Game Day Set-Up: Jets @ Wild

When: Sunday, November 16, 2014

Time: 4:00 p.m. CST

Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota

Records: Winnipeg Jets (9-7-2, 20 points, 7th in West), Minnesota Wild (9-7-0, 18 points, 10th in West)

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

On the Horizon: Tuesday, November 18th at home against the New Jersey Devils (7:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (8 goals, 5 assists, 13 points), Andrew Ladd (6 goals, 5 assists, 11 points), Bryan Little (5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points), Tobias Enstrom (1 goals, 8 assists, 9 points), Zach Bogosian (0 goals, 7 assists, 7 points)

Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise (4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points), Jason Pominville (4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points), Thomas Vanek (1 goal, 8 assists, 9 points), Ryan Suter (1 goal, 8 assists, 9 points), Ryan Carter (2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets wrap up their longest road trip of the season tonight with the fifth game of a five game trip. Winnipeg has a record of 2-2 so far.

– Ondrej Pavelec is expected to start in net for the Jets today. It will be Pavelec’s 16th start of the season. Pavelec has a record of 7-6-2 with a .928 Save Percentage and 1.99 Goals Against Average. Pavelec has played 934 minutes so far this season, 2nd most amongst goalies in the NHL.

– The Jets have scored 34 goals this year, dead last in the Western Conference.

– The Wild are on a two game winning streak, most recently defeating the Dallas Stars 2-1 yesterday afternoon.

– Minnesota defensemen Jonas Brodin (illness) and Marco Scandella (illness) did not play for the Wild on Saturday against Dallas. There was some speculation that the two players might have the mumps but Wild Coach Mike Yeo would not confirm or deny. According to Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Brodin has been placed on Injured Reserve and will not play tonight.

– Niklas Backstrom is expected to get the start in net for the Wild today. Backstrom has started four games for the Wild this season. Backstrom has a record of  2-2-0 with a Goals Against Average of 2.33 and a Save Percentage of .897.

– Blake Wheeler has three goals in the last two games.

– According to Michael Russo, Zach Parise (concussion) will return to the line-up this afternoon. Parise has missed the last five games.

– According to Brian Munz of TSN 1290 Radio, Jets defenseman Grant Clitsome has the flu and will not play this afternoon. Adam Pardy replaces Clitsome in the line-up.

– The Jets have activated forward Anthony Peluso off Injured Reserve. Peluso has no points in three games this year.

– Wild defenseman Ryan Suter averages 29:16 of ice time per game, ranked 1st overall in the NHL.

– Winnipeg Jets forward Michael Frolik is two points shy of 200 career points.

– Wild’s Top Face-off Guy: Mikko Koivu (56.5%, 10th in NHL)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.9%, 9th in NHL)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Minnesota: Thomas Vanek. Vanek has one goal in 16 games this season which is certainly not what the Wild were expecting when they signed him to a three-year, $19.5 million contract during the summer.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec will play this afternoon despite playing less than 24 hours ago. Pavelec made 27 saves in last night’s 2-1 loss to Nashville.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Minnesota PP (8.2%, 29th in NHL), Minnesota PK (87.5%, 6th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (11.5%, 27th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (88.2%, 2nd 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
Matt Halischuk- Jim Slater- Chris Thorburn

Tobias Enstrom- Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Adam Pardy- Paul Postma

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: TJ Galiardi

Projected Minnesota Wild Line Combinations:

Zach Parise- Mikko Koivu – Jason Pominville
Nino Niederreiter- Mikael Granlund- Charlie Coyle
Thomas Vanek- Erik Haula- Jason Zucker
Ryan Carter- Kyle Brodziak- Justin Fontaine

Ryan Suter- Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella- Nate Prosser
Keith Ballard- Matthew Dumba

Niklas Backstrom
Darcy Kuemper

Healthy Scratches: Jordan Schroeder, Justin Falk, Jonathan Blum

Injury Report:

Minnesota Wild: Josh Harding (suspension), Matt Cooke (lower body), Jonas Brodin (illness)

Winnipeg Jets:  Grant Clitsome (flu)