous forwards off the rush in the NHL (17 points in 19 games). Winnipeg’s defensemen, namely the top pairing of Zach Bogosian and Ron Hainsey, will have their hands full containing the slick Russian sniper.

Today’s game is the second of three meetings between the Jets and Devils this year. The Jets and Devils will meet next in New Jersey on Sunday, March 10th (6:00 p.m. CST).

Ondrej Pavelec is expected to start in goal for the Jets tonight.

Follow @IllegalCurve on Twitter leading up to today’s game.

Projected Jets line combinations (subject to change before game time):

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec

Forwards:

1st: Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler

2nd:  Evander Kane-Alexander Burmistrov- Nikolai Antropov

3rd:  James Wright– Olli Jokinen- Anthony Peluso

4th:  Eric Tangradi- Jim Slater – Chris Thorburn

Defence:

Ron Hainsey- Zach Bogosian

Dustin Byfuglien- Grant Clitsome

Paul Postma- Mark Stuart

Projected Devils line combinations (From Tom Gulitti of The Record):

Goalie:

Johan Hedberg

Forwards:

1st: Adam Henrique – Andrei Loktionov – Ilya Kovalchuk

2nd:  Patrick Elias – Travis Zajac – David Clarkson

3rd:  Alexei Ponikarovsky – Stephen Gionta – Steve Bernier

4th:  Stefan Matteau – Tim Sestito – Bobby Butler

Defence:

Bryce Salvador – Marek Zidlicky

Andy Greene – Adam Larsson

Henrik Tallinder – Mark Fayne

Offensive Leaders:

New Jersey Devils: Patrik Elias (5 goals, 17 assists, 22 points), Ilya Kovalchuk (7 goals, 10 assists, 17 points), David Clarkson (10 goals, 7 assists, 17 points)

Winnipeg Jets: Evander Kane (9 goals, 9 assists, 18 points), Andrew Ladd (10 goals, 7 assists, 17 points), Blake Wheeler (6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points)

Injury Report:

New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur (back), Ryan Carter (head), Dainius Zubrus (wrist), Mattias Tedenby (face)

Winnipeg Jets: Tobias Enstrom (shoulder), Zach Redmond (leg), Antti Miettinen (lower body)

Who’s Next:  The Jets play the Washington Capitals at home on Saturday, March 2nd (2:00 p.m. CST).

QUICKIES….. Evander Kane is currently on a eight-game points streak. Kane has 6 goals and 4 assists during that span, including two game winning goals…..