Game Day Set-Up: Panthers @ Jets

When: Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (21-14-8, 50 points, 6th in West), Florida Panthers (20-11-9, 49 points, 9th in East)

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

On the Horizon: Thursday, January 15th, 2015 on the road against the Dallas Stars (7:30 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 5-4 loss (shootout) to the Anaheim Ducks

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (16 goals, 19 assists, 35 points), Bryan Little (16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points), Blake Wheeler (12 goals, 21 assists, 33 points), Dustin Byfuglien (9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points), Mathieu Perreault (11 goals, 13 assists, 24 points)

Florida Panthers: Nick Bjugstad (15 goals, 10 assists, 25 points), Aaron Ekblad (5 goals, 19 assists, 24 points), Jussi Jokinen (4 goals, 19 assists, 23 points), Jonathan Huberdeau (7 goals, 15 assists, 22 points), Jimmy Hayes (13 goals, 7 assists, 20 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Home Record: 9-9-3

– The Jets are 15-6-5 this season when they score the first goal of a game.

– Florida has won three games in a row and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. This is the first of two meetings between the two clubs this year.  The Jets will play the Panthers in Florida on Thursday, March 12th.

– Florida is 4-1-0 on their current six-game road trip which ends tonight in Winnipeg.

– As per Elias Sports Bureau, the Panthers are off to their best 40-game start to a season since 1999-00 (23-11-6, 52 points).

– Michael Hutchinson is expected to start in net for the Jets tonight. In 18 games this season, Hutchinson is 11-4-2 with a .931 Save Percentage and a 2.00 Goals Against Average.

– There aren’t expected to be any line-up changes for the Jets tonight.

– Heading into tonight’s game, Dustin Byfuglien and Adam Lowry are tied for 8th overall in the NHL with 133 hits.

– Red Hot: Jets forward Andrew Ladd is on a six game points streak (four goals, four assists)

– The Jets are the 2nd most penalized team in the NHL (14.1 penalty minutes/game)

– The Panthers average 2.38 goals for/game, 25th in the NHL.

– The Panthers average 2.50 goals against/game, 12th in NHL.

– Roberto Luongo is expected to start in net for the Panthers tonight. In 32 games this season, Luongo is 17-7-7 with a 2.23 Goals Against Average and .927 Save Percentage and two shutouts.

– On Monday the NHL named forward Jonathan Huberdeau one of the Three Stars of the Week. Huberdeau has 10 points in his last 10 games.

– Aleksander Barkov will return to the line-up tonight for the Panthers. Barkov missed the last two games with the flu.

– Milestone Watch: Jets defenseman Paul Postma is one game away from 100 career games played.

– Defenseman Brian Campbell leads all Panthers in ice time, averaging 23:25 of ice time per game.

– Panthers Top Face-off Guy: Derek MacKenzie (54.0%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.9%)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Florida: Aaron Ekblad. The 2014 1st overall pick is an early candidate for the Calder Trophy (40 games played, 5 goals, 19 assists) and Jets fans will get their first look at the youngster in regular season action.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Michael Frolik. Frolik played three seasons with the Florida Panthers including his rookie year in which he had a career high 21 goals and 45 points. Frolik has been excellent alongside Mark Scheifele and Mathieu Perreault and this line will be counted on again tonight.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Florida PP (13.3%, 29th in NHL), Florida PK (81.6%, 14th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (16.8%, 21st in NHL), Winnipeg PK (82.5%, 10th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Bryan Little- Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault- Mark Scheifele- Michael Frolik
Evander Kane- Adam Lowry-Matt Halischuk
Chris Thorburn- Jim Slater- Anthony Peluso

Dustin Byfuglien- Ben Chiarot
Tobias Enstrom- Zach Bogosian
Jay Harrison- Mark Stuart

Michael Hutchinson
Ondrej Pavelec

Healthy Scratches: Adam Pardy, Paul Postma, TJ Galiardi

Projected Florida Panthers Line Combinations:

Jonathan Huberdeau- Aleksander Barkov- Brad Boyes
Jimmy Hayes- Nick Bjugstad- Jussi Jokinen
Sean Bergenheim- Dave Bolland- Tomas Fleischmann
Tomas Kopecky- Derek MacKenzie- Scottie Upshall

Brian Campbell – Aaron Ekblad
Willie Mitchell – Dmitry Kulikov
Erik Gudbranson- Dylan Olsen

Roberto Luongo
Al Montoya

Healthy Scratches: Brandon Pirri

Injury Report:

Florida Panthers: Shawn Thornton (shoulder)

Winnipeg Jets:   Jacob Trouba (upper body, IR), Grant Clitsome (back surgery, indefinitely)