Game Day Set-Up: Panthers @ Jets

When: Friday, December 20, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (15-16-5, 12th in the Western Conference), Florida Panthers (13-17-5, 13th in the Eastern Conference)

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

On the Horizon: Sunday, December 22nd on the road against the Vancouver Canucks (7:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 4-2 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little (14 goals, 17 assists, 31 points), Blake Wheeler (11 goals, 14 assists, 25 points), Dustin Byfuglien (6 goals, 18 assists, 24 points), Andrew Ladd (8 goals, 15 assists, 23 points), Olli Jokinen (8 goals, 13 assists, 21 points)

Florida Panthers: Tomas Fleischmann (5 goals, 13 assists, 18 points), Scottie Upshall (6 goals, 12 assists, 18 points), Brian Campbell (4 goals, 11 assists, 15 points),  Jonathan Huberdeau (7 goals, 8 assists, 15 points), Aleksander Barkov (5 goals, 9 assists, 14 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 last night and are 7-1 in their last eight games

– The Panthers average 2.25 goals/game, 27th in the NHL. By comparison, the Jets average 2.50 goals/game, good for 19th in the NHL.

– The Jets have a record of 7-3-1 against Eastern Conference opponents this year.

– Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian will make his return to the line-up tonight after missing the last fifteen games with a lower-body injury. Bogosian has one goal and three assists in 21 games this season.

– Jets rookie forward Mark Scheifele is on a four game points streak and has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his last 12 games

– On  Wednesday, the Jets re-assigned John Albert to the St.John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League. Albert had one goal in eight games with the Jets.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Florida has the 30th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (10.4%) and the 29th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (74.4%)

– Winnipeg has the 27th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (13.2%) and the 13th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (82.8%)

Starting Goalies:

– Ondrej Pavelec (10-14-4, 2.90 GAA, .908 Save Percentage)

–  Jacob Markstrom 

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little-Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane-Mark Scheifele-Michael Frolik
Chris Thorburn-Olli Jokinen-Devin Setoguchi
Eric Tangradi-Eric O’Dell- James Wright

Tobias Enstrom- Zach Bogosian
Adam Pardy- Dustin Byfuglien
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba

Ondrej Pavelec
Al Montoya

Healthy Scratches: Keaton Ellerby

Projected Florida Panthers Line Combinations:

Jonathan Huberdeau- Nick Bjugstad- Scottie Upshall
Sean Bergenheim-Aleksander Barkov-Brad Boyes
Tomas Fleischmann-Marcel Goc-Tomas Kopecky
Jimmy Hayes-Shawn Matthias-Krys Barch

Brian Campbell- Tom Gilbert
Erik Gudbranson- Dylan Olsen
Dmitry Kulikov- Mike Weaver

Jacob Markstrom
Scott Clemmensen

Healthy Scratches: Mike Mottau, Scott Gomez

Injury Report:

Florida Panthers: Jesse Winchester (hand), Tim Thomas (lower body), Matt Gilroy (lower body), Ed Jovanovski (hip)

Winnipeg Jets:  Matt Halischuk (forearm, Injured Reserve), Paul Postma (leg, indefinitely), Jim Slater (sports hernia surgery, indefinitely),  Grant Clitsome (undisclosed)