Game Day Set-Up: Avalanche @ Jets

When: Friday, December 5, 2014

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (13-9-4, 30 points, 8th in West), Colorado Avalanche (9-11-6, 24 points, 11th in West)

Television/Radio: ALT, TSN3/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Sunday, December 7th at home against the Anaheim Ducks (2:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 3-2 win (overtime) over the Edmonton Oilers

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (8 goals, 8 assists, 16 points), Blake Wheeler (8 goals, 8 assists, 16 points), Bryan Little (8 goals, 7 assists, 15 points), Dustin Byfuglien (5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points), Michael Frolik (5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points)

Colorado Avalanche: Tyson Barrie (3 goals, 17 assists, 20 points), Nathan MacKinnon (5 goals, 13 assists, 18 points), Matt Duchene (9 goals, 9 assists, 18 points), Alex Tanguay (9 goals, 8 assists, 17 points), Jarome Iginla (4 goals, 11 assists, 15 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets have a record of 3-3-1 against teams in the Central Division this year.

– This is the second of five meetings between the Jets and Avalanche this year. The Jets defeated the Avalanche 2-1 in overtime back on October 26th.

– The Avalanche lost to the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-3 last night. Sean Monahan scored the overtime winner. Colorado is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.

– On Thursday, Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice announced that Zach Bogosian was placed on Injured Reserve and will be out 4-6 weeks with a foot injury. Maurice also announced that Defenseman Grant Clitsome will be out two weeks with an undisclosed injury. In regards to Tobias Enstrom, Maurice said that Enstrom is expected to be out until the end of December with his lower body injury.

– On Thursday, the Jets recalled Julien Brouillette from the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League. Brouilette,27, has two goals and two assists in 11 games for the IceCaps this season.

– Michael Hutchinson will start in net for the Jets tonight. In 8 games this year, Hutchinson has a record of 4-1-2 with a .947 Save Percentage and 1.56 Goals Against Average.

– Dustin Byfuglien wore a red practise jersey during Thursday’s practise and will play defense tonight for the Jets. Paul Maurice said that Byfuglien will play defense until further notice due to injuries. Byfuglien will be paired up with Ben Chiarot tonight versus Colorado.

– There was no game day skate for Colorado because they played last night in Calgary but according to Brian Munz of TSN 190 Radio, Semyon Varlamov is expected to start in goal for the Avalanche tonight. In 14 games this season, Varlamov has a record of 4-5-5 with a 3.01 GAA and .914 save percentage.

– Jacob Trouba ranks 8th in the NHL with 59 blocked shots.

– Surging: Dustin Byfuglien has two goals and two assists in his last four games.

– Slumping: Jets forward Mark Scheifele has no goals over the last six games (two assists).

– Defenseman Erik Johnson leads all Avalanche in ice time, averaging 23:35 of ice time per game, ranked 26th in the NHL.

– Avalanche Top Face-off Guy: Ryan O’Reilly (50.2%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.2%)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon. The 2013 1st overall pick is usually under the microscope wherever he goes as he is arguably the most talented player to come along since Sidney Crosby. The 19-year-old has struggled to put the puck in the net this year and didn’t score until the 11th game of the year. MacKinnon will be a handful for Jets defensemen tonight.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Dustin Byfuglien. The Big Man is back on defense and everyone will be watching to see how smooth the transition is.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Colorado PP (13.1%, 25th in NHL), Colorado PK (85.9%, 3rd in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (12.0%, 27th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (85.6%, 5th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane- Mark Scheifele- Michael Frolik
Adam Lowry- Mathieu Perreault -Matt Halischuk
Chris Thorburn- Jim Slater- Anthony Peluso

Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot- Dustin Byfuglien
Adam Pardy- Paul Postma

Michael Hutchinson
Ondrej Pavelec

Healthy Scratches: TJ Galiardi, Julien Brouillette

Projected Colorado Avalanche Line Combinations:

Alex Tanguay- Matt Duchene- Ryan O’Reilly
Gabriel Landeskog- Nathan MacKinnon- Jarome Iginla
Tomas Vincour-Max Talbot- Danny Briere
Cody McLeod- Michael Sgarbossa- Nick Holden

Jan Hejda- Erik Johnson
Nate Guenin -Tyson Barrie
Karl Stollery- Zach Redmond

Semyon Varlamov
Reto Berra

Healthy Scratches:

Injury Report:

Colorado Avalanche: Ben Street (hand), Marc-Andre Cliche (oblique), John Mitchell (leg), Dennis Everberg (shoulder), Jamie McGinn (back), Brad Stuart (hamstring), Ryan Wilson (shoulder), Jesse Winchester (concussion), Cory Sarich (back)

Winnipeg Jets:  Tobias Enstrom (lower body, Injured Reserve), Grant Clistome (undisclosed), Zach Bogosian (lower body)