Game Day Set-Up: Blues @ Jets

When: Thursday, February 26, 2015

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (31-20-11, 73 points, 6th in West), St.Louis Blues (38-18-4, 80 points, 3rd in West)

Television/Radio: FS-MW, TSN3/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Sunday, March 1st at home against the Los Angeles Kings (3:00 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little (24 goals, 26 assists, 50 points), Andrew Ladd (20 goals, 29 assists, 49 points), Blake Wheeler (16 goals, 28 assists, 44 points), Dustin Byfuglien (15 goals, 26 assists, 41 points), Mathieu Perreault (18 goals, 18 assists, 36 points)

St.Louis Blues: Vladimir Tarasenko (31 goals, 29 assists, 60 points), Alexander Steen (19 goals, 32 assists, 51 points), Jaden Schwartz (20 goals, 26 assists, 46 points), David Backes (20 goals, 21 assists, 41 points), T.J. Oshie (17 goals, 24 assists, 41 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Tonight is the second game of a four game home stand for Winnipeg. The Jets are 5-2-3 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Home Record: 16-10-4

– The Jets have a record of 12-6-3 against teams in the Central Division this year

– The Jets are 22-9-6 this season when they score the first goal of a game.

– The Jets have allowed 19 goals over the last five games

– Today is Jacob Trouba‘s birthday. Trouba is 21 years old.

– Enhanced Stat #1: Winnipeg’s Team SAT Behind (Team Corsi Behind) is 151, which ranks 9th in the NHL

– Enhanced Stat #2: Jacob Trouba’s SAT (Corsi) Close is 75 which ranks 21st overall in the NHL. The SAT (Corsi) Close stat measures shots directed towards the opponents net while he is on the ice at even strength then shots directed towards his own net while a game is within 1 goal either way relative to a subject.

– Six of the last 10 games for the Jets have gone to overtime (3-3)

– St.Louis’ Road Record: 16-10-2

– 11 of the next 14 games for the Blues are on the road

– This is the second of five meetings between the Jets and Blues this year. The Blues defeated the Jets 4-2 at the MTS Centre on November 23rd.

– Michael Hutchinson is expected to start in goal for the Jets tonight. In 30 games this season, Hutchinson has a record of 18-7-4 with a .918 save percentage and 2.35 Goals Against Average.

– Brian Elliott is expected to start in net for the Blues tonight. In 31 games this season, Elliott has a record of 18-9-2 with a .919 save percentage, three shutouts and 2.26 Goals Against Average.

– On Wednesday the Jets acquired LW Jiri Tlusty from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2016 3rd round pick and a 2015 conditional 6th round pick. Tlusty will play for the Jets tonight on a line with Mark Scheifele and Drew Stafford. In 52 games with the Hurricanes this season, Tlusty had 13 goals and 10 assists.

– According to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun, Dustin Byfuglien will be back on defense tonight for the Jets. Byfuglien will pair up with Jay Harrison.

– According to Brian Munz of TSN 1290 Radio, Eric O’Dell will make his regular season debut for the Jets tonight and will play on the third line alongside Chris Thorburn and Adam Lowry. Adam Pardy will play forward tonight for the second time this season.

– Blake Wheeler (lower body) will miss his second consecutive game tonight. On Wednesday Wheeler was placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to February 22nd. Paul Maurice said the team is hopeful Wheeler can return to the line-up on Sunday against Los Angeles.

– Prior to Thursday night’s game, St.Louis acquired forward Adam Cracknell from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for future considerations. Cracknell played with the Blues from 2010-14.

– Red Hot for Winnipeg: Bryan Little has three goals and three assists in the last five games.

– Red Hot For St.Louis: Vladimir Tarasenko has two goals and four assists in the last five games.

– Ice Cold: Jim Slater has no points in the last 7 games.

– Milestone Watch: Bryan Little needs five more assists to reach 200 career assists.

– The Blues average 3.02 goals for/game, 5th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.69 goals for/game, 19th in the NHL.

– The Blues average 2.48 goals against/game, 9th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.64 goals against/game, 17th in the NHL.

– Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo leads all Blues in ice time, averaging 25:18 of ice time per game.

– Blues Top Face-off Guy: Paul Stastny (57.3%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (57.1%)

Special Teams Breakdown:

– St.Louis PP (23.3%, 4th in NHL), St.Louis PK (80.4%, 20th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (18.8%, 10th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (80.7%, 19th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Michael Frolik
Jiri Tlusty- Mark Scheifele- Drew Stafford
Chris Thorburn- Adam Lowry- Eric O’Dell
Adam Pardy- Jim Slater- Anthony Peluso

Tobias Enstrom- Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Jay Harrison- Dustin Byfuglien

Michael Hutchinson
Ondrej Pavelec

Healthy Scratches: Paul Postma, Carl Klingberg, TJ Galiardi

Projected St.Louis Blues Line Combinations:

Alexander Steen- David Backes- T.J. Oshie
Patrik Berglund- Paul Stastny- Dmitrij Jaskin
Jaden Schwartz- Jori Lehtera-  Vladimir Tarasenko
Steve Ott- Marcel Goc- Ryan Reaves

Carl Gunnarsson- Alex Pieterangelo
Jay Bouwmeester- Petteri Lindbohm
Barret Jackman- Chris Butler

Brian Elliott
Jake Allen

Healthy Scratches:Joakim Lindstrom, Chris Porter

Injury Report:

St.Louis Blues: Kevin Shattenkirk (abdomen), Ian Cole (upper body)

Winnipeg Jets: Grant Clitsome (back surgery, indefinitely), Matt Halischuk (lower body, Injured Reserve), Mathieu Perreault (IR, lower body), Ben Chiarot (surgery, IR), Blake Wheeler (lower body,IR)