Game Day Set-Up: Bruins @ Jets

When: Friday, December 19, 2014

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (16-10-6, 38 points, 7th in West), Boston Bruins (16-13-3, 35 points, 7th in East)

Television/Radio: NESN, TSN3/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Sunday, December 21st at home against the Philadelphia Flyers (8:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (11 goals, 12 assists, 23 points), Blake Wheeler (9 goals, 14 assists, 23 points), Bryan Little (12 goals, 9 assists, 21 points), Dustin Byfuglien (7 goals, 9 assists, 16 points), Michael Frolik (7 goals, 9 assists, 16 points)

Boston Bruins: Patrice Bergeron (6 goals, 16 assists, 22 points), Carl Soderberg (6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points), Brad Marchand (8 goals, 11 assists, 19 points), Loui Eriksson (6 goals, 11 assists, 17 points), Dougie Hamilton (5 goals, 12 assists, 17 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Home Record: 7-6-2.

– This is the second of two meetings between the Jets and Bruins this year. The Jets were defeated by the Bruins by a score of 2-1 back on November 28th.

– The Bruins defeated the Minnesota Wild by a score of 3-2 in their last game Wednesday night. Bruins center David Krejci returned to the line-up after missing 11 straight games.

– The Bruins are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games.

– On Thursday, the Jets announced that defenseman Mark Stuart will be out of the line-up until February with a lower body injury. Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice said Stuart suffered the injury during Tuesday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres when he fought Nicolas Deslauriers.

– On Thursday the Jets acquired defenseman Jay Harrison from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Ottawa’s 6th round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, previously acquired at the 2014 NHL Draft. Harrison, 32, had one goal and three assists in 20 games for the Hurricanes this year. Harrison has previously played under Paul Maurice while a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and as a member of the Hurricanes.

– Harrison did not take the game day skate on Friday morning but he arrived this afternoon and will play tonight. Harrison will be paired up with Grant Clitsome.

– On Thursday, Paul Maurice provided an update on the Jets three other injured defensemen:  1) Jacob Trouba has been placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to December 14th, 2) Tobias Enstrom will not start skating again until January and 3) Zach Bogosian is not expected back on the ice until mid- January.

– According to Brian Munz of TSN 1290 Radio, Michael Hutchinson will start in net for the Jets tonight. In 11 games this year, Hutchinson has a record of 6-2-2 with a .937 Save Percentage and 1.81 Goals Against Average

– According to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, Tuukka Rask will start in net for the Bruins tonight. In 24 games this season, Rask has a record of 12-9-3 with a .914 save percentage and 2.52 Goals Against Average.

– Winnipeg is 4th in the NHL in team goals against (2.25 goals/game). At the end of last year, the Jets were 22nd in the NHL in team goals against (2.82 goals against/game)

– Powering Up: Since November 25th, The Jets are 11-for-35 on the Power Play

– Milestone Watch: Chris Thorburn is one point away from 100 career points.

– Red Hot: Michael Frolik has two goals and four assists in the last four games.

– Defenseman Dougie Hamilton leads all Bruins in ice time, averaging 22:21 of ice time per game.

– Bruins Top Face-off Guy: Patrice Bergeron (57.8%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (55.8%)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Boston: Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron is one of the best two-way players in the game and has points in five of the last six games. Bergeron will be all over the ice tonight as usual.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Jay Harrison. Everyone will have their eyes on the newest Winnipeg Jet tonight.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Boston PP (16.2%, 19th in NHL), Boston PK (79.2%, 23rd in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (15.7%, 20th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (84.0%, 8th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

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

Ben Chiarot- Dustin Byfuglien
Adam Pardy- Paul Postma
Grant Clitsome – Jay Harrison

Michael Hutchinson
Ondrej Pavelec

Healthy Scratches: Julien Brouillette, TJ Galiardi

Projected Boston Bruins Line Combinations:

Brad Marchand- Patrice Bergeron- Reilly Smith
Milan Lucic- David Krejci- Seth Griffith
Chris Kelly- Carl Soderberg- Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille- Gregory Campbell- Craig Cunningham

Zdeno Chara- Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg – Matt Bartkowski
Torey Krug- Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg

Healthy Scratches: Joe Morrow, Matt Fraser, Zach Trotman

Injury Report:

Boston Bruins: Simon Gagne (personal), Adam McQuaid (thumb)

Winnipeg Jets:  Tobias Enstrom (lower body, IR), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Jacob Trouba (upper body, IR), Mark Stuart (lower body)