Game Day Set-Up: Lightning @ Jets

When: Friday, October 24, 2014

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (2-4-0), Tampa Bay Lightning (4-2-1)

Television/Radio: TSN3, SUN/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Sunday, October 26th at home against the Colorado Avalanche (2:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler (2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points), Tobias Enstrom (0 goals, 4 assists, 4 points), Bryan Little (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points), Dustin Byfuglien (2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points), Mark Scheifele (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points)

Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos (5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points), Victor Hedman (3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points), Valtteri Filpulla (1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points), Ryan Callahan (3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points), Anton Stralman (0 goals, 5 assists, 5 points)

Game Day Notes:

– This is the fourth game of a five game home stand for the Jets. The Jets last game of the home stand is against the Colorado Avalanche (Sunday, 2:00 p.m. CST). This will be the longest home stand of the season for the Jets.

– The Jets have scored five goals in their last five games.

– Jets forward Evander Kane will miss his sixth consecutive game for the Jets tonight. Kane suffered a knee injury during the Jets season opener against the Arizona Coyotes back on October 9th. On Thursday, Jets Head Coach Paul Maurice said that Kane is progressing and could be back on skates within the next week.

– Lightning forward Ryan Callahan (3 goals, 2 assists in five games) will not play tonight and will miss his second consecutive game with a lower body injury. Callahan injured himself during Monday night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. Lightning beat reporter Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times says he doesn’t expect to see Callahan play in either of the final two games of the team’s current road trip.

– The Lightning recalled Cedric Paquette from the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) Friday morning and he will make his season debut tonight against the Jets. Paquette, 21, played two games for the Lightning last season (1 assist).

– After six games, the Jets are the most penalized team in the NHL. The Jets are averaging 17.5 penalty minutes/game.

– Lightning’s Top Face-off Guy: Brian Boyle (57.6%, 17th in NHL)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Mathieu Perreault (57.9%, 15th in NHL)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Tampa Bay: Jonathan Drouin. The 19-year-old rookie has one assist in his first two games and has shown brief flashes of why he was drafted 3rd overall pick in 2013. There are high expectations for Drouin in Tampa Bay and he is being given every chance to succeed playing on the team’s top line alongside Captain Steven Stamkos.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Mathieu Perreault. The Jets signed Perreault to a three year, $9 milli0n contract during the off-season to boost the team’s secondary scoring but so far Perreault’s performance has been underwhelming. Perreault has yet to score a goal in six games and is desperate to end that skid tonight.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Tampa Bay PP (26.9%, 6th in NHL), Tampa Bay PK (87.0%, 7th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (0.00%, 30th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (92.3%, 3rd in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

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

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

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: Anthony Peluso, Adam Pardy

Projected Tampa Bay Lightning Line Combinations:

Jonathan Drouin- Valtteri Filpulla- Steven Stamkos
Ondrej Palat- Tyler Johnson- Brett Connolly
Nikita Kucherov- Vladislav Namestnikov- J.T. Brown
Brenden Morrow- Brian Boyle- Cedric Paquette

Anton Stralman- Matt Carle
Jason Garrison- Radko Gudas
Eric Brewer- Andrej Sustr

Ben Bishop
Evgeni Nabokov

Healthy Scratches: Mark Barberio

Injury Report:

Tampa Bay Lightning: Ryan Callahan (lower body), Victor Hedman (hand),  Sami Salo (wrist)

Winnipeg Jets:  Eric O’Dell (upper body), Evander Kane (knee, indefinitely)