Game Day Set-Up: Avalanche @ Jets

When: Sunday, February 8th, 2014

Time: 5:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (26-18-10, 62 points, 6th in West), Colorado Avalanche (22-19-11, 55 points, 10th in West)

Television/Radio: TSN3, ALT/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Tuesday, February 10th at home against the Minnesota Wild (7:00 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 2-1 loss (overtime) to the Chicago Blackhawks

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (18 goals, 27 assists, 45 points), Bryan Little (20 goals, 22 assists, 42 points), Blake Wheeler (15 goals, 25 assists, 40 points), Dustin Byfuglien (12 goals, 21 assists, 33 points), Mathieu Perreault (17 goals, 14 assists, 31 points)

Colorado Avalanche: Alex Tanguay (13 goals, 21 assists, 34 points), Jarome Iginla (16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points), Matt Duchene (13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points), Gabriel Landeskog (10 goals, 21 assists, 31 points), Tyson Barrie (5 goal, 25 assists, 30 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Tonight is the second game of a three game home stand for Winnipeg. The Jets are winless in six games and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Home Record: 12-10-4

– The Jets have a record of 9-5-3 against teams in the Central Division this year.

– The Jets are 19-9-5 this season when they score the first goal of a game.

– Colorado has lost two games in a row and are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games.

– The Avalanche were shut out by the Wild 1-0 last night. It was the third time this year they were shutout.

– This is the fourth of five meetings between the Jets and Avalanche this year. The Jets have won two of the three meetings between the two clubs this year. The final regular season meeting between the two teams will take place on Colorado on Thursday, April 9th.

– Late Breaking Pre-Game News: As per the team, Jets rookie forward Adam Lowry (illness) will not play for the Jets tonight versus Colorado. Patrice Cormier will replace Lowry in the line-up.

– Ondrej Pavelec is expected to start in goal for the Jets tonight. In 33 games this season, Pavelec has a record of 12-11-7 with a .911 save percentage and 2.52 Goals Against Average.

– Semyon Varlamov is expected to start in net for the Avalanche tonight even though he played last night versus Minnesota. In 10 games this season, Varlamov has a record of 14-12-7 with a 2.50 Goals Against Average and .925 Save Percentage and one shutout.

– According to Mike Chambers, defenseman Erik Johnson (knee) has been swimming and lightly working out and is getting closer to returning to the Avalanche line-up. Johnson has been out of the line-up since January 21st and was originally expected to be out 3-8 weeks.

– According to Mike Chambers, Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie (hip) will take the pre-game warmup and will be a game-time decision for tonight’s game versus the Jets. Barrie has missed the last two games.

– Red Hot: Jets Captain Andrew Ladd has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) over the last 17 games.

– Ice Cold: Mathieu Perreault has not scored a goal in the last four games.

– The Avalanche average 2.40 goals for/game, 25th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.65 goals for/game, 20th in the NHL.

– The Avalanche average 2.70 goals against/game, 19th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.56 goals against/game, 13th in the NHL.

– Defenseman Erik Johnson leads all Blackhawks in ice time, averaging 24:25 of ice time per game.

– Avalanche Top Face-off Guy: Matt Duchene (51.9%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.6%)

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Colorado PP (12.6%, 29th in NHL), Colorado PK (83.4%, 9th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (17.0%, 21st in NHL), Winnipeg PK (81.8%, 15th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault- Mark Scheifele- Dustin Byfuglien
Chris Thorburn- Jim Slater- Michael Frolik
TJ Galiardi- Patrice Cormier- Anthony Peluso

Tobias Enstrom- Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot- Adam Pardy

Michael Hutchinson
Ondrej Pavelec

Healthy Scratches: Paul Postma, Patrice Cormier

Projected Colorado Avalanche Line Combinations:

Gabriel Landeskog- Ryan O’Reilly- Nathan Mackinnon
Alex Tanguay- Matt Duchene- Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod- John Mitchell-  Dennis Everberg
Max Talbot- Marc-Andre Cliche- Danny Briere

Jan Hejda- Zach Redmond
Nate Guenin- Tyson Barrie
Brad Stuart- Nick Holden

Semyon Varlamov
Reto Berra

Healthy Scratches: Karl Stollery, Stefan Elliott

Injury Report:

Colorado Avalanche: Cory Sarich (back), Jesse Winchester (concussion), Ryan Wilson (shoulder), Jamie McGinn (back), Patrick Bordeleau (knee), Erik Johnson (knee)

Winnipeg Jets: Grant Clitsome (back surgery, indefinitely), Matt Halischuk (lower body, Injured Reserve), Jay Harrison (upper body), Evander Kane (shoulder surgery)