Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Sharks

When: Thursday, March 27, 2014

Time: 9:30 p.m. CST

Where: SAP Center, San Jose, California

Records: Winnipeg Jets (32-32-9, 12th in the Western Conference), San Jose Sharks (47-18-9, 2nd in the Western Conference)

Television/Radio: TSN-JETS, CSN-CA/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Saturday, March 29th on the road against the Los Angeles Kings (9:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 2-1 road loss to the Dallas Stars

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (24 goals, 35 assists, 59 points), Bryan Little (22 goals, 35 assists, 57 points), Dustin Byfuglien (19 goals, 33 assists, 52 points), Andrew Ladd (21 goals, 29 assists, 50 points), Olli Jokinen (16 goals, 24 assists, 40 points)

San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton (11 goals, 60 assists, 71 points), Joe Pavelski (37 goals, 34 assists, 71 points), Patrick Marleau (31 goals, 33 assists, 64 points),  Logan Couture (19 goals, 28 assists, 47 points), Brent Burns (20 goals, 21 assists, 41 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Heading into tonight’s game, the Jets sit in 12th place in the Western Conference, nine points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for the 8th and final playoff spot.

– Tonight is the second game of a five game road trip for the Jets. After tonight, the Jets play Los Angeles (Saturday), Anaheim (Monday, March 31st) and Phoenix (Tuesday, April 1st).

– The Sharks won their last game, 5-1 over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

– On Thursday,  Ondrej Pavelec took part in a full practise with the Jets and said he is fine to return to game action. Pavelec will not dress for the Jets tonight. Pavelec has not played since suffering a lower body injury in a game on March 14th. 

– Jets captain Andrew Ladd will be back in the line-up for the Jets tonight. Ladd missed Monday night’s game against Dallas for the birth of his second child.

–  Logan Couture will play tonight. He has been nursing a leg injury and missed San Jose’s last game.

– On Thursday, the Sharks recalled Freddie Hamilton from Worcester of the American Hockey League. Hamilton was recalled a day after Adam Burish underwent surgery to repair a broken finger. Burish hurt his finger during Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Burish is out indefinitely.

– Jets forward Devin Setoguchi will be a healthy scratch tonight.

– Al Montoya will make his sixth consecutive start in net for the Jets tonight.

– Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi is expected to start in goal tonight. He has started of six of the last seven games.

– Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle leads the team in average ice time (21:13/game) which ranks 75th most in the NHL. Tobias Enstrom leads the Jets in average ice time (23:58/game) which ranks 28th in the NHL.

-The Sharks average 9.0 penalty minutes/game which ranks 4th in the NHL. The Jets average 12.5 penalty minutes/game which is 24th in the NHL.

– Who’s Hot: Sharks forward Joe Thornton has two goals and eight assists in his last 10 games. Jets forward Bryan Little has three goals and five assists in his last 10 games.

– Who’s Cold: Devin Setoguchi has one assist in his last 11 games.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– San Jose has the 19th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (16.8%) and the 5th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (84.5%)

– Winnipeg has the 27th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (14.9%) and the 8th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (84.1%)

Starting Goalies:

– Al Montoya (12-8-3, 2.29 GAA, .921 Save Percentage)

– Antti Niemi (36-14-7, 2.32 GAA, .914 Save Percentage)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little-Michael Frolik
Dustin Byfuglien- Olli Jokinen-Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane- Eric O’Dell-Matt Halischuk
Eric Tangradi- Jim Slater-Anthony Peluso

Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Tobias Enstrom- Keaton Ellerby
Adam Pardy – Paul Postma

Al Montoya
Michael Hutchinson

Scratches: Devin Setoguchi

Projected San Jose Sharks Line Combinations:

Joe Pavelski-Joe Thornton- Brent Burns
Patrick Marleau- Logan Couture- Matthew Nieto
Tyler Kennedy- Tommy Wingels- Martin Havlat
Mike Brown-Andrew Desjardins- James Sheppard

Marc-Edouard Vlasic- Jason Demers
Matt Irwin- Dan Boyle
Brad Stuart- Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Healthy Scratches: Scott Hannan

Injury Report:

San Jose Sharks: Adam Burish (hand), Logan Couture (foot, day to day), Raffi Torres (general soreness), Tomas Hertl (knee)

Winnipeg Jets:  Grant Clitsome (back, out for season), James Wright (ankle), Mark Scheifele (knee), Chris Thorburn (out indefinitely), Zach Bogosian (upper body)