Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Avalanche

When: Thursday, April 9, 2015

Time: 8:00 p.m. CST

Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

Records: Winnipeg Jets (42-26-12, 96 points, 7th in West), Colorado Avalanche (37-31-12, 86 points, 12th in West)

Television/Radio: ALT, TSN3/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Saturday, April 11th at home against the Calgary Flames (2:00 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 1-0 win over the St.Louis Blues

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (24 goals, 38 assists, 62 points), Blake Wheeler (26 goals, 35 assists, 61 points), Bryan Little (24 goals, 28 assists, 52 points), Mark Scheifele (15 goals, 33 assists, 48 points), Dustin Byfuglien (18 goals, 27 assists, 45 points)

Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog (23 goals, 35 assists, 58 points), Jarome Iginla (27 goals, 30 assists, 57 points), Ryan O’Reilly (28 goals, 34 assists, 62 points), Alex Tanguay (22 goals, 32 assists, 54 points), Matt Duchene (21 goals, 33 assists, 54 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Tonight is the third game of a three game road trip for Winnipeg. The Jets only have two games remaining in the regular season and are currently in 8th place in the Western Conference with the second Wildcard spot. The Jets can clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight.

– The Jets have won 9 of their last 12 games.

– Jets Season Road Record: 20-13-7

– The Jets have a record of 16-8-4 against teams in the Central Division this year

– The Jets have a record of 30-2-6 when leading after two periods.

– The Jets have a record of 1-20-4 when trailing after two periods.

– The Jets have a record of 21-15-3 when they outshoot their opponent.

– The Jets have scored 10 shorthanded goals this year (1st in NHL)

– Colorado’s Season Home Record: 25-11-2

– The Avalanche won their last game 3-2 over the Nashville Predators and are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.

– The Avalanche have a 9-4 record in the shootout (tied for best in the Western Conference)

– The Avalanche won the Central Division with 112 points last year. The most points the Avalanche can finish this year with is 90.

– Gabriel Landeskog leads the Avalanche with 8 Power Play goals.

– The Avalanche have lost 478 man-games due to injury this year (2nd most in the NHL to Columbus)

– This is the fifth and final of meeting of the season between the Jets and Avalanche. The Jets have won three of the four games this year.

– Milestone: Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice will be coaching in his 1200th career NHL regular season game tonight.

– Ondrej Pavelec will start in goal for the Jets tonight. It will be Pavelec’s 12th start in the last 14 games. In 49 games this season, Pavelec has a record of 22-16-7 with a .919 save percentage, four shutouts and 2.34 Goals Against Average.

– Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien will not play tonight as he will be serving the fourth game of a four game suspension that was handed to him by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Byfuglien will be eligible for Saturday’s regular season finale against Calgary.

– Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom will miss his third consecutive game tonight and is officially listed as day-to-day.

– Reto Berra is expected to start in goal for the Avalanche tonight. In 18 games this season, Berra has a record of 4-4-1 with a 2.90 goals against average and .909 save percentage.

– According to Terry Frei of the Denver Post, Danny Briere (foot) will play tonight. Briere has missed the last eight games.

– Red Hot For the Jets: Mark Scheifele has four goals and five assists in the last 10 games.

– Red Hot for the Avalanche: Ryan O’Reilly has seven goals and eight assists in the last 12 games.

– The Avalanche average 2.58 goals for/game, 22nd in the NHL. The Jets average 2.72 goals for/game, 16th in the NHL.

– The Avalanche average 2.76 goals against/game, 23rd in the NHL. The Jets average 2.54 goals against/game, 13th in the NHL.

– Defenseman Tyler Myers leads all Jets in ice time, averaging 24:34 of ice time per game.

– Defenseman Tyson Barrie leads all Avalanche in ice time, averaging 21:15 of ice time per game.

-Avalanche Top Face-off Guy: Ryan O’Reilly (53.0%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (59.2%)

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Colorado PP (14.3%, 29th in NHL), Colorado PK (84.4%, 6th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (18.4%, 16th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (81.6%, 13th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Michael Frolik
Blake Wheeler- Mark Scheifele- Drew Stafford
Mathieu Perreault- Adam Lowry- Lee Stempniak
Jiri Tlusty- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

Ben Chiarot- Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Adam Pardy- Jay Harrison

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: TJ Galiardi, Anthony Peluso, Eric O’Dell, Matt Halischuk

Projected Colorado Avalanche Line Combinations:

John Mitchell- Matt Duchene- Jarome Iginla
Gabriel Landeskog- Ryan O’Reilly- Alex Tanguay
Cody McLeod- Marc-Andre Cliche- Danny Briere
Jordan Caron- Freddie Hamilton- Joey Hishon

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

Reto Berra
Semyon Varlamov

Healthy Scratches:

Injury Report:

Colorado Avalanche: Ryan Wilson (shoulder), Jamie McGinn (back), Patrick Bordeleau (knee), Erik Johnson (knee), Nathan MacKinnon (foot),Dennis Everberg (shoulder)

Winnipeg Jets: Grant Clitsome (back surgery, indefinitely), Paul Postma (upper body), Tobias Enstrom (day-to-day)