Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Stars

When: Monday, March 24, 2014

Time: 7:30 p.m. CST

Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

Records: Winnipeg Jets (32-31-9, 11th in the Western Conference), Dallas Stars (33-26-11, 9th in the Western Conference)

Television/Radio: TSN-JETS, FS-SW/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Thursday, March 27th on the road against the San Jose Sharks (9:30 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 3-2 loss at home to the Carolina Hurricanes

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (24 goals, 35 assists, 59 points), Bryan Little (21 goals, 35 assists, 56 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)

Dallas Stars: Tyler Seguin (31 goals, 42 assists, 73 points), Jamie Benn (30 goals, 37 assists, 67 points), Alex Goligoski (8 goals, 25 assists, 33 points),  Cody Eakin (14 goals, 17 assists, 31 points), Valeri Nichushkin (13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Heading into tonight’s game, the Jets sit in 11th place in the Western Conference, six points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for the 8th and final playoff spot. Phoenix has played one less game than Winnipeg.

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

– The Stars won their last game, 3-1 over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Record versus the Central Division: 9-13-5

– On Sunday, the Jets announced that goaltender Ondrej Pavelec is still some time away from returning to the line-up. Pavelec has been out of the line-up with a lower body suffered in a game on March 14th.

– Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian (upper body) and Andrew Ladd (personal) did not take the morning skate in Dallas and are not expected to play tonight. The Jets recalled Patrice Cormier and Carl Klingberg from the St.John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League. **** Game Day Update: Andrew Ladd will not play tonight as he and wife have welcomed a new baby girl to their family. Ladd’s ironman streak officially ends at 233 games. Tonight will be the first game he has missed since the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg three years ago.

– Al Montoya will make his fifth consecutive start in net for the Jets tonight. Montoya stopped 29 of 32 shots against Carolina Saturday night.

– Stars defenseman Alexi Goligoski leads the Stars in average ice time (24:12/game) which ranks 26th most in the NHL. Tobias Enstrom leads the Jets in average ice time (23:59/game) which ranks 28th in the NHL.

-The Stars average 11.0 penalty minutes/game which ranks 16th in the NHL. The Jets average 12.5 penalty minutes/game which is 24th in the NHL.

– Who’s Hot: Stars forward Tyler Seguin has six goals and nine assists in his last eight games. Stars forward Jamie Benn ha seven goals and six assists in his last 10 games. Jets forward Bryan Little has two goals and six assists in his last 10 games.

– Who’s Cold: Devin Setoguchi has one assist in his last 10 games.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Dallas has the 23rd Ranked Power Play in the NHL (14.7%) and the 19th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (81.4%)

– Winnipeg has the 27th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (14.7%) and the 6th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (84.6%)

Starting Goalies:

– Al Montoya (12-7-3, 2.30 GAA, .921 Save Percentage)

– Kari Lehtonen (26-17-10, 2.49 GAA, .916 Save Percentage)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Evander Kane-Bryan Little-Michael Frolik
Dustin Byfuglien- Olli Jokinen-Blake Wheeler
Eric O’Dell- Jim Slater-Devin Setoguchi
Matt Halischuk- Patrice Cormier-Eric Tangradi

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

Al Montoya
Michael Hutchinson

Scratches: Carl Klingberg, Anthony Peluso

Projected Dallas Stars Line Combinations:

Jamie Benn-Tyler Seguin- Valeri Nichushkin
Ray Whitney- Cody Eakin- Colton Sceviour
Antoine Roussel- Vernon Fiddler- Ryan Garbutt
Shawn Horcoff-Dustin Jeffrey- Alex Chiasson

Alex Goligoski- Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn- Brenden Dillon
Aaron Rome- Sergei Gonchar

Kari Lehtonen
Tim Thomas

Healthy Scratches: Kevin Connauton

Injury Report:

Dallas Stars: Erik Cole (upper body), Rich Peverley (chest)

Winnipeg Jets:  Grant Clitsome (back, out for season), James Wright (ankle), Mark Scheifele (knee), Ondrej Pavelec (lower body,day-to-day), Chris Thorburn (out indefinitely), Zach Bogosian (upper body), Andrew Ladd (personal)