The Winnipeg Jets close out a two-game home series against the Ottawa Senators in a rare Saturday afternoon contest starting at 2:00 P.M. central time. The first game ended in the largest margin of victory for the Jets this season with a 5 – 1 dismantling of the young Senators team.
Early on in the game, it looked like the Senators were going to be a challenge as they outshot the Jets 18-6 in the first period. If not for a Vezina trophy level performance by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the game could have been lost for the Jets after one period.
Senators’ goaltender Matt Murray left the game for the start of the third period as a result of an injury and was replaced with Marcus Hogberg. Initially, reports were that this was for precautionary reasons, but as of Saturday morning, Matt Murray is officially listed as out of the lineup with an upper-body injury.
Pierre Luc Dubois is listed as probable for the Winnipeg Jets today after leaving practice on Friday with what Paul Maurice described as something tightening up.
Hopefully, he has recovered enough to play this afternoon, but the Jets should exercise caution with Dubois given that the schedule gets much tougher for the team following today’s game with the Senators.
Odds
The Action network lists the Jets as the favorites in this afternoon’s matchup.
The Jets do need to be careful as it is tough to win back-to-back games against any team, and the Senators proved for at least one period that they could play at a fast pace.
Where you can Find the Game
TV: CBC, SN, TVAS, NHLN
Radio: 680 CJOB
Livestream: Sportnest app
Projected Lineups
In Thursday’s game, Paul Maurice went with the rare alignment of 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, in an effort to ease Tucker Poolman back into the rotation slowly. During the first period, the Jets forwards looked disjointed, and by the second period Maurice opted for more of a three-line rotation with two extra forwards.
Tucker Poolman looked better as the game progressed and is likely in for Logan Stanley.
The Jets are projected to lineup like this:
Ehlers-Scheifele-Copp
Vesalainen-Stastny-Wheeler
Connor-Dubois-Lewis
Perreault-Lowry-Appleton
Forbort-Pionk
Beaulieu-Morrissey
Poolman-DeMelo
Hellebuyck (Brossoit)
The big news is Marcus Hoberg taking over in goal for the injured Matt Murray. Hoberg has struggled mightily this year with a 0-5-0 record, 4.88 goals-against average and .836 save percentage. Facing a team as offensively talented as the Jets is a tough first assignment as the new starting goaltender for the team.
The Senators are expected to lineup like this:
Tkachuk-Tierney-Brown
Paul-White-Dadonov
Stutzle-Norris-Batherson
Galchenyuk-Stepan-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Reilly-Zub
Wolanin-Gudbrandson
Hogberg (Gustavsson)
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Will the Jets sweep their two-game series versus the Senators? Leave your comments below!
*All Stats Provided by the NHL*