Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Capitals

When: Thursday, February 19, 2015

Time: 6:00 p.m. CST

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

Records: Winnipeg Jets (30-19-10, 70 points, 5th in West), Washington Capitals (31-17-10, 72 points, 7th in East)

Television/Radio: CSN-DC, TSN3/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Saturday, February 21st on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs (6:00 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 4-3 win (shootout) over the Edmonton Oilers

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little (23 goals, 26 assists, 49 points), Andrew Ladd (20 goals, 27 assists, 47 points), Blake Wheeler (16 goals, 28 assists, 44 points), Dustin Byfuglien (14 goals, 26 assists, 40 points), Mathieu Perreault (18 goals, 18 assists, 36 points)

Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom (16 goals, 44 assists, 60 points), Alexander Ovechkin (37 goals, 22 assists, 59 points), John Carlson (8 goals, 31 assists, 39 points), Mike Green (5 goals, 30 assists, 35 points), Marcus Johansson (14 goals, 19 assists, 33 points)

Game Day Notes:

– This is Game 1 of a two game road trip for Winnipeg. The Jets have won two games in a row and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Road Record: 15-9-6

– The Jets are 21-9-5 this season when they score the first goal of a game.

– Five of the last seven games for the Jets have gone to overtime (3-2)

– Washington’s Home Record: 15-7-5

– The Capitals are 21-7-6 since December 2nd.

– Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin leads the NHL with 37 goals.

– Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom leads the NHL with 44 assists.

– He isn’t starting tonight but Jets goaltender Michael Hutchinson has not allowed a goal in the shootout yet this year. He is a perfect 11-for-11 against shooters.

– On Thursday morning, Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice announced that forward Mathieu Perreault has a significant lower body injury and will be out for possibly the rest of the regular season. Maurice did not give an exact timeline but said they hope Perreault is back before the end of the regular season. Perreault sustained the injury during Monday night’s game against Edmonton.

– Due to Perreault’s injury, the Jets re-called Carl Klingberg from the St.John’s IceCaps (AHL) on Wednesday. Klingberg practised with the Jets today and may play tonight versus Washington. Adam Pardy, normally a defenseman, also practised as a forward Thursday morning and may also play as a forward. Klingberg or Pardy will skate on the fourth line with Jim Slater and Anthony Peluso. Klingberg has 15 goals and 15 assists in 51 games for St.John’s this year.

– Jets forward Drew Stafford took the game day skate in Washington Thursday and will play tonight. Stafford also left Monday night’s game against Edmonton. Stafford will play on the second line and Dustin Byfuglien will remain on defense.

– This is the first of two meetings between the Jets and Capitals this year. The Jets will play the Capitals in Winnipeg on Saturday, March 21st.

– As per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun, Ondrej Pavelec is expected to start in goal for the Jets tonight. In 35 games this season, Pavelec has a record of 13-12-7 with a .910 save percentage and 2.55 Goals Against Average.

– Braden Holtby is expected to start in net for the Capitals tonight. In 49 games this season, Holtby has a record of 27-12-9 with a .924 save percentage and 2.17 Goals Against Average.

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

– The Power Play is Red Hot: Over the last five games, the Jets are 6 for 21 with the man advantage.

– Ice Cold: Adam Lowry has no points in the last nine games.

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

– The Capitals average 2.91 goals for/game, 7th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.70 goals for/game, 19th in the NHL.

– The Capitals average 2.45 goals against/game, 8th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.59 goals against/game, 12th in the NHL.

– Defenseman John Carlson leads all Capitals in ice time, averaging 23:18 of ice time per game.

– Capitals Top Face-off Guy: Troy Brouwer (58.1%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.4%)

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Washington PP (23.6%, 2nd in NHL), Washington PK (81.0%, 15th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (18.3%, 15th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (80.9%, 17th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler
Michael Frolik- Mark Scheifele- Drew Stafford
Chris Thorburn- Adam Lowry- TJ Galiardi
Adam Pardy/Carl Klingberg- Jim Slater- Anthony Peluso

Tobias Enstrom- Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot- Dustin Byfuglien

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: Paul Postma, Adam Pardy/Carl Klingberg

Projected Washington Capitals Line Combinations:

Alexander Ovechkin- Nicklas Backstrom- Andre Burakovsky
Marcus Johansson- Evgeny Kuznetsov- Troy Brouwer
Brooks Laich- Eric Fehr-  Joel Ward
Jay Beagle- Michael Latta- Tom Wilson

Brooks Orpik- John Carlson
Karl Alzner- Matt Niskanen
Jack Hillen- Mike Green

Braden Holtby
Justin Peters

Healthy Scratches: Jason Chimera, Aaron Volpatti

Injury Report:

Washington Capitals: John Erskine (upper body), Dmitry Orlov (wrist), Nate Schmidt (shoulder)

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