Game Day Set-Up: Canucks @ Jets

When: Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Time: 6:30 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (30-28-8, 10th in the Western Conference), Vancouver Canucks (29-28-10, 11th in the Western Conference)

Television/Radio: TSN/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Friday, March 14th at home against the New York Rangers (7:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 3-2 road loss (OT) to the Colorado Avalanche

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little (20 goals, 32 assists, 52 points), Blake Wheeler (23 goals, 28 assists, 51 points), Dustin Byfuglien (16 goals, 32 assists, 48 points), Andrew Ladd (17 goals, 29 assists, 46 points), Olli Jokinen (15 goals, 20 assists, 35 points)

Vancouver Canucks: Henrik Sedin (10 goals, 31 assists, 41 points), Daniel Sedin (13 goals, 27 assists, 40 points), Ryan Kesler (22 goals, 18 assists, 40 points),  Chris Higgins (17 goals, 19 assists, 36 points), Jason Garrison (7 goals, 24 assists, 31 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Heading into tonight’s game, the Jets sit in 10th place in the Western Conference, six points behind the Dallas Stars for the 8th and final playoff spot.

– The Canucks lost their last game 7-4 to the New York Islanders after heading into the third period with a 3-0 lead. Vancouver is 2-7-1 over their last 10 games.

– Including tonight, the Jets play five of their next six games at home.

– On Wednesday morning, the Jets recalled Eric O’Dell from the St.John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League. O’Dell has 16 goals and 22 assists in 39 games with the IceCaps this year.

– Canucks forward Zack Kassian will not play tonight as he is serving the last game of a three-game suspension. Kassian was suspended for a hit from behind on Dallas Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon last Thursday.

– Vancouver forward Henrik Sedin broke a 23-game goalless drought Monday against New York with his 10th goal of the year. Prior to that, Sedin had not scored since December 14th (versus Boston Bruins).

-The Canucks average 14.1 penalty minutes/game which ranks 29th in the NHL. The Jets average 12.2 penalty minutes/game which is 23rd in the NHL.

– Who’s Hot: Jets forward Dustin Byfuglien has three goals and one assist in his last two games.

– Jets record since Paul Maurice took over as Head Coach: 11-5-3.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Vancouver has the 25th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (14.6%) and the 10th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (83.6%)

– Winnipeg has the 24th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (15.0%) and the 5th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (84.3%)

Starting Goalies:

– Ondrej Pavelec (20-24-5, 2.98 GAA, .902 Save Percentage)

–  Eddie Lack (10-12-4, 2.30 GAA, .916 Save Percentage)  

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little-Michael Frolik
Evander Kane- Olli Jokinen-Devon Setoguchi
Dustin Byfuglien- Jim Slater-Blake Wheeler
Anthony Peluso- Eric O’Dell-Chris Thorburn

Zach Bogosian – Tobias Enstrom
Mark Stuart – Jacob Trouba
Adam Pardy – Keaton Ellerby

Ondrej Pavelec
Al Montoya

Scratches: Paul Postma, Eric Tangradi, Matt Halischuk

Projected Vancouver Canucks Line Combinations:

Alexandre Burrows-Henrik Sedin- Nicklas Jensen
Chris Higgins- Ryan Kesler-Jannik Hansen
Tom Sestito- Shawn Matthias- David Booth
Darren Archibald- Jordan Schroeder-

Alexander Edler- Kevin Bieksa
Dan Hamhuis- Chris Tanev
Jason Garrison- Yannick Weber/Ryan Stanton

Eddie Lack
Jacob Markstrom

Healthy Scratches: Zac Dalpe

Injury Report:

Vancouver Canucks: Brad Richardson (undisclosed), Daniel Sedin (hamstring), Andrew Alberts (concussion), Mike Santorelli (shoulder, out for season), Zack Kassian (suspension)

Winnipeg Jets:  Grant Clitsome (back, out for season), James Wright (ankle), Mark Scheifele (knee), John Albert (upper body)