Game Day Set-Up: Hurricanes @ Jets

When: Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (1-4-0), Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-2)

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

On the Horizon: Friday, October 24th at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points), Tobias Enstrom (0 goals, 3 assists, 3 points), Bryan Little (3 goals, 0 assists, 3 points), Mathieu Perreault (0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points), Mark Scheifele (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points)

Carolina Hurricanes: Jiri Tlusty (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points), Chris Terry (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points), Riley Nash (1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points), Alexander Semin (0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points), Eric Staal (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points)

Game Day Notes:

– This is the third game of a five game home stand for the Jets. The Jets next two games are against the Tampa Bay Lightning (Friday night) and Colorado Avalanche (Sunday afternoon). This will be the longest home stand of the season for the Jets.

– The Jets have scored two goals in their last four games.

– Jets forward Evander Kane will miss his fifth consecutive game for the Jets tonight. Kane suffered a knee injury during the Jets season opener against the Arizona Coyotes back on October 9th. Kane is scheduled to be reevaluated this week. He has not been skating and there is no timetable set for his return.

– Hurricanes Captain Eric Staal will not play tonight and will miss his third consecutive game with an upper body injury. Staal has been skating on his own and is travelling with the team. Carolina Head Coach Bill Peters hopes that Staal can return later on  in the team’s current four game road trip.

– 22-year-old forward Jeff Skinner will make his season debut for Carolina tonight. Skinner missed the first four games of the season after he suffered a concussion back on October 5th. Skinner had a career high 33 goals in 71 games for the Hurricanes last year.

– After five games, the Jets are the most penalized team in the NHL. The Jets are averaging 19 penalty minutes/game.

– Hurricanes Top Face-off Guy: Riley Nash (64.9%, 2nd in NHL)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Mathieu Perreault (56.0%, 22nd in NHL)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Carolina: Jeff Skinner. Skinner has yet to play a game this season but he will be counted on to pick up the offensive slack for the injured Staal brothers tonight in Winnipeg. Skinner is Carolina’s top goal scorer and if this team has any hope of making the playoffs, Skinner has to be at the top of his game.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Andrew Ladd. The Jets Captain has one goal in his first five games and has not played particularly well. Winnipeg is averaging a weak 1.60 goals/game early on this season and that is simply not good enough. Ladd is not the only player on the Jets who can score goals but he is expected to lead this team out of their early season funk. There is a lot of pressure on the two-time Stanley Cup winner.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Carolina PP (26.7%, 6th in NHL), Calgary PK (73.3%, 26th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (0.00%, 30th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (95.2%, 3rd in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Mathieu Perreault- Mark Scheifele- Blake Wheeler
Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Dustin Byfuglien
TJ Galiardi- Adam Lowry -Michael Frolik
Chris Thorburn- Jim Slater- Matt Halischuk

Tobias Enstrom- Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Grant Clitsome- Paul Postma

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: Anthony Peluso, Adam Pardy

Projected Carolina Hurricanes Line Combinations:

Jiri Tlusty- Riley Nash- Alexander Semin
Jeff Skinner- Victor Rask- Elias Lindholm
Chris Terry- Jay McClement- Zach Boychuk
Ryan Murphy- Patrick Brown-Brad Malone

Andrej Sekera- Justin Faulk
Ron Hainsey- Brett Bellemore
Tim Gleason- Jay Harrison

Anton Khudobin
Cam Ward

Healthy Scratches:

Injury Report:

Carolina Hurricanes: Nathan Gerbe (lower body), Patrick Dwyer (lower body), John-Michael Liles (general soreness), Eric Staal (upper body), Jordan Staal (leg)

Winnipeg Jets:  Eric O’Dell (upper body), Evander Kane (knee)