Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Hurricanes

When: Thursday, November 13, 2014

Time: 6:00 p.m. CST

Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina

Records: Winnipeg Jets (8-6-2, 8th in West), Carolina Hurricanes (5-6-3, 14th in East)

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

On the Horizon: Saturday, November 15th on the road against the Nashville Predators (6:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little (5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points), Andrew Ladd (6 goals, 4 assists, 10 points), Blake Wheeler (5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points), Tobias Enstrom (1 goals, 8 assists, 9 points), Zach Bogosian (0 goals, 6 assists, 6 points)

Carolina Hurricanes: Riley Nash (4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points), Justin Faulk (2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points), Jiri Tlusty (6 goals, 2 assists, 8 points), Elias Lindholm (5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points), Eric Staal (3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets continue their longest road trip of the season tonight. Winnipeg has earned points in eight of their last nine games (6-1-2). Starting tonight, the Jets play three games in four nights. They have back-to-back games this weekend in Nashville (Saturday) and Minnesota (Sunday).

– Michael Hutchinson is expected to start in net for the Jets tonight. It will be Hutchinson’s 3rd start of the season. Hutchinson has a record of 1-1 with a .945 Save Percentage and 1.80 Goals Against Average.

– Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice had two stints as Head Coach of the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise. Maurice was Head Coach of the Whalers/Hurricanes from 1995-2004 and later returned to coach the Hurricanes from 2008-2011. Maurice has a career coaching record of 384-391-99 with the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise.

– Carolina has a record of 5-0-1 in the month of November.

– Jets forward Matt Halischuk will play tonight in place of Chris Thorburn.  Halischuk has been a healthy scratch for the last seven games. Halischuk has no points in five games this season.

– Cam Ward will get the start in goal for the Hurricanes tonight.  The Saskatoon native has a record of 5-3-1 with a Goals Against Average of 2.53 and a Save Percentage of .900.

– On Tuesday, the Hurricanes re-assigned defenseman Michal Jordan to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. Jordan has two assists in 10 games for the Checkers this season.

– Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk averages 23:35 of ice time per game, 24th most in the NHL.

– The Jets average 14.9 penalty minutes per game, 2nd most in the NHL.

– Jets forward Dustin Byfuglien has 54 hits so far this season, tied for 9th most in the NHL.

– Jets forward Adam Lowry has been credited with 42 hits this season, 2nd amongst all NHL rookies. 

– Winnipeg Jets forward Michael Frolik is three points away from 200 career points.

– Hurricanes Top Face-off Guy: Jay McClement (58.1%, 5th in NHL)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (57.8%)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Carolina: Alexander Semin. Even though the Hurricanes are undefeated in November, their $7 million man still has not scored a goal all year. Semin is a highly skilled player but he has already been a healthy scratch this year and has looked unmotivated at times.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Matt Halischuk. Halischuk gets back into the line-up tonight against Carolina after being a healthy scratch for the past two weeks. Halischuk replaces Thorburn on the fourth line and he’ll be looking to make an impression on Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Carolina PP (20.0%, 15th in NHL), Carolina PK (78.3%, 22nd in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (11.5%, 27th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (88.5%, 3rd in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

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

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

Michael Hutchinson
Ondrej Pavelec

Healthy Scratches: Chris Thorburn, Adam Pardy

Projected Carolina Hurricanes Line Combinations:

Jiri Tlusty- Victor Rask – Eric Staal
Jeff Skinner- Jay McClement- Alexander Semin
Nathan Gerbe- Riley Nash- Elias Lindholm
Zach Boychuk- Brad Malone- Pat Dwyer

Andrej Sekera- Justin Faulk
Jay Harrison- Tim Gleason
John-Michael Liles- Ron Hainsey

Cam Ward
Anton Khudobin

Healthy Scratches: Chris Terry, Brett Bellemore

Injury Report:

Carolina Hurricanes: Jordan Staal (leg)

Winnipeg Jets:  Anthony Peluso (upper body, IR)