Game Day Set-Up: Wild @ Jets

When: Friday, December 27, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Records: Winnipeg Jets (16-18-5, 12th in the Western Conference), Minnesota Wild (20-14-5, 9th in the Western Conference)

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

On the Horizon: Sunday, December 29th on the road against the Colorado Avalanche (7:00 p.m. CST).

Last Game: 6-2 road loss to the Edmonton Oilers

Top Scorers:

Winnipeg Jets: Bryan Little (14 goals, 18 assists, 32 points), Blake Wheeler (12 goals, 15 assists, 27 points), Dustin Byfuglien (6 goals, 21 assists, 27 points), Andrew Ladd (9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points), Olli Jokinen (8 goals, 15 assists, 23 points)

Minnesota Wild: Mikko Koivu (7 goals, 20 assists, 27 points), Zach Parise (15 goals, 12 assists, 27 points), Jason Pominville (17 goals, 9 assists, 26 points),  Ryan Suter (0 goals, 22 assists, 22 points), Nino Niederreiter (6 goals, 11 assists, 17 points)

Game Day Notes:

– The Wild have lost three games in a row and six of their last 10 games

– The Wild average 2.13 goals/game, 29th in the NHL. By comparison, the Jets average 2.51 goals/game, 18th in the NHL.

– The Jets have a record of 3-11-3 against Central Division opponents this year.

– On Thursday, the Jets re-called defenseman Julian Melchiori from the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League and placed Grant Clitsome on the Injured Reserve retroactive to December 17th. Melchiori has five assists in 18 games with St.John’s this year.

– Jets d-man Zach Bogosian did not practice Friday morning and will not play tonight (flu). Keaton Ellerby will take Bogosian’s place in the line-up.

– The Jets have nine power play goals over the last eight games

– Jets forward Blake Wheeler has seven goals and three assists in his last 11 games.

Special Teams Breakdown:

– Minnesota has the 10th Ranked Power Play in the NHL (19.7%) and the 27th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (78.0%)

– Winnipeg has the 23rd Ranked Power Play in the NHL (15.4%) and the 13th Ranked Penalty Kill in the NHL (82.5%)

Starting Goalies:

– Ondrej Pavelec (11-16-4, 2.94 GAA, .905 Save Percentage)

–  Niklas Backstrom (2-8-2, 3.18 GAA, .898 Save Percentage)  

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-James Wright- Anthony Peluso

Tobias Enstrom- Jacob Trouba
Keaton Ellerby- Dustin Byfuglien
Julian Melchiori- Adam Pardy

Ondrej Pavelec
Al Montoya

Healthy Scratches: Eric O’Dell

Projected Minnesota Wild Line Combinations:

Matt Cooke- Mikko Koivu- Charlie Coyle
Nino Niederreiter-Mikael Granlund-Jason Pominville
Justin Fontaine-Kyle Brodziak-Dany Heatley
Stephane Veilleux-Zenon Kenopka-Michael Rupp

Ryan Suter- Jonas Brodin
Marco Scandella- Jared Spurgeon
Keith Ballard- Nate Prosser

Niklas Backstrom
Johan Gustafsson

Healthy Scratches:

Injury Report:

Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise (lower body), Josh Harding (illness), Clayton Stoner (lower body), Darcy Kuemper (lower body)

Winnipeg Jets:  Matt Halischuk (forearm, Injured Reserve), Paul Postma (leg, indefinitely), Jim Slater (sports hernia surgery, indefinitely),  Grant Clitsome (back, Injured Reserve), Zach Bogosian (flu), Mark Stuart (undisclosed)