The Winnipeg Jets go up against the New York Rangers tonight at the MTS Centre. The Jets are coming off a 5-3 win vs. Carolina on Saturday where they came back after going down 0-2 in the first period.
The Jets hope that they can come out with energy right out of the gate, rather than waiting until they go down two goals.
Evander Kane:
“We just need to be a little more focused and ready to go off the hop, and if we can have the same mindset we had (last game) in the second right from the get go, we give ourselves a chance to win.”
Andrew Ladd:
“It’s mentally just being ready for the opening puck drop, there’s no problem with the excitement in this crowd, we should be able to come out hard out of the gates and make it tough for teams to combat against us.”
The big story last game was the shuffling of the lines. While the trio’s that started the game together, didn’t end together, the one new combination that stuck was Evander Kane on the wing with Alex Burmistrov and Nik Antropov. Kane got the monkey off his back scoring his first goal of the year and will start the game on a line with the two Russians.
Kane and Burmistrov will try to use their speed to create space for Nik Antropov.
Evander Kane:
“Nik’s a big body presence who has a good skill level down low. Burmi is a quick guy who can get on people and make plays.”
Nik Antropov:
“Burmi and Kaner can use their outside speed, and I’ll try to create some room for them.”
“I can see (Burmistrov) improved a lot over the summer, he built up his muscle, you can see it on the ice, he can use his body and quickness.”
Alex Burmistrov:
“I think we are fast guys, me and Kaner, Antro has great passes, we’ll go in and he’ll find us every time.”
After sitting out the start of the season due to injury Kenndal McArdle will play his first game for the Winnipeg Jets. He was acquired in the offseason in a trade which sent Angelo Esposito to Florida. McArdle hopes to bring energy to the team and feed off the crowd:
“Obviously, it was a long wait (to get in the lineup), hopefully if I’m in the lineup I can help with continuing what we had last game against Carolina. I’m just hoping to help out the team in any way, if I’m in, just try and bring what I can.”
“I just want to be an energy type player, help the crowd, I think anytime you can use the crowd we have here to your advantage is going to help us.”
Other notes:
-Chris Mason will start in goal
-Jim Slater is day to day with what the team is saying an “upper body injury”. Slater sat out part of last season with a concussion, we hope Slater is able to return quickly.
-Andrew Ladd is adjusting to his new visor after taking a puck in the face against Ottawa. His wife is an optometrist and obviously has strong feelings on a visor, Ladd said he is considering keeping it on once his face is healed.
-October is Hockey Fights Cancer month, a few players sported pink laces today on their skates. (Kane, Byfuglien)
