The Winnipeg Jets finish their five-game road trip tonight at Scotiabank Arena, as they face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Puck drop for tonight’s game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. central time.
The Jets come into tonight after playing less than 24 hours ago in Ottawa against the Senators. The game was tightly contested, but two third period goals propelled the Jets to a 3-2 victory over the Senators.
Last night’s win improved the Jets record on this current road trip to 3-1-0 with the Jets only loss of the trip coming on Monday night.
The Winnipeg Jets look to finish their road trip with a win against the Maple Leafs, who are currently on a losing streak.
The Maple Leafs come into this game having dropped their last two games. The Leafs started this month playing outstanding hockey, from March 31 up until last Monday, Toronto was on six-game winning streak.
But on Monday the Leafs lost to the Canadiens in Montreal and then the next night they dropped a point as they lost in overtime to the Calgary Flames.
Although Toronto has lost their last two, they are still in first place in the North Division and carry a five point lead over the Jets, who are in second place.
A win for the Jets tonight is crucial if they want to make up ground on first place. Winnipeg will host Toronto for a three-game series at Bell MTS Place on April 21-24, which will conclude the season series between these sides.
A Winnipeg win tonight will put them within striking distance of the Leafs when these teams meet next week.
Odds
The Jets are listed as the underdogs in tonight’s matchup.
It is no surprise that the Jets are the underdogs tonight considering they played last night and are coming against the first place team in the division.
These teams have played some great games throughout this season and tonight should be no different. In the six games the Jets and Leafs have played so far this season, three of these games have been decided by one goal, with two of those going beyond the sixty minutes of regulation.
Where you can Find the Game
TV: TSN3, TSN4
Radio: 680 CJOB
Livestream: TSN.ca, TSN app
Projected Lineups
After picking up the win last night, the Winnipeg Jets lineup is projected to stay the same for this evening’s game.
The Jets did have some different line combinations throughout yesterday’s game. Paul Maurice and the Jets coaching staff may also tweak the lines for tonight’s game too. The lines listed below are subject to change, but it is projected the Jets will have the same 18 skaters as yesterday.
Connor Hellebuyck had the night off yesterday and Laurent Brossoit got the start and win in goal for the Jets in Ottawa. It is projected that Hellebuyck will back in the net tonight as he looks to lead the Jets to victory in Toronto.
The Jets are projected to lineup like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Copp
Stastny-Dubois-Ehlers
Perreault-Lowry-Appleton
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
Hellebuyck (Brossoit)
Although the Leafs made many trades before the trade deadline hit on Monday, they will still be without their recent acquisitions (Nick Foligno, Stefan Noesen, and Ben Hutton) due to the quarantine requirements.
The one player that Toronto acquired that will be available tonight is goaltender David Rittich. Rittich started against his old team, the Flames, on Tuesday night and made 25 saves on 28 shots in the overtime loss. But it does not look like Rittich will be in goal tonight.
Jack Campbell is expected to get the start tonight. Campbell has played extremely well throughout this season and picked up his first loss of the season on Monday. Campbell currently has an 11-1-0 record with a 1.98 goals against average and a .930 save percentage.
The Maple Leafs are expected to lineup like this:
Galchenyuk-Matthews-Marner
Mikheyev-Tavares-Hyman
Thornton-Kerfoot-Simmonds
Robertson-Engvall-Sabourin
Reilly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Bogosian
Campbell (Rittich)
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Do you think the Winnipeg Jets should make any lineup changes for tonight’s game? Leave your comments below!
*All Stats Provided by the NHL*