Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Coyotes

When: Thursday, January 8, 2015

Time: 8:00 p.m. CST

Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona

Records: Winnipeg Jets (20-13-7, 47 points, 8th in West), Arizona Coyotes (15-20-4, 34 points, 13th in West)

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

On the Horizon: Saturday, January 10th, 2015 on the road against the Los Angeles Kings (9:00 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (15 goals, 17 assists, 32 points), Bryan Little (15 goals, 16 assists, 31 points), Blake Wheeler (11 goals, 19 assists, 30 points), Dustin Byfuglien (9 goals, 13 assists, 22 points), Mathieu Perreault (9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points)

Arizona Coyotes: Keith Yandle (4 goals, 22 assists, 26 points), Antoine Vermette (10 goals, 15 assists, 25 points), Martin Hanzal (7 goals, 15 assists, 22 points), Mikkel Boedker (9 goals, 13 assists, 22 points), Sam Gagner (7 goals, 13 assists, 20 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Road Record: 11-4-4

– The Jets are 14-6-4 this season when they score the first goal of a game.

– Arizona is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. This is the second of three meetings between the two clubs this year.  The Jets defeated the Coyotes 6-2 way back on October 9th.

– Ondrej Pavelec will start in net for the Jets tonight. In 26 games this season, Pavelec has a record of 10-9-5 with a 2.40 Goals Against Average and .911 Save Percentage.

– Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian (lower body) will make his return to the Jets line-up tonight. Bogosian has not played since December 3rd against the Edmonton Oilers. Bogosian will be paired up with Jay Harrison.

– On Thursday defenseman Julien Brouillette cleared waivers and was sent down to the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League.

– Prior to tonight’s game, Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice announced that defenseman Grant Clitsome underwent back surgery in Los Angeles and is out indefinitely. Clitsome may be out for the season. Clitsome has four assists in 24 games for the Jets this season.

– Jets defensemen Tobias Enstrom and Mark Stuart have been practising with the Jets in non-contact jerseys and are close to making a return to the team.

– Jets forward Evander Kane (lower body) is with the team on the current road trip and practised with the Jets in a non-contact jersey for the second day in a row. Kane is getting close to returning to game action. Kane was originally expected to be out until early February. Kane has not played since December 27th against Minnesota.

– Red Hot: Jets forward Andrew Ladd has four goals and five assists in his last six games.

– Jets forward Blake Wheeler enters tonight’s game on a six game points streak (two goals, five assists)

– The Coyotes average 2.28 goals for/game, 25th in the NHL.

– The Coyotes average 3.28 goals against/game, 28th in NHL.

– Mike Smith is expected to start in net for the Coyotes tonight. In 26 games this season, Smith is 6-16-2 with a .882 save percentage and 3.57  Goals Against Average.

– As per Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic, Forward Martin Hanzal (upper body) will not play tonight for the second game in a row.

– Defenseman Zbynek Michalek (upper body) will not play for the Coyotes tonight, as per Sarah McLellan.

– Milestone Watch: Jets defenseman Paul Postma is 2 games away from 100 career games played.

– Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads all Coyotes in ice time, averaging 25:31 of ice time per game.

– Coyotes Top Face-off Guy: Martin Hanzal (57.9%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.9%)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Arizona: Shane Doan. The former 1st round pick of the Winnipeg Jets (1995, 7th overall) has had a tough year and he always seems to get a lot of attention when he plays his former team.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Zach Bogosian. Bogo returns to the line-up after missing the last 14 games. He’ll be paired up with veteran Jay Harrison.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Arizona PP (21.1%, 7th in NHL), Arizona PK (73.8%, 30th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (18.0%, 19th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (85.1%, 7th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

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

Ben Chiarot- Dustin Byfuglien
Jay Harrison- Zach Bogosian
Adam Pardy- Paul Postma

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: Patrice Cormier, Keaton Ellerby

Projected Arizona Coyotes Line Combinations:

Martin Erat- Antoine Vermette- Shane Doan
Lucas Lessio- Sam Gagner-  Mikkel Boedker
Tobias Rieder- Kyle Chipchura- Lauri Korpikoski
Brandon McMillan- Joe Vitale- David Moss

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Michael Stone
Keith Yandle- Chris Summers
Brandon Gormley- Connor Murphy

Mike Smith
Devan Dubnyk

Healthy Scratches: B.J Crombeen

Injury Report:

Arizona Coyotes: Martin Hanzal (upper body), Zbynek Michalek (upper body)

Winnipeg Jets:  Tobias Enstrom (lower body, IR),  Jacob Trouba (upper body, IR), Mark Stuart (lower body), Evander Kane (lower body), Grant Clitsome (day-to-day)