Game Day Set-Up: Sharks @ Jets

When: Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (34-23-12, 80 points, 8th in West), San Jose Sharks (34-27-8, 76 points, 10th in West)

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

On the Horizon: Thursday, March 19th at home against the St.Louis Blues (7:00 p.m. CST)

Last Game: 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Andrew Ladd (23 goals, 32 assists, 55 points), Blake Wheeler (20 goals, 32 assists, 52 points), Bryan Little (24 goals, 27 assists, 51 points), Dustin Byfuglien (15 goals, 27 assists, 42 points), Mark Scheifele (11 goals, 28 assists, 39 points)

San Jose Sharks: Joe Pavelski (32 goals, 30 assists, 62 points), Joe Thornton (14 goals, 44 assists, 58 points), Logan Couture (22 goals, 34 assists, 56 points), Brent Burns (16 goals, 34 assists, 50 points), Patrick Marleau (15 goals, 33 assists, 48 points)

Game Day Notes:

– Tonight is the first game of a three game home stand for Winnipeg. The Jets went 2-2 on their recent four game road trip.

– Jets Season Home Record: 17-11-5

– The Jets have a record of 6-7-3 against teams in the Pacific Division this year

– The Jets have a record of 23-1-6 when leading after two periods.

– The Jets have a record of 0-19-4 when trailing after two periods.

– The Jets have a record of 21-12-6 when they outshoot their opponent.

– San Jose’s Season Road Record: 17-11-3

– The Sharks lost their last game 6-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks and have a record of  5-5-0 in their last 10 games.

– Tonight marks the first game of a seven game road trip for San Jose.

– Joe Pavelski leads the Sharks with 17 Power Play goals, which is 2nd most in the NHL.

– This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Jets and Sharks. San Jose has won both games, including a 3-2 win back on January 5th.

– Ondrej Pavelec is expected to start in goal for the Jets tonight. In 39 games this season, Pavelec has a record of 14-14-7 with a .910 save percentage, one shutout and 2.52 Goals Against Average. This will be Pavelec’s second consecutive start.

– Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (upper body) took the game day skate and is officially listed as a game time decision for tonight’s game. Byfuglien skated on a pair with Adam Pardy. Byfuglien has missed the last four games after being injured on March 4th against the Ottawa Senators. Byfuglien was originally supposed to be out of the line-up for two to four weeks. If Byfuglien can’t play expect Jay Harrison to be paired with Adam Pardy.

– Bryan Little (upper body) will miss his fifth consecutive game tonight. Little has been practising with the team in a non-contact jersey and is still not quite ready to return to game action.

– Jets defenseman Tyler Myers (upper body) is expected to return to the line-up tonight after missing the last game.

– On Monday the Jets announced that Paul Postma will miss weeks with a significant lower body injury. Postma sustained the injury during Saturday night’s game against Tampa Bay.

– Antti Niemi is expected to start in goal for the Sharks tonight. In 53 games this season, Niemi has a record of 27-19-7 with a 2.58 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

– According to David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News, defenseman Scott Hannan will check back into the line-up tonight in place of rookie Mirco Mueller. In 53 games played this season, Hannan has one goal and five assists.

– Red Hot for the Jets: Blake Wheeler is on four game points streak (three goals, three assists)

– Red Hot for the Sharks: Joe Thornton has two goals and five assists in the last eight games.

– Ice Cold: Jim Slater has no points in the last 14 games.

– Milestone: Michael Frolik will play in his 500th career regular season game tonight.

– Milestone Watch Part II: Bryan Little needs four more assists to reach 200 career assists.

– The Sharks average 2.75 goals for/game, 16th in the NHL. The Jets average 2.68 goals for/game, 18th in the NHL.

– The Sharks average 2.72 goals against/game, 22nd in the NHL. The Jets average 2.62 goals against/game, 16th in the NHL.

– Defenseman Brent Burns leads all Sharks in ice time, averaging 24:05 of ice time per game.

– Sharks Top Face-off Guy: Joe Thornton (58.2%)

– Jets Top Face-off Guy: Jim Slater (58.0%)

Special Teams Breakdown:

– San Jose PP (22.0%, 5th in NHL), San Jose PK (79.5%, 24th in NHL)

– Winnipeg PP (18.0%, 17th in NHL), Winnipeg PK (81.0%, 19th in NHL)

Projected Winnipeg Jets Line Combinations:

Andrew Ladd- Adam Lowry- Michael Frolik
Blake Wheeler- Mark Scheifele- Drew Stafford
Jiri Tlusty- Jim Slater- Lee Stempniak
Chris Thorburn- Eric O’Dell- Matt Halischuk

Tobias Enstrom- Tyler Myers
Mark Stuart- Jacob Trouba
Adam Pardy- Dustin Byfuglien/Jay Harrison

Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Hutchinson

Healthy Scratches: TJ Galiardi, Anthony Peluso

Projected San Jose Sharks Line Combinations:

Melker Karlsson- Joe Thornton- Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau- Logan Couture- Matthew Nieto
Tomas Hertl- Chris Tierney –  Tommy Wingels
John Scott- Ben Smith- Barclay Goodrow

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

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Healthy Scratches: Mirco Mueller

Injury Report:

San Jose Sharks: Mike Brown (leg), Raffi Torres (knee)

Winnipeg Jets: Grant Clitsome (back surgery, indefinitely), Mathieu Perreault (IR, lower body), Ben Chiarot (surgery, IR), Bryan Little (undisclosed), Paul Postma (upper body)