While the road trip began on an easier note for the Jets, as they demolished the 29th ranked Blue Jackets by a 6-1 margin, they had a much tougher opponent last night in the 3rd ranked Rangers. Courtesy of a Mark Scheifele hat trick and a 40-save performance by Connor Hellebuyck they proved victorious 4-2 in the battle of 1st place teams. It was their third straight victory.
Today is a rare practice day for the club who hit the ice in New Jersey as they prepare for a Devils team that are still within sight of the last wild card spot (six points back) although their current slide (3-7-0 in last ten) are seeing those hopes start to fade.
It will be a homecoming for Tyler Toffoli and Colin Miller who were acquired by the Jets from the Devils at the trade deadline a few weeks back. Toffoli was in his first year with New Jersey playing 61 games before he was dealt to Winnipeg while Miller was also in his first season with the Devils having played 41 games.
Skate news:
As per Mitchell Clinton (Jets radio colour analyst on CJOB 680) no Neal Pionk at skate today. He has the lines and D pairs as below.
Lines and D pairs:
Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Ehlers-Monahan-Toffoli
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Gustafsson-Namestnikov
Perfetti
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Miller
Samberg-Schmidt
Stanley-Kupari
Health update:
Associate coach Scott Arniel said it’s maintenance for Neal Pionk who is dealing with a “flu type thing”. Said they’ll give him a day to rest at the hotel and see how he is tomorrow.
Lineup plans:
Arniel said plan is still to work guys in to keep everyone fresh. He did tell Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press that there’s a good chance Colin Miller will return to the lineup.
Goalie start:
Not a surprise that Laurent Brossoit will “probably be in tomorrow”.
Milestone watch:
Nice coincidence for Tyler Toffoli who will play his 800th NHL game tomorrow against his old team.
Up next:
The Jets road trip continues tomorrow when they take on the Devils. Start your day with all the latest Jets and Moose news in the AM Papers on illegalcurve.com which are available starting at 7 AM CDT, check back for the pre-game report, stick with us throughout the day for updates and then join us after the final buzzer on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show around 8:40 PM CDT.
