Game Day Set-Up: Sharks @ Jets

When: Monday, January 5th, 2015

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (20-12-7, 47 points, 6th in West), San Jose Sharks (20-14-5, 45 points, 8th in West)

Television/Radio: TVA, CSN-CA, TSN3/ TSN 1290 Radio

On the Horizon: Thursday, January 8th, 2015 on the road against the Arizona Coyotes

Last Game: 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (14 goals, 17 assists, 31 points), Bryan Little (15 goals, 15 assists, 30 points), Blake Wheeler (11 goals, 18 assists, 29 points), Dustin Byfuglien (9 goals, 13 assists, 22 points), Mathieu Perreault (9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points)

San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton (9 goals, 24 assists, 33 points), Joe Pavelski (20 goals, 13 assists, 33 points), Logan Couture (14 goals, 17 assists, 31 points), Brent Burns (10 goals, 19 assists, 29 points), Patrick Marleau (7 goals, 20 assists, 27 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Jets are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.

– Jets Home Record: 9-8-3.

– The Jets are 14-6-4 this season when they score the first goal of a game.

– San Jose is 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. This is the first game of a three game road trip for the Sharks. Sharks Road Record: 10-8-3.

– This is the second of three meetings between the Jets and Sharks this year. The Sharks defeated the Jets 3-0 back on October 11th in San Jose. The Jets will host the Sharks again on Tuesday, March 17th.

– Michael Hutchinson is expected to start in net for the Jets tonight. In 16 games this season, Hutchinson has a record of 10-3-2 with a 1.81 Goals Against Average and .937 Save Percentage. Hutchinson has started four of the last five games.

– Jets defenseman Grant Clitsome will not play for the Jets tonight. He is listed as day-to-day.

– On Monday the Jets recalled defenseman Keaton Ellerby from the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League. Ellerby has six assists in 18 games this year with St.John’s.

– Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian practised with the team today and may be ready to come back on the Jets upcoming road trip (as per TSN’s Sara Orlesky). Bogosian has not played since December 3rd against Edmonton.

– Red Hot: Jets forward Mathieu Perreault has six goals and five assists in his last 11 games. Jets forward Andrew Ladd has three goals and five assists in his last five games.

– Jets forward Blake Wheeler enters tonight’s game on a five game points streak (two goals, four assists)

– The Sharks average 2.67 goals for/game, 18th in the NHL.

– The Sharks average 2.54 goals against/game, 12th in NHL.

– Antti Niemi is expeced to start in net for the Sharks tonight. In 28 games this season, Niemi is 15-9-4 with a .914 save percentage and 2.53 Goals Against Average.

– As per David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News, Sharks forward Joe Thornton (shoulder) has been placed on Injured Reserve and will not play versus the Jets tonight.

– On Sunday, Forward Freddie Hamilton was recalled from the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League. Hamilton has six goals and 15 assists in 32 games with Worcester this year.

– Milestone Watch: Jets defenseman Paul Postma needs to play 3 more games to reach 100 career games played.

– Defenseman Brent Burns leads all Sharks in ice time, averaging 23:43 of ice time per game.

– Sharks Top Face-off Guy: Joe Thornton (57.0%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (56.2%)

– Who’s Under the Microscope for San Jose: Patrick Marleau. The 35-year-old veteran forward doesn’t have a point in his last 11 games and will be counted on for some offense tonight, especially with Joe Thornton out of the line-up.

– Who’s Under the Microscope for Winnipeg: Julien Brouillette. Brouillette will make his Winnipeg Jets debut tonight and will be paired up with Adam Pardy. Brouillette,28, played 10 games for the Washington Capitals last year.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– San Jose PP (21.8%, 7th in NHL), San Jose PK (82.2%, 12th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (16.9%, 20th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (85.1%, 7th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

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

Ben Chiarot- Dustin Byfuglien
Jay Harrison- Paul Postma
Adam Pardy- Julien Brouillette

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: Patrice Cormier, Keaton Ellerby

Projected San Jose Sharks Line Combinations:

Melker Karlsson- Logan Couture- Joe Pavelski
Barclay Goodrow- Patrick Marleau-  Tommy Wingels
Tomas Hertl- James Sheppard- Matt Nieto
John Scott- Andrew Desjardins- Tye McGinn

Marc-Edouard Vlasic- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon- Brent Burns
Scott Hannan-Matt Tennyson

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Healthy Scratches:

Injury Report:

San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton (shoulder), Mike Brown (leg), Tyler Kennedy (shoulder), Raffi Torres (knee)

Winnipeg Jets:  Tobias Enstrom (lower body, IR), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Jacob Trouba (upper body, IR), Mark Stuart (lower body), Evander Kane (lower body), Grant Clitsome (day-to-day)